SCHOOL-DAYS
WHEN Fernando was seven years old he began to go to school. Little
Juanita cried bitterly, for she was devoted to the big brother who
played such lovely games with her, and she did not like to think of his
being away from her nearly all day. However, she was told that Fernando
was a big boy now, and that before long she would be having a governess
to teach her to read and embroider, so she stopped crying very quickly,
for she was a sunny little child, and went to picking flowers in the
garden quite contentedly.
How grown up Fernando felt! To be a real schoolboy! His school-days
were all alike. He arose at half-past seven, when the church-bells
were ringing for the daily service; he had a bath, said his prayers,
and dressed himself very neatly, for he had first to be looked over by
his _aya_, and then inspected by his mamma, to see if he could pass
muster, and was clean and neat as a little Spanish gentleman should
be. Mamma being satisfied with his appearance, he gave her his morning
kiss, and greeted the rest of the family. Then followed breakfast,--a
simple, wholesome meal of _semula_, or gruel and warm milk, with bread
and honey and eggs.
After a run in the garden, the _ayo_, or preceptor, called to take
him to school. Fernando skipped happily away to study until twelve
o'clock, when dinner was served to the day boarders, a dinner of soup,
vegetables, and dessert, with a little playtime afterward. Spanish boys
do not take tea or coffee until they are grown up. At half-past four
the boys are turned out of school, and then comes the delight of the
day to Fernando. His _ayo_ has disappeared, and in his stead has come
Manuel, his own man, who tells such delightful stories of knights and
warriors and the glories of Spain, and who thinks that all his little
master does is perfect. Manuel knows all about the city, and he is
willing to take Fernando any place he wishes to go, provided it is a
fit place for a boy of rank. He knows just where the marionettes are
playing, and if there is a gay crowd on the square, a trained bear or
a funny little monkey, he will be sure to have heard about it, and
take Fernando to see it. If there is no special excitement, Manuel
takes him to the _paseo_, where all the boys of the town gather. Here
they play in mimic battles and bull-fights, and Fernando enters into
everything with delight, until Manuel thinks it is time for the señora,
his mother, to pass by in the carriage. How delighted the little boy is
to see her, and how his tongue rattles as he tells her all the events
of the day, as he rides home with her through the long soft twilight
of the soft Spanish night! How good his supper tastes, a simple little
supper of chocolate, rich and dark, white bread and golden honey, with
some little iced cakes, which dear old Dolores, the cook, has made for
the little master. All the servants love Fernando dearly, for though he
has a hot temper, and sometimes is very wilful, he is so loving that
they do not mind his naughtiness. After supper Fernando says the rosary
with his _aya_, goes over his lessons a little, and then tumbles into
bed in a happy slumber.
All his days are very much alike, for Spanish children are brought
up very simply, and have little excitement, though they have many
pleasures. There are little visits paid to aunts and cousins, visits
remembered not too pleasantly by the pet dog and parrot of his aunt.
The parrot was brought from Cuba by Uncle Enrico, the priest. The
bird knows Fernando well, and scolds terribly in most unchurchly
language every time he approaches the cage. The French poodle, too,
does not greatly care for a visit from Fernando, for the boy cannot
help teasing, and the fat, stupid dog, his Aunt Isabel's darling, does
nothing but lie around on silken cushions and eat comfits. Fernando
likes animals, and would never really hurt one, but there is something
in the calm self-satisfaction of Beppino which stirs up all the
mischief in him, and Aunt Isabel has been heard to exclaim: "Fernando
will be my death! He is a dear boy, and if it came to choosing between
him and Beppo, I am quite sure that I would take my nephew, but, thank
Heaven, I have not to choose!"
Fernando's own dog was different. He found him one day close by the
garden railing, a poor, ragged fellow, lean and hungry, with a lame
foot, but a pair of pleading and wistful brown eyes, which, with all
their misery, had yet a look of good-fellowship within them which
appealed to Fernando's gay nature, as the pitiful plight of the little
fellow appealed to his tender heart. The dog put a pink tongue through
the railing and licked Fernando's hand, and that clinched the bargain.
Henceforth the two were friends. Fernando persuaded Manuel to bathe
and tie up the wounded foot, and feed the puppy. That was all the boy
dared at first, but the next day he found the dog in the same place
and fed him again. Every day after that the little tramp followed him
to school, and when school was over his yellow-haired dogship awaited
his benefactor. Manuel winked at the friendship, and allowed Mazo,
as Fernando called him, to have many a good meal at the garden gate.
Manuel was a great stickler for the proprieties, but he had been a boy
once, and there were some things that Fernando's lady mother would not
at all have comprehended, that good old Manuel understood perfectly.
Mazo was far more interesting to Fernando than the thoroughbred,
ladylike pets of his mother, and it was a sore subject with him that
Mazo, who was so clever, who could whip the tramp dogs of any of his
school friends, should be kept outside the house. His mother did not
seem to realize that Mazo's fighting qualities were what made him
valuable. One fatal day, when she had driven to the _paseo_ a little
earlier than usual, and had seen a fight between Mazo and another
little dog, equally disreputable, she had cried out:
"Fernando, come away from that ferocious beast! He must be mad!" and
she had seemed anything but reassured when Fernando had tried to calm
her by saying:
"But, mamma, he is not mad; I know him well; he is the gentlest
of beings, and he can whip any dog in the _paseo_," the pride of
possession getting the better of prudence.
Thereafter Manuel was most careful of Mazo's appearance. He captured
him and washed him, and let him sleep in a shed at night, and by
degrees the little fellow lost his trampish appearance, and became
a semi-respectable member of society, though still ready to follow
Fernando like a shadow, to fight at his will, and to share with him
an excursion into forbidden lands. It was really droll to see the
different airs which Mazo could assume. He had ever an eye upon his
audience, having early learned in the hard school of misfortune that
his comfort depended not at all upon himself, but upon the humour of
those about him. With the outside world his look was wary. With the
family of his master he was apologetic. His brown eye seemed to say:
"I place myself at your feet, most noble señors; I pray you excuse me
for living." But with Fernando, while it was tempered with respect,
his air was one of good-fellowship alone. Even the señora herself,
the head of the house and authority in chief, as is the case in all
Spanish households, came to regard Fernando's dog with a degree of
friendliness, and finding this out, the servants treated him kindly,
and Mazo decided that his lines had fallen in pleasant places. Upon
this, however, he never presumed. He knew not how long it would last,
but felt that he was upon good behaviour. He restrained his desire
to chase Juanita's pet cat, and to bark when the parrot imitated his
barking, though the restraint put upon himself must have been severe,
for he made up for it when out with Manuel and Fernando. Then he was
himself again, Mazo the tramp.