"In the name of God," he cried, "tell me plainly if you think my man is reasonably safe on his journey." The homunculus, undergoing one of his rapid changes, seized the officer's arm.

The grip of his little hand was astonishing.
"Senor! Bernardino had taken notice of him.

What more do you want?
And listen--men have disappeared on this road--on a certain portion of this road, when Bernardino kept a _meson_, an inn, and I, his brother-in-law, had coaches and mules for hire.

Now there are no travellers, no coaches.
The French have ruined me.

Bernardino has retired here for reasons of his own after my sister died.