It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.

He eventually relented, though I can’t tell you how long it took, but I’m sure that helped him move from a marginal life to at least a semiprosperous one.”

As so many times before one finds a cozy corner in a coach, props oneself on an elbow and gazes out the window as the scenery goes speeding by to the cadence of clickity, clickity, clickity, click as the wheels strike the spaces between the rails with increasing speed.

Finally, with the help of a group of shoeshiners, everything is clarified, the police arrest the criminals; Arlindo is set free.