"So, so, Ii ft her up, man,' we could hear Campana say; 'lift her up
quick--or she will be suffocated."
At length, in a moment of great irritation, excited on the one hand by
his intense interest in the poor suffering girl, and anger at the
peevish, helpless Don Picador, Don Ricardo, to our unutterable surprise,
rapped out, in gude broad Scotch, as he brushed away Senor Cangrejo from
the bedside with a violence that spun him out of the door--"God--the
auld doited deevil is as fusionless as a docken."
My jaw dropped--I was thunderstruck--Bang's eye met mine "Murder!" quoth
Bang, so soon as his astonishment let him collect breath enough, "and
here I have been for two whole days practising Spanish, to my great
improvement no doubt, upon a Scotchman how Edified he must have been!"
"But the docken, man," said I--"fusionless as a docken--how classic!
what an exclamation to proceed from the mouth of a solemn Don!"
"No gibes regarding the docken," promptly chimed in Bang; "it is a
highly respectable vegetable, let me tell you, and useful on occasion,
which is more."
The noise in the room ceased, and presently Campana joined us. "We must
proceed," said he, "it will never do for you to deliver the jewels now,
Mr Cringle; she is too much excited already, even from seeing me."
But it was more easy to determine on proceeding than to put it in
execution, for a heavy cloud, that had been overhanging the small valley
the whole morning, had by this time spread out and covered the entire
face of nature like a sable pall; the birds of the air flew low, and
seemed perfectly gorged with the superabundance of flies, which were
thickly betaking themselves for shelter under the evergreen leaves of
the bushes.
Pages:
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489