mill, scalding the mill-stones and the crushing troughs daily,
sweeping the scraps of olive skins from the floors, and scalding the
floors to keep every odor away from the precious olive oil. Before
beginning this season, the walls of the building had been given a
coat of whitewash, and now a wood fire must not be lit anywhere near
the premises, for the precious olive oil might take a smoky taste.

It was therefore with great wrath that Delpha, who was careful to
obey rules, found one day, in a crushing trough under her
supervision, some scattered little pieces of iron. Now iron must
never be allowed to come in contact with olive juice. The tannic
acid in the olive juice acts very rapidly on the iron, producing a
kind of ink, that turns the oil black and almost ruins it. The
American's crushing troughs and weights were of granite. Delpha was
sure Sara had scattered the pieces of iron in the crushing trough on
purpose to bring Delpha into trouble.

"I do something to her!" resolved Delpha fiercely. "I pay her for
this!"

Then she remembered, "Fazei bem aos que vos tem odio." (Do good to
them that hate you.) To Sara's amazement, Delpha did not retaliate.
Sara could not understand why.

Toward the end of the olive season, the American went away for a
day. During the noon rest, Delpha, sitting in a side door, thought
she caught the odor of smoke. No wood fire was allowed around the
oil-mill! Delpha went out to investigate.

She saw a film of smoke rising from a gulch. Delpha discovered that