Among those who cherished a deadly hatred of me was Dicenta. It was an
antipathy which had its origin in the realm of ideas, and it was
accentuated subsequently by an article which I contributed to _El
Globo_ upon his drama _Aurora_, in which I maintained that
Dicenta was not a man of new or broad ideas, but completely preoccupied
with the ancient conceptions of honesty and honour. One night in the
Café Fornos--I am able to vouch for the truth of this incident because,
years afterwards, he told me the story himself--Dicenta accosted a young
man who was sitting at an adjacent table taking supper, and attempted to
draw him into discussion, under the impression that it was I. The young
man was so frightened that he never dared to open his mouth.
"Come," shouted Dicenta, "we shall settle this matter at once."
"I have nothing to settle with you," replied the young man.
"Yes, sir, you have; you have stated in an article that my ideas are not
revolutionary."
"I never stated anything of the kind."
"What is that?"
"No, sir."
"But aren't you Pío Baroja?"
"I am not, sir."
Dicenta turned on his heel and marched back to his seat.
Sometime later, Dicenta and I became friends, although we were never
very intimate, because he felt that I did not appreciate him at his full
worth. And it was the truth.