324 WILD SPAIN. 



vulture or prowling wolf, and there we may leave him in 

 peace. 



Perhaps it would be wiser to leave the story, too, at this 

 point ; but we are simply historians without aspiration for 

 the novelist's role, and are impelled to complete faithfully 

 this sad little story of the sierra. Concha was, of course, 

 almost beside herself with grief. During the long winter 

 months, while the snow whirled round the ravines of 

 Valdama, the poor girl remained inconsolable. But time 

 is a wondrous restorer. When spring came round, and 

 the vines and chestnuts unfolded their shoots, making 

 Valdama all green and beautiful, then youth and buoyant 

 spirits reasserted their power, and, less than a twelve- 

 month afterwards, Concha had found consolation. Friend 

 Claudio, the discoverer of her lost lover's remains, and 

 to whom we are indebted for this little tale, had mean- 

 while become her husband. 



