She saw a prison and a gallows in the
distance, and a little bandy-legged Gallego hanging pendant from it;
and, overcome by the horrors conjured up by her imagination, fell into
violent hysterics.
What could the poor man do? He had no other means of pacifying his
wife, and dispelling the phantoms of her fancy, than by relating the
whole story of his good fortune. This, however, he did not do until he
had exacted from her the most solemn promise to keep it a profound
secret from every living being.
To describe her joy would be impossible. She flung her arms round
the neck of her husband, and almost strangled him with her caresses.
"Now, wife," exclaimed the little man with honest exultation, "what
say you now to the Moor's legacy? Henceforth never abuse me for
helping a fellow-creature in distress."
The honest Gallego retired to his sheepskin mat, and slept as
soundly as if on a bed of down. Not so his wife; she emptied the whole
contents of his pockets upon the mat, and sat counting gold pieces
of Arabic coin, trying on necklaces and earrings, and fancying the
figure she should one day make when permitted to enjoy her riches.
On the following morning the honest Gallego took a broad golden
coin, and repaired with it to a jeweller's shop in the Zacatin to
offer it for sale, pretending to have found it among the ruins of
the Alhambra. The jeweller saw that it had an Arabic inscription,
and was of the purest gold; he offered, however, but a third of its
value, with which the water-carrier was perfectly content.
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