"To the _hacienda_ of my father, good friend. I must crave his pardon and ask his indulgence. He has ordered that I get me a wife, and I find it a difficult task."
"That should be an easy task for a Vega. Any maiden would be proud to take that name."
"I had hoped to wed with the Señorita Lolita Pulido, she having taken my fancy."
"A worthy maiden! Her father, too, has been subjected to unjust oppression. Did you join your family to his, none would dare raise hand against him."
"All that is very well, _fray_, and the absolute truth, of course. But the _señorita_ will have none of me," Don Diego complained. "It appears that I have not dash and spirit enough."
"She is hard to please, perhaps. Or possibly she is but playing at being a coquette with the hope of leading you on and increasing your ardor. A maid loves to tantalize a man, _caballero_. It is her privilege."
"I showed her my house in the _pueblo_, and mentioned my great wealth, and agreed to purchase a new carriage for her," Don Diego told him.
"Did you show her your heart, mention your love, and agree to be a perfect husband?"
Don Diego looked at him blankly, then batted his eyes rapidly, and scratched at his chin, as he did sometimes when he was puzzled over a matter.
"What a perfectly silly idea!" he exclaimed after a time.
"Try it, _caballero_. It may have an excellent effect."
The _frailes_ drove the cart onward, Fray Felipe raised his hand in blessing, and Don Diego Vega turned aside into the other trail, the deaf-and-dumb Bernardo following at his heels on the mule.
Back in the _pueblo_, the dealer in hides and tallow was the center of attraction at the tavern. The fat landlord was kept busy supplying his guests with wine, for the dealer in hides and tallow was spending a part of the money of which he had swindled Fray Felipe. The _magistrado_ was spending the rest.
There was boisterous laughter as one recounted how Fray Felipe lay about him with the whip, and how the blood spurted from his old back when the lash was applied.
"Not a whimper from him!" cried the dealer in hides and tallow. "He is a courageous old coyote! Now, last month we whipped one at San Fernando, and he howled for mercy, but some men said he had been ill and was weak, and possibly that was so. A tough lot, these _frailes_! But it is great sport when we can make one howl! More wine, landlord! Fray Felipe is paying for it!"