"Youareverykind,sir。"Thefatmaogatheruphisluggage。
TwostagecoacheswerestandiheihewaytoVillaRealaoa。Passionhiswaytothecoaches,JoaodeSousafoupassengerarguihawaiter。HestoppedtoaskifhewasgoaortoVillaReal。
"Iamgoa,sir,justthinkofit!Aterriblething!Iycupoftea。"
"Thatisaveryseriousmatteri;saidtheyoungmangravely。
"Serious?Ibelieveyou。Whatsortofarestaurantisthis?Thereisnotaleafofblatheplace!"
"Allpassengersfoataketheirplaces,please,"calledouttheguard,aiheoldgdressoftheplace。
&passengeragainsatdownoppositeJoaodeSousa。
"Soyouhavebeendisappointedagain,sir?"
"Don'tspeakofit。Itistooawful。Whatajouromakewithoutmycupoftea!"
"ButyouwillhaveanotherAmatante,wherewegethehorses。"
"Oh,Iamglad。Yood,sir。"
Thecoachrolledhthetryroads,andihemotiohepasse。JoaodeSousaremaigthetrypassuofthemoohehedges,thelightsfromthehousesofavillageonthehillside。PreseotheabridgeofAmaraheinofwhichislostisofthepast。ThecoachpassedintothenarrowstooppedoutsidethefamousoldinnoftheCapadera。Thedining-roomoftheinnwasfulloftobaokeandthesmellofchocolate。Thewaiteradvaoshowthetravelerstotheirseats,alyareallyextsupperwasserved。ThisJoaodeShlyenjthegoodenas。Helookedroundapasseingataerofthetable,waitinganxiouslytospeaktothewaiter。"Waiter,Iandblack,remember。Nootherwilldo。"
"Sir,inaninstant。Imustjustservethesupper,andthenIwillordertheteaforyou。Whatwillyouhaveforsupper,sir?"
"IoteatanythinguntilIhavehadmytea。"
&eruedservidishesofdallkifood;andbottlesofgoodwinewerepassedmerrilyrouhefatpassely。Presentlyitwasahecoachwouldstarties,andtherewasgreatextand。EveryoofihedJoaodeSousaheardtheunhappyvoiceofthefatpassengersaying,"Aer,whataboutthattea?""Ie,sir。"
Allhadtakentheirplacesexceptthefatman,whostoodatthedooroftheihecoabthemountaiarowelveoxee,gaywithreddbrassbells。Theguardcalledtothefatpasseakeyourplace,sir,ifyouplease。Iolo;
&hewaiteringwithasteamingcupofteaonatray。Thefatpassengerhadoohecoach,butheutteredacryofjoy,seizedthedraisedittohislips。Buttheaindistress,andputthecupbathetray。
"Impossibletodrier。Itisboilinghot。Whyditlikethat,whenthecoachisjuststarting?"AndhetohisplaceoppositeJoaodeSousa,tearsofpainandannoyanhiseyes。
&agebedthehillslowlyforfivehedbytheslowbutpowerfuloxen。Afiheenormousoldtreesbesidethemountainroad,andthewihroughtheirbraherelittlestreamsrandowainsnowstowardsthemightyRiverDouro。
Thedriverwalkedbesidetheleaderoftheteam,engtheoxen。AllthepasseJoaodeSousaslept。Theypassedastohouseheroad,ahrewstraionsheruptheypassedalittlecottageabovewhigamassivebloewhichlookedasifitmightfallataheroadgrewheyapproachedthetop,andthesuhiaininmanycolours-purple,pihecoachstoppedatahevillageofQuihosepassengersakedesdedtostretchtheirlegsinthepuremair。
JoaodeSousawalkedalthesplendourofthesery。Peakafterpeakextendedasfarastheeyecouldsee,andlowerdownshochofwater。Thewholelovelypicturewasframedirees,andastheyoungmaodrawabreathofdelight,heheardasloroag。Alongyawnofwearinesssouohisear,andJoaodeSousasmiledatthesightofthefatpasseillhalfasleep,andsodifferentfromtheglowofthenewm。
"Well,sir,howareyou?Whataboutyourteanow?"
"friend,Ihavereallylostallhopes。Thereismiserableinn;theysaynooneeverasksforsug。"
Thehorseswereready,andtheguardgavethesignalforthestart。Theywentfastdowain-sideandweresoonamongdarktreesa。PresentlythepassehegrapesthatgrowbytheDouro。Bythesideofthegreatrivertheydroveformahehousesgrewthidgardetheyereetsoa。Itwasjusthalfpasteightinthem,therighthourforbreakfast。
Asthecoachstoppedatthehotel,afinebuildingwithgreehefatpasseoJoaodeSousawithasmile。"Ithankyou,sir,forallyourcourtesy。Ishouldhavehadadreadfuljouryreeablepany。IottellyouhowIhavesufferedfromthelossofmycupoftea。Itiswrosatmyage。Takemyadviddonotallowanythihahabityouhaveformed,ifitisagoodone。NowIgetmycupofteaatlast。Itislate,itistrue,butbetterlatethaointroducemyself,sir。MynameisBarnadedosAnjos;IamaownofFreixo-de-Espada-a-dIamtravelingtoDouroonbusiness。Ihopetomeetyouagain,sir,andinanycaseIamalwaysatyourservice。Iwishyougoodludasafejourney;andnowIamgoing,mydearyouodrihinacupoftea。"