He was haggard and ill-
dressed, and his eyes seemed starting from their sockets.
As soon as we were alone he informed me that since my departure he had
undergone great misery and destitution, having, during the whole period,
been unable to find a master in need of his services, so that he was
brought nearly to the verge of desperation; but that on the night
immediately preceding my arrival he had a dream, in which he saw me,
mounted on a black horse, ride up to the gate of the posada, and that on
that account he had been waiting there during the greater part of the
day. I do not pretend to offer an opinion concerning this narrative,
which is beyond the reach of my philosophy, and shall content myself with
observing, that only two individuals in Madrid were aware of my arrival
in Spain. I was very glad to receive him again into my service, as,
notwithstanding his faults, he had in many instances proved of no small
assistance to me in my wanderings and Biblical labours.
* * * * *
The posada where I had put up was a good specimen of the old Spanish inn,
being much the same as those described in the time of Philip the Third or
Fourth. The rooms were many and large, floored with either brick or
stone, generally with an alcove at the end, in which stood a wretched
flock bed. Behind the house was a court, and in the rear of this a
stable, full of horses, ponies, mules, machos, and donkeys, for there was
no lack of guests, who, however, for the most part slept in the stable
with their caballerias, being either arrieros or small peddling
merchants, who travelled the country with coarse cloth or linen.
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