The inquisitive barber was in a fidget; he slipped on his clothes,
and, stealing forth silently, followed the water-carrier at a
distance, until he saw him dig a hole in the sandy bank of the
Xenil, and bury something that had the appearance of a dead body.
The barber hied him home, and fidgeted about his shop, setting every
thing upside down, until sunrise. He then took a basin under his
arm, and sallied forth to the house of his daily customer the alcalde.
The alcalde was just risen. Pedrillo Pedrugo seated him in a
chair, threw a napkin round his neck, put a basin of hot water under
his chin, and began to mollify his beard with his fingers.
"Strange doings!" said Pedrugo, who played barber and newsmonger
at the same time- "Strange doings! Robbery, and murder, and burial all
in one night!"
"Hey!- how!- what is that you say?" cried the alcalde.
"I say," replied the barber, rubbing a piece of soap over the nose
and mouth of the dignitary, for a Spanish barber disdains to employ
a brush- "I say that Peregil the Gallego has robbed and murdered a
Moorish Mussulman, and buried him, this blessed night. Maldita sea
la noche- accursed be the night for the same!"
"But how do you know all this?" demanded the alcalde.
"Be patient, senor, and you shall hear all about it," replied
Pedrillo, taking him by the nose and sliding a razor over his cheek.
He then recounted all that he had seen, going through both
operations at the same time, shaving his beard, washing his chin,
and wiping him dry with a dirty napkin, while he was robbing,
murdering, and burying the Moslem.
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