violent as they were rare, and five or six years would sometimes pass
without Don Inocencio seeing Remedios transformed into a fury.

"I am a mother! I am a mother! and since no one else will look out for
my son, I will look out for him myself!" roared the improvised lioness.

"In the name of the Virgin, niece, don't let your passion get the best
of you! Remember that you are committing a sin. Let us say the Lord's
Prayer and an Ave Maria, and you will see that this will pass away."

As he said this the Penitentiary trembled, and the perspiration stood on
his forehead. Poor dove in the talons of the vulture! The furious woman
completed his discomfiture with these words:

"You are good for nothing; you are a poltroon! My son and I will go away
from this place forever, forever! I will get a position for my son, I
will find him a good position, do you understand? Just as I would be
willing to sweep the streets with my tongue if I could gain a living for
him in no other way, so I will move heaven and earth to find a position
for my boy in order that he may rise in the world and be rich, and a
person of consequence, and a gentleman, and a lord and great, and all
that there is to be--all, all!"

"Heaven protect me!" cried Don Inocencio, sinking into a chair and
letting his head fall on his breast.

There was a pause during which the agitated breathing of the furious
woman could be heard.

"Niece," said Don Inocencio at last, "you have shortened my life by ten