Sunshine and sentiment in Portugal . six oclock before we actually vanquishedspace and set foot within its walls. The first person we met willingly guided us to the house ofPadre Callada. We might have discovered it for ourselves,for, being the abode of the village priest, it was, as is in-variably the case, superior in every way to its a whitewashed room, the windows of which com-manded a magnificent view, we found the Padre in the com-pany of two gentlemen of the same cloth. Upon a table inthe middle of the room was a large dish of pears, two bottlesof wine, and three stout
Sunshine and sentiment in Portugal . six oclock before we actually vanquishedspace and set foot within its walls. The first person we met willingly guided us to the house ofPadre Callada. We might have discovered it for ourselves,for, being the abode of the village priest, it was, as is in-variably the case, superior in every way to its a whitewashed room, the windows of which com-manded a magnificent view, we found the Padre in the com-pany of two gentlemen of the same cloth. Upon a table inthe middle of the room was a large dish of pears, two bottlesof wine, and three stout tumblers ; one bottle was empty,the other but half full, while the glasses all bore rosy evidenceof having been extremely busy. There was no doubt butthat the holy fathers had been making merry. They haddiscarded their flowing upper garments, and sat uncere-moniously in shirt-sleeves—a most sensible innovation con-sidering the excessive heat of the day. Padre Callada was ofshort stature and of most rotund figure. His face, round. Ini-. iMiA 1 ^ ii\ii i; makim; A SAINT WORTHY OF A HALO 59 and red as the sun when it sets in a mist, glowed with thecombined effects of heat and hospitahty ; his expressionwas at once engaging and good-natured. Here, you felt,was no bigot, no lean aesthetic to scowl sullenly on joyswhich he could not appreciate, but a jolly friar, with a tastefor good wine, and possibly an eye for a wench. Even somust Friar Tuck have appeared when, having gallopedthrough a Latin grace, he turned gleefully to a venison pasty. His companions had less of the stamp of good fellowship ;yet they flagged not far behind him in appreciation of thejoys of good living. Their portly stomachs— capon-lined,I warrant—allowed no doubt to be entertained on thissubject. One of them had evidently been relating somehumorous anecdote immediately prior to our intrusion, forthe others were in the full swing of irrepressible very echoes of the whitewa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectportuga, bookyear1904
