The two youngsters displayed traits almost absolutely opposite; the
elder, Manuel, was of a frivolous, slothful, indolent disposition, and
would neither study nor go to school. He was fond of romping about the
fields and engaging in bold, dangerous escapades. The characteristic
trait of Juan, the younger brother, was a morbid sentimentalism that
would overflow in tears upon the slightest provocation.

Manuel recalled that the school master and town organist, an old
fellow who was half dominie and taught the two brothers Latin, had
always prophesied that Juan would make his mark; Manuel he considered
as an adventure-seeking rover who would come to a bad end.

As Manuel dozed in the third-class compartment, a thousand
recollections thronged his imagination: the events of the night before
at his uncle's mingled in his mind with fleeting impressions of Madrid
already half forgotten. One by one the sensations of distinct epochs
intertwined themselves in his memory, without rhyme or reason and
among them, in the phantasmagoria of near and distant images that
rolled past his inner vision, there stood out clearly those sombre
towers glimpsed by night in Almazan by the light of the moon....

When one of his travelling companions announced that they had already
reached Madrid, Manuel was filled with genuine anxiety. A red dusk
flushed the sky, which was streaked with blood like some monster's
eye; the train gradually slackened speed; it glided through squalid
suburbs and past wretched houses; by this time, the electric lights
were gleaming pallidly above the high signal lanterns....

The train rolled on between long lines of coaches, the round-tables