made out the galleries of a palace, and several lofty, sombre towers
shot up from amidst the jumbled dwellings of the town; a strip of moon
gleamed close to the horizon, and the river, divided by a few islets
into arms, glittered as if it were mercury.

Manuel left Almazanhad to wait a few hours in Alcuneza for the next
train. He was weary, and as there were no benches in the station, he
stretched himself out upon the floor amidst bundles and skins of oil.

At dawn he boarded the other train, and despite the hardness of the
seat, managed to fall asleep.

Manuel had been two years with his relatives; he departed from their
home with more satisfaction than regret.

Life had held no pleasure for him during those two years.

The tiny station presided over by his uncle was near a poor hamlet
surrounded by arid, stony tracts upon which grew neither tree nor
bush. A Siberian temperature reigned in those parts, but the
inclemencies of Nature were nothing to bother a little boy, and gave
Manuel not the slightest concern.

The worst of it all was that neither his uncle nor his uncle's wife
showed any affection for him, rather indifference, and this
indifference prepared the boy to receive their few benefactions with
utter coldness.

It was different with Manuel's brother, to whom the couple gradually
took a liking.