Page:The Valley of Adventure (1926).pdf/94

 That is Padre Ignacio's wish; he desires to be able to speak with you mouth to mouth."

"I guess I can pick it up, I'm handy with Indian talk."

"Spanish is not to be picked up like a savage jargon of the woods," Padre Mateo corrected him, almost severely, for he was touched in the spot where a Spaniard's skin is tenderest. "You shall learn it from the abecedario, as you would say the spelling-book, so you may hold speech with gentlemen without shame to yourself or your teachers. When we return, Juan Molinero, prepare yourself for this greatest pleasure that can come in the life of any man."

"I'll be proud to learn it, if I can twist my tongue around them little sliding-off sounds."

"You have a softness in your speech, as if southern winds had mellowed the harshness of your English throat. It is a strange thing, Juan, that the sweet-singing birds come from the lands of the south, where the speech of man is gentle and musical on the ear. Crows, with their harsh impertinence, are most commonly found in climes where the speech of man is also rough like a cough coming out of the breast. It is a thing to ponder. But as I have said, I like a roaring language which a man must open the mouth to let out of him, like rocks thrown from a volcano. So; we are approaching Pablo Dominguez' door."

"How far is it to the harbor?"

"Ten miles or so—too far to continue on tonight,