"I am sick.

I cannot work, and their father drinks mescal--always mescal.

I have no money.

Will you give me a little bread?
I am no beggar, but my babies are so hungry!" Rosa knew how much harm mescal (a kind of intoxicating drink made from the maguey or Mexican aloe) did among the neighbors.

She did not doubt the woman's tale; only it was disappointing, when one thought a real customer had at last come to the panaderia, to find that it was not so.