PILAR'S GRANDFATHER REMEMBERS
After Pilar went out, her grandfather lay thinking. Somehow the old man
felt better today. He did not fall asleep as soon as Pilar left the
house.
He began to wonder where she had gone and why she had taken the
castanets with her. He knew that she had been obliged to sell many of
her mother's souvenirs, so that they might live. But he hoped that soon
he would be able again to provide for his granddaughter and himself.
"Suppose Pilly has gone out to sell the castanets," he thought.
The idea frightened him. Yet he tried to tell himself that he was just a
foolish old man, to believe in a fairy tale about the charm of a pair
of castanets.
Still he could not help remembering the legends which had been handed
down through his family.
He lay dreaming, and before him passed the days when Pilar's mother had
been young. Her name had been Carmen Pilar Innocentia Gonzales, but she
had been known as "Carmen, the Little Spanish Dancer."
As a little girl, she had been just such a graceful dancer as Pilar. And
one day a great teacher from Madrid had seen her and had taken her away
to study in the capital.
But before that, she had spent much time on the streets of Seville. Her
father could still see her playing there with her little friend Tony,
who had lived next door.
Tony and his comrades had often staged a bullfight. Tony would be the
brave torero (t[+o]-r[=a]´r[=o]) or fighter, while all the neighbors
would gather round to watch the sport.
When Tony would plunge his make-believe sword into the make-believe
bull, everyone would cheer loudly.
[Illustration: BOYS PLAYING BULLFIGHT]
Bullfighting is still Spain's favorite sport, though recently football
has arrived there. The Spanish call it "fútbol," and it has become very
popular.
But Tony had always wanted to be a torero. Pilar's grandfather lay
smiling as he thought of that same Tony, now a wealthy tobacco merchant
living in America. He was far from being a bullfighter today.
However, when Pilar's mother, Carmen, grew older, she had been courted
by a young man who was a bullfighter. The memory of this young man
brought to mind again the fear of losing the castanets.
For Pilar's grandfather recalled a very real and dramatic story about
Carmen and Pedro, the young torero.
[Illustration: BULLFIGHT, MADRID]