The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jose: Our Little Portuguese Cousin, by Edith A. (Edith Augusta) Sawyer, Illustrated by Diantha Horne Marlowe This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Jose: Our Little Portuguese Cousin Author: Edith A. (Edith Augusta) Sawyer Release Date: May 28, 2014 [eBook #45797] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSE: OUR LITTLE PORTUGUESE COUSIN*** E-text prepared by Emmy, Beth Baran, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) cover Jose: Our Little Portuguese Cousin THE Little Cousin Series (TRADE MARK) Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover, per volume, 60 cents LIST OF TITLES By Mary Hazelton Wade (unless otherwise indicated) [i] [ii] Our Little African Cousin Our Little Alaskan Cousin By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet Our Little Arabian Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little Argentine Cousin By Eva Canon Brooks Our Little Armenian Cousin Our Little Australian Cousin By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet Our Little Belgian Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little Bohemian Cousin By Clara V. Winlow Our Little Brazilian Cousin By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet Our Little Brown Cousin Our Little Canadian Cousin By Elizabeth R. MacDonald Our Little Chinese Cousin By Isaac Taylor Headland Our Little Cuban Cousin Our Little Dutch Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little Egyptian Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little English Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little Eskimo Cousin Our Little French Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little German Cousin Our Little Grecian Cousin By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet Our Little Hawaiian Cousin Our Little Hindu Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little Hungarian Cousin By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet Our Little Indian Cousin Our Little Irish Cousin Our Little Italian Cousin Our Little Japanese Cousin Our Little Jewish Cousin Our Little Korean Cousin By H. Lee M. Pike Our Little Mexican Cousin By Edward C. Butler Our Little Norwegian Cousin Our Little Panama Cousin By H. Lee M. Pike Our Little Persian Cousin By E. C. Shedd Our Little Philippine Cousin Our Little Porto Rican Cousin Our Little Portuguese Cousin By Edith A. Sawyer Our Little Russian Cousin Our Little Scotch Cousin By Blanche McManus Our Little Siamese Cousin Our Little Spanish Cousin By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet Our Little Swedish Cousin By Claire M. Coburn Our Little Swiss Cousin Our Little Turkish Cousin L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. boy leading team of oxen pulling cart "A SLIM SLIP OF A BOY . . . WALKED AT THE HEAD OF A PAIR OF FAWN-COLORED OXEN." (See page 1) [iii] Jose: Our Little Portuguese Cousin By Edith A. Sawyer Author of "The Christmas Makers' Club," "Elsa's Gift Home," etc. Illustrated by Diantha Horne Marlowe Boston L. C. Page & Company MDCCCCXI Copyright, 1911, by L. C. Page & Company (INCORPORATED) —— All rights reserved First Impression, May, 1911 Preface One of the important historic events of the present century is the revolution which took place in Portugal on the third day of October, 1910, when King Manuel II lost his throne. The king and his mother were exiled and fled from Lisbon, the capital city, to England. A republic was proclaimed throughout Portugal, and a new, progressive government was adopted on December 1st, 1910. Portugal is often described as "a garden by the side of the sea." Its strength as a country lies in its agriculture, especially in its vineyards, which are the chief source of wealth. Education in Portugal has generally been at a low ebb. At the time of the revolution less than one-fifth of the Portuguese people could read and write. Plans for the new government include the opening of many primary schools and the development of a system of higher education. The Portuguese are an earnest people, enthusiastic yet serious-minded. Even the children play soberly. Whether rich or poor, Portuguese children are taught to respect age as well as to honor their parents. Throughout the country even a small boy takes off his cap and makes a bow when he meets an older person. Little girls also are taught gentleness of manner. The home life is simple and happy. [iv] [v] [vi] Contents CHAPTER PAGE Preface v I.Jose's Secret 1 II.The Elder Brother 11 III.A Portuguese Home 17 IV.Garden and Vineyard 28 V.The Husking of the Maize 38 VI.An Autumn Ramble 45 VII.Winter Work and Play 56 VIII.When Spring Unlocks the Flowers 67 IX.On St. Antonio's Day 71 X.Better Times 85 List of Illustrations PAGE "A slim slip of a boy . . . walked at the head of a pair of fawn-colored oxen" (See page 1) Frontispiece "Jose called to the dog to leave off barking" 12 "Joanna, with a boat-shaped basket of clothes upon her head" 34 "She was a picture of youth, beauty and grace" 43 "For a long time the brothers were silent" 50 "He and Jose looked across the city" 82 Jose Our Little Portuguese Cousin CHAPTER I Jose's secret "The childhood shows the man."—John Milton. A slim slip of a boy, with dark brown eyes and pale olive skin, walked at the head of a pair of fawn-colored oxen as he turned homeward from the market-place of a small village in the north of Portugal. The village was just a humble collection of narrow streets paved with round, worn cobble stones; a few shops and a long, one-storied inn; a group of cottages and two or three larger houses, and a little white granite church. Along the street through which Jose Almaida passed with the oxen, the market-day produce was spread out under the trees. There were great piles of maize-cobs, potatoes, chestnuts and beans; baskets full of grapes, figs and apples; strings of garlic and onions; heaps of giant early yellow gourds, scarlet pimentos and deep red tomatoes; panniers of fish, fresh and salted, and red earthenware household dishes, crocks and water-jars. [vii] [viii] [ix] [x] [1] [2] Jose had exchanged the grapes, onions and tomatoes, which he had brought from the home farm, for a small amount of tea and of hard, brown salted codfish,—now the only luxuries of the Almaida family. In the rough ox-cart, Carlos, his dog, a thick-nosed pointer, white with brown spots, mounted guard over these provisions. The market-place was no new sight to Jose. He did not stop in passing along the street, except at the village fountain to fill a jar with water for an old woman. Around the fountain good-natured looking groups of women were talking over village affairs,—women in peasant dress of dark, full short skirts, bright-colored waists, and gay red, blue or orange kerchiefs over their shoulders and hanging from under their round pork-pie black hats. Each woman carried a boat- shaped basket or a water-jar upon her head. Little Jose was a familiar figure on the market-day. For five months past, he had done the family marketing, sometimes with his oldest sister Joanna as companion, but often, as to-day, alone. At each greeting, he bowed and pulled off his long black knitted stocking-cap. To-day, early in October, the market-place had confused him. He had heard groups of men saying that the king had gone away from the country, never to return, and that there would be great changes in Portugal. Jose had three miles to travel before dark. There was no time to lose, so he urged on the oxen. But every now and then, out on the main road, he turned to look back toward the village, shading his eyes with his hand. Not seeing what he sought, he urged on the oxen again with the goad, which was twice as long as himself. The road was steep. The oxen plodded on with low-bowed heads. They were small and intelligent-looking oxen with strong shoulders and wide-branched horns. Above their heavy yoke rose the canga, or head-board, the pride of the Portuguese farmer. This was a piece of hard wood, about eighteen inches high and five feet wide, and handsomely carved in open work. It was the same kind of head-board used by the Romans two thousand years ago, when they held control of Portugal. The up-hill road had many sharp stones. But the boy's hardened bare feet heeded them not. Carlos jumped from the cart to run by his master's side. Jose gave the dog a loving pat: "Ah, Carlos, brother Antonio does not come yet." The dog was the only one who knew Jose's secret. He looked up with eyes which seemed full of sympathy, and put his nose into the boy's hand. Along the wayside were rows and rows of oaks, chestnuts, planes, and most of all, white poplars. The poplars were covered to the top by trailing vines, loaded with purple grapes. On the hillsides were scattered little cottages, whitewashed or painted pale blue, pink, or buff, with red-tiled roofs. Every cottage which Jose passed had its shady porch built with trellis covering, and heavy bunches of grapes hung over the heads of women spinning at the open doorways, surrounded by quiet, bare-foot children. In the distance stood green pine-covered hills. Farther away rose vast mountains, peak upon peak, purple now in the shadows of the October afternoon. It is a beautiful, mountainous country, this Minho region around Guimarães, the old capital city. Minho is Portugal's richest province. And here, it is said, faces are brighter and manners gentler than anywhere else in Portugal. Up-hill the road wound always. Jose met many other boys, barefooted like himself, but usually older, driving oxen or pannier-loaded donkeys. The boys were dressed, as he was, in loose white linen shirt and blue cotton trousers which came just to the knees, a scarlet sash wound three times around the waist, a long, knitted black cap, and a jacket of brown homespun slung upon one shoulder. Sometimes the cap was red or green, but oftenest black; and it ended in a tassel which hung down the back. Many a bare-foot girl, too, trudged along the road, dressed in peasant costume, and driving a donkey with a short stick. With a last wistful look in the direction of the village, Jose turned the oxen from the main road into the rough wooded lane which led to his father's home. The ox-cart creaked and rumbled over the uneven ground. Like all such carts in Portugal, it was made of four or five boards laid flat and resting upon two supports. It had two wheels of solid wood, without spokes, and with iron tires, fixed fast to an axle which turned with the wheels. Long as the three mile journey was to Jose, it was easier to walk than to ride in the jolting car. Jose felt very tired. Although it was almost sunset time, he stopped the oxen and threw himself down near a clump of fragrant shrubs to rest before the last half mile of the hard journey. Carlos came and licked his master's face, then darted off after a red-legged partridge. Upon this young boy had fallen the man's duty in a family of six, including himself,—a now helpless father, a hard- working mother, and three sisters. Since May, when the Senhor Almaida had a stroke of paralysis, Jose had done the heavy work—for a young boy—of caring for the oxen, the cow, the chickens and pig. Besides, he had done what he could, with the help of Joanna, the seventeen-year-old sister, to carry on the farm garden and the vineyard. There was an elder brother, Antonio, now twenty-one years old. He had left home, four years ago, to seek his fortune in America. It was this elder brother whom Jose had been eagerly looking for during the last four months. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] boy holding stick in wolds with dog "JOSE CALLED TO THE DOG TO LEAVE OFF BARKING." Joanna had at once written to Antonio of the father's illness, but had not suggested Antonio's return. "We must not send for Antonio," she and her mother decided. Three times each year they had received money from this elder brother; and the money would be even a greater help now that the father could not work. Jose had been given the letter to post on a village market-day. It was then that the plan for his secret came to him. At the correio, post-office, he spent all the money he had ever owned for a post-card and stamp,—twenty reas, two cents, for the card and twenty reas more, for a two-cent stamp. On one side of the card he copied in printed letters, Antonio's American address; on the other side he wrote the words: "Please come home. We need you. Jose." How glad the boy was then that in the evenings last winter his father had taught him to write and to spell,— something which very few Portuguese children know. For a long time after mailing the post-card Jose felt very guilty with the heavy burden of his secret. As days and weeks went by, the burden grew lighter, but the desire for Antonio's return grew stronger. No letter had come from Antonio since Joanna had written. No money had come, either. This fact, which caused anxiety to the elders, gave Jose strong hope. He felt that Antonio's not sending any money meant that Antonio himself was coming. CHAPTER II THE ELDER BROTHER "His first, best country ever is at home." —Oliver Goldsmith. The few moments of rest in the sweet, cool air refreshed Jose. He jumped up quickly. The farm-work must be done before nightfall. Carlos was barking excitedly. Had he caught the red-legged partridge? Jose turned to see. No, the dog was running toward a stranger, who was walking rapidly in their direction. Could it be Antonio? Jose's heart-beats almost choked him. But no; this was a well-dressed stranger, with shoes on. He was evidently a man from the city, and a traveller, too, because he carried a hand-bag. And he had a black moustache. Of course it was not Antonio. Antonio would be barefooted; Antonio had no moustache. Jose called to the dog to leave off barking. The stranger drew near. Stopping, he stroked one of the fawn-brown oxen. He looked at Jose with piercing dark eyes. His olive skin was clear and sunburned. "Do you live near here, boy?" Jose pulled off his cap as he answered: "Sim, Senhor—Yes, sir—a half mile away." "What is your name?" "Jose Almaida, Senhor." The stranger dropped his hand-bag. He waited a moment to control his voice before he said: "Jose,—this is your brother Antonio." The two brothers rushed into each other's arms and kissed each the other on the cheek. "Accolade!"—Welcome! Jose cried out at last. Antonio, thumping him gently on the shoulders, had drawn back to look into his face. "Is it truly you, Antonio? You are so changed—so old —so splendidly dressed!" "It is your brother Antonio. You, too, are so changed, Jose, that I did not know you. Instead of a very small boy I find a tall, grown lad. How are the father and mother, and the sisters? One little sister, Tareja, I have never seen." [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Eager talk followed, questions and answers coming close together. The mild-eyed oxen looked around as if to ask the reason why the homeward journey was so long delayed. "You say the father can never walk again?" Antonio asked sadly. "We have had the doctor once. He said father may perhaps have the use of his right hand and foot sometime, if he has the best of care." "Are there any crops on the farm this year? Who could do the work?" "The apple and fig trees have borne well. We have good crops of maize and melons and gourds, because father had done the early spring planting before his illness came. Joanna and I did the hoeing and took what care we could. The vines are full of grapes. Father had pruned and trimmed them last winter. Joanna and I are gathering the grapes nowadays and beginning to press them. And I sold some to-day." "Is this your dog, Jose?" Antonio asked. Carlos had burst out again into barking. "Yes. Inez Castillo, the daughter of Senhor Castillo—you remember our neighbor who lives on the big farm?—gave Carlos to me when he was a puppy, a year ago. He stays with me always when I work and goes with me wherever I go. He barks in such a friendly way at you that I think he must know you belong to the family." One of the oxen gave a low cry which the other echoed. Jose picked up the ox-goad and started them forward. "It is time to go on; the night work must be done." Antonio lifted his hand-bag into the cart. "Who does that work?" he asked. "I do. Sometimes Joanna helps. You will help now? You have come to stay at home?" Jose's voice was very wistful. "I shall stay a while to help. We will not talk about this before the others." "A little while will help. I am growing bigger every day." Jose drew his slight figure to its fullest height. Antonio was silent. "Did you get my post-card, Antonio?" Jose asked timidly, after a few moments. "Yes; that is why I came home, Jose." Antonio threw his arm lovingly over the little brother's shoulder as they walked on, side by side. "Please, oh please, do not speak about it before the others,—about my writing to you," Jose begged in a half frightened voice. "I will not speak about it, Jose, I promise you." Antonio looked down at his brother, whom he remembered as little more than a baby. It was hard to realize that this mere child had been the head of the family for five months. CHAPTER III A PORTUGUESE HOME "He was a man of single countenance, Of frank address and simple faith." —Francisco de Sá de Miranda. It was twilight when Antonio, Jose, the patient oxen and the frisky dog reached home. Great was the joy over that home-coming. The father, sitting propped with pillows by the hearth, put his left hand in blessing upon the head of his eldest son and exclaimed "Graças à Deus," thanks be to God. The mother, weeping tears of joy, held Antonio's strong body in her arms for a long moment. Joanna, the tall bronzed sister, who had just come in with the pails from milking, greeted him with a glad kiss upon the forehead. Shy, thirteen-year-old Malfada, her jet black hair floating over her shoulders, hugged the big brother, and then ran to a shadowy corner to watch him. Two- year-old baby Tareja held out her chubby hands: Antonio had her on his shoulder now. The green parrot in its gilded cage cried "Accolade, accolade," in a shrill tone. Joanna quickly began preparing for supper the bôlos de bacalhau—the Portuguese delicacy for feast days—made of minced salt fish, mixed with garlic, shaped into cakes and fried in olive oil. Jose ran out and put the oxen into their corner of the farm-yard near the house, fed them and the cow, the chickens and the pig; brought in firewood, and, last of all, filled the red earthenware jar with cool water from the well on the terrace below the garden. Soon the supper was ready. With thankful hearts and glad talk the family gathered around the long, dark, polished [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] chestnut-wood table. The father's chair was drawn to the side nearest the hearth where a bright fire blazed, lighting the room. The mother held little Tareja. Joanna kept the plates filled with bacalhau, with brôa—the maize and rye bread of Portugal—with the vegetable stew of gourds, dried beans and rice, flavored with bacon, which was the usual supper- dish; then, with ripe olives, fresh figs and sweet seed cakes. Malfada helped the father take his food. Jose ate hungrily, and once in a while slipped a piece of brôa, or bacon, into Carlos' mouth. The front door stood open. Beyond the trees, the shadow of twilight lingered in the valley. The hills were bathed in rosy mist. The Almaida home was one of the better class of small farmhouses. It stood in the centre of a hillside farm of about four acres. It was a square, plastered stone house, whitewashed inside and out. The overhanging eaves of the red-tiled roof were painted deep red underneath. This was the house where Senhor Miguel Almaida's father, his grandfather and great-grandfather had lived. The central room, into which one entered from the vine-clad porch, was uncarpeted. The furnishings showed that the Almaidas were a family of more than peasant rank. At one end of the room stood a large cupboard or cabinet of carved chestnut-wood. Its shelves were full of odds and ends,—some old pieces of English ware, souvenirs of long ago days when trade relations existed with Great Britain, and there was a silver platter of the fine old Portuguese handwork of two hundred years ago. There were also a few books on the shelves, and a violin, a guitar and a flute. Against the wall, opposite the cabinet, were the beds, separated from one another by partitions which did not reach quite to the top of the room. On the walls hung framed colored pictures of the Portuguese hero king, Affonso Henriquez, of Inez de Castro and Prince Pedro, her lover. A large gilt-framed mirror hung near the door, and over the mantel was a crucifix. Never was there a cleaner or a prettier farmhouse in all Portugal. Never were there better-trained, more obedient children than Miguel Almaida's. The father, in these many days when he had to sit helpless by the fireside in his arm-chair, felt grateful for his tidy home, his good wife, and his dutiful children. He was a man of middle height, thick-set in figure. He was of grave character and of great common sense. Even during this illness he kept himself cheerful and of good hope. While the mother strained and cared for the milk, the older sisters washed and put away the dishes. Jose sat on a low stool by his father's side, holding Tareja on his knee, and listening to Antonio's stories about America, of his voyage home, and of the revolution in Portugal. Indeed the events in Portugal were of more interest even than the wonders of far-away America. "Our country has changed very little in the past ten, twenty and perhaps fifty years. Now we can hope for better times," said Miguel Almaida. News of the revolution had been slow in reaching the hillside farm. What the father had heard before as rumors Antonio now told him as facts. The revolution had taken place while Antonio was on the voyage from New York to Gibraltar. The news had greeted him when he landed. As he had journeyed from Gibraltar to Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, and then, northward still, to Guimarães, people everywhere were talking of the great event. Since then, travelling by foot from Guimarães out into the hill country and past the little market-place, always the one topic of interest had been King Manuel's banishment and the fact that the Portuguese people were now to rule and govern themselves. Jose could not understand all that the change meant. But to Antonio and his father it meant better times,—not so much money to be paid in taxes, better laws, and a chance for the children to go to school. Almost all of the education which the Almaida children had received had been at home. Senhor Almaida was a man better educated than many of his neighbors. When the evening work was done, the mother and the two older sisters drew around the hearth. Tiny Tareja soon fell asleep in the mother's arms. Joanna and Malfada began to embroider: Portuguese girls do beautiful work with their needles. The hearth-fire of maple wood burned brilliantly. Two candles on the mantel lighted up the crucifix. Every few moments the parrot in its cage near the mantel, opened its eyes, blinked, and called out "Accolade! à deus!"—Welcome! Good-by! "I am sure the old parrot remembers you, Antonio," the mother said, each time. "He has not talked so much as this for six months." Now it was that Antonio opened his heavy travelling-bag. One by one he took out the presents he had brought. Joanna and Malfada quickly put aside their work. First there was a silver watch for the father,—who had never before in all his life owned a watch. Next came three silver-link hand-bags, the largest for the mother, the middle sized one for Joanna, the smallest for Malfada. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] When Malfada hung the bag from her round wrist and held it forth to look at it, Antonio burst into a hearty laugh and said: "That is just the way I imagined that Malfada would dangle the little bag from her wrist." Antonio put the present for sleeping Tareja into his mother's hands. It was a wonderful American doll with yellow hair and with eyes which would shut and open, and it was dressed all in white, just as Joanna had sometimes, on rare visits to Guimarães, seen foreign children dressed. Then how gleefully they all laughed at the next present which Antonio brought out! It was for the house,—a china salt-cellar, red and round like a tomato. "We must put it in the cabinet. It is too fine to use except on holidays and feast-days," said the mother. Jose's present was the last to appear. Now it was the little boy's turn to receive a paper-covered package, tied with pink string. Jose's short fingers trembled in impatience as he untied the string,—careful, even in his haste, not to break it, for a piece of string was very precious to the boy. Off came the paper and out came a square white box. Off came the box-cover and out came an engine and four gaily painted cars,—such a wonderful toy as Jose had never seen before. It was an evening always to be remembered in the Almaida family. They looked at one another's presents. They listened to Antonio's tales of great American cities and railroads and bridges, of active, rapid-moving people, and of his own work as foreman on a section of railroad diggers. By and by the mother saw that the father, in his arm-chair, was growing tired. So she told the children it was time to go to bed, because they could hear more to-morrow about all these things. Jose took the engine and cars, the box and the pink string to bed with him, and held them clasped in both hands to make sure that the treasures were real. He was very wide-awake. He heard his mother and Antonio talking after they had helped the father to his bed. And the little boy never forgot Antonio's last words to his mother that night: "Before I went away from home, mother, you said to me 'Each morning, resolve not to do anything during all the day which will make you feel sorry when night comes.' I remembered that each morning, mother, and it kept me always from wrong ways and wrong places." CHAPTER IV GARDEN AND VINEYARD "Trees manifold here left their branches tall, Fruit laden, fragrant, exquisite and rare." —Camoens. When, the next morning, Jose led Antonio through the garden and vineyard, crimson vine leaves and purple grapes were the only signs of autumn. The green of summer was fresh over everything else. The granite gate-posts, which divided the front yard and flower garden from the fields, were almost buried in ferns and covered with ivy. In the garden blossomed roses, bright geraniums, asters, balsams, verbenas, salvias and dahlias. The Portuguese are great lovers of flowers. Their climate, where the temperature hardly ever goes below forty degrees, is favorable to the growing of all the flowers, as well as the trees and shrubs, of both temperate and tropical zones. On the borders of the Almaidas' garden and fields, great palms and tall cedars of Lebanon stood side by side with orange, lemon, citron and fig-trees. Here and there was an olive-tree, with gray-green leaves. "How beautiful the flowers are, Jose, and how the trees have grown!" Antonio breathed a happy sigh as he spoke. Many times in his absence these last four years his heart had cried out for the flowers and trees and the quiet happiness of his childhood home. Jose darted off to the house with the large bouquet of flowers he had gathered for his father. As he ran back to Antonio, he called: "Come to the farm-yard. I want you to see our pretty, gentle cow, and the chickens and the pig." At the right-hand side of the house was a good-sized farm-yard, kept more than ankle-deep in gorse and bracken litter. This yard was formed by one side of the house and by a small granite building which held the grape-vats. High over the yard hung grave-vines on strong wooden trellises. Here the cattle found shade and shelter in the heat of mid- summer. In Portugal, cattle are kept in the yards instead of being put out to pasture. The dun-brown cow was indeed a gentle creature. She leaned her head to one side while Jose stroked her neck, [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] and she looked at Antonio with friendly brown eyes. The chickens, in their corner coop, hurried forward, as if expecting food, so Jose ran outside the yard and pulled some handfuls of chickweed for them. The long, tall pig grunted a welcome, standing still to have his back scratched. The oxen turned restlessly, as if wondering why work was so late in beginning to-day. Next the brothers visited the grape-vats. The wide, shallow tubs were full of trodden grapes. For several days Jose with Joanna, and Malfada to help sometimes, had carefully removed the green and decayed grapes from the huge purple clusters they had gathered, and had thrown the good grapes into the vats. Jose and the girls had trodden these grapes with their bare feet. Now the juice was running from the vats through the troughs and the strainers in rich crimson streams into caskets set upon slabs of granite outside. This is the way that port, the wine for which Portugal is famed, is made throughout the country. Antonio stood looking out over the maize field and vineyard, of about an acre, beyond the flower gardens. It was surrounded by poplar trees. Upon the trees hung grape-vines, heavy with fruit. "We must gather more grapes to-day, Jose. I will help, and together we will tread the wine-press." Antonio's quick eyes saw that only a small part of the grapes had been taken from the vines. They must make the most of the vineyard crop. Beyond the grape-vats was the eira, or threshing-floor, made of granite slabs set close together, and beyond the eira, a small barn and storehouse. The eira was well open to sun and wind. Piled high at one side were stacks of maize-stalks, full of unhusked ears. The farm-work was behindhand at this harvest time: it had been more than Jose and his two sisters could do. Yet they had bravely tried. The oxen's inquiring looks had reminded Jose that the day's watering of the gardens and fields ought to begin. "Let me take the oxen out to-day, Antonio, please," Jose said, when his brother would have gone ahead with the work. Jose knew that his part as leader would soon be ended. Hard as the care had been, he felt more than half sorry to give it up to Antonio. The obedient oxen came forth under the yoke and the high, carved head-board. With the long ox-goad Jose guided them, Antonio following, to the wide terrace at the left side of the house, where a well was sunk into a deep spring, which had a supply of water that never failed. Jose fastened the oxen to the nora, the old-time water-wheel. Round and round the oxen went, in a wide circle, under trellises covered with vines. Their moving carried power to an endless chain which was set a few feet apart with buckets. These buckets, sent dipping in turn down into the well, brought up water from its depths. Half of it was spilled by the way. But enough was saved to make a plentiful stream which flowed off to the thirsty gardens and fields below. In this Portuguese part of Europe there is scarcely any rain from May to November. Therefore through the long dry season, watering is necessary to the growth of the crops and the vines. Irrigation by the water of springs brought down from the hill-tops to the farms on the way, is increasing every year. But many farmers, in remote places, like the Almaidas', still follow the two thousand year old custom of watering from a well by means of the oxen's turning of the endless chain. "This is water enough for to-day," Jose said at last. "Will you drive the oxen to the yard? I must help Joanna." And off the boy ran. Joanna, with a boat-shaped basket of clothes upon her head, had just gone to the stream beyond the barn, near the wood-lane entrance to the farm. She waded out into the stream, above her ankles, and took the clothes which Jose handed to her, washing out one piece after another in the running water. When this task was done, busy Jose hurried back to join Antonio, who had begun to gather grapes. For an hour they worked, filling and emptying other boat-shaped baskets, till the sun was high overhead. "We will tread the grapes toward night, Jose," Antonio said, when Joanna called them to dinner. At the noon-day meal they ate brôa—bread—dipped in olive oil, a little dried fish, oranges and figs. After dinner, in the heat of the day, Antonio went out to a rocky corner of the farm and lay down in the cool shade. Jose brought along his engine and cars. It was the first chance he had found to-day to play with them. And until Antonio grew too sleepy, he told Jose about real trains and railroads. Oh, it was good to be free, good to be in the shade of the trees, to look off over the hills and dream of the cities and the people beyond! Antonio fell asleep, thinking these thoughts. When he awoke, Jose was drawing the train of cars by the pink string, back and forth. A far-away strain of music sounded upon the air. "Have you learned yet to play the flute or violin, Jose?" Antonio asked. [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] Girl walking with basket on head "JOANNA, WITH A BOAT-SHAPED BASKET OF CLOTHES UPON HER HEAD." "Yes, Antonio, I can play the violin a little." "Run to the house, bring both violin and flute. You can play the one, and I will see if I have forgotten what I knew about the other." Away sped Jose. Returning, he gave Antonio the flute, keeping the violin. Then for an hour the brothers played, not by note but by ear, the simple, sweet melodies of the country-side. The Portuguese people are lovers of music as of flowers. Each farmer, peasant, shepherd and charcoal- burner has his guitar or violin, his pipe or flute. Jose's violin notes were true and liquid. The old violin— it had been his grandfather's—was rich-toned. Presently Antonio laid aside the flute and listened to the little brother's playing. CHAPTER V THE HUSKING OF THE MAIZE "If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work." —William Shakespeare. Jose and Antonio, Malfada and Joanna worked side by side those busy days of the next two weeks. They gathered and trod the grapes. They cut and carried through the threshing-floor great sheaves of maize and of bean-stalks, leaving them to dry there in readiness for the threshing. The girls were active and willing, strong and cheerful. Both girls and boys worked with the eager purpose of helping the invalid father and the mother so wearied with constant care of the sick man and the young child. After the grapes were gathered, and the maize and beans harvested, the hard work was over for a time. The gourds and watermelons, which had been planted between the rows of maize and beans, now open to the sunshine, were gaining in mellow color. There was some free time for the Almaida family in the afternoons of these October days. Jose drew his engine and cars back and forth on the terrace, Carlos barking after him. Sometimes Jose played with Malfada around the water- works, and swam oranges in the streams still running from the endless chain of buckets. The mother and Joanna worked in the flower garden. Antonio wandered off on the hillside with his flute. At the maize-husking season in Portugal there is many a gay assembly. The threshing-floor is the social gathering- place for old and young. Antonio, Joanna, Malfada and even little Jose had already been to the Decamisadas, or husking, on neighboring farms, when the work and the dancing had lasted until late into the evening. Now Antonio had, in turn, invited their neighbors to a maize-husking. On the afternoon set, eager troops of men and boys, most of them carrying some musical instrument, came in holiday costume of homespun trousers, white linen shirt with a large gold or silver stud at the neck, a red sash bound around the waist, broadcloth or homespun cloak hung over one shoulder, and newest hat of black felt or cap of knitted yarn. Eager troops of girls came also, in full short skirts, in bodices of dark red or yellow worn over white waists, the large sleeves newly starched and ironed. Each girl had a gay-colored cotton or silk kerchief over her shoulders, and almost every one wore handsome filigree gold earrings. Jose's mother was dressed in the same kind of costume, except that her kerchief was of soft dark red silk; and she wore her chief treasure, a heavy gold chain and cross. That afternoon, for the first time since his illness, Senhor Almaida sat out on the porch in his arm-chair, his best [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] woman dancing "SHE WAS A PICTURE OF YOUTH, BEAUTY AND GRACE." broadcloth cloak wrapped about him. In the excitement of the family preparation for the Decamisadas, he had moved his right hand slightly. How the mother and the children rejoiced in this sign of returning strength! The husking went on merrily. Skilful fingers made quick work. Gossip and song filled the air with busy hum. At times one or two of the men left off work, upon Antonio's asking, and for a half hour played familiar tunes on flute, guitar, violin or pipe. Toward sunset, when the sky was all aglow with red light, the mother, Joanna and Malfada brought out the supper of brôa, dried fish and preserved fruits. The large platters were piled high with the food, and there was plenty more in the house. The workers had hearty appetites, and each took a cupful of the fresh-pressed grape-juice which Antonio passed around. The round harvest moon rose just at sunset. In the red- silver glow of twilight and moonlight, the cheerful workers began their tasks again. After an hour more, the husking was finished. A huge heap of golden ears gleamed in the centre of the threshing-floor. Willing hands carried these off to the barn. The threshing-floor was cleared of maize- stalks and chaff. All was ready for dancing. First the young men and maidens formed a circle and went round and round in a merry jig. Then they danced, in groups, the bolero, a dance slow and firm in motion, with well-marked time. This was followed by a lively reel. As the music grew louder, little Jose dared to join in with his beloved violin. Then singing burst forth to the music, players and dancers taking part in the simple country-side melodies, until, warm and breathless, the dancers drew back to the edges of the threshing-floor. And now they began eagerly calling upon Inez Castillo for the dance she did so well. Eighteen-year-old Inez Castillo had stood aside while the others danced. She did not like so much romping. But now she stepped forward good-naturedly at their request. Her deep black eyes glowed with the lustre of health. There was a ripe red flush upon her cheeks, an expression of gentle modesty upon face and figure. "You play for me, Jose, you alone, please," the girl asked. She knew how perfectly in tune and in time Jose's music was. Steadily, but rather low at first, the boy began to play. Steadily and gracefully Inez danced forth, her silver bracelets tinkling upon her wrists. Her arms and body moved in perfect time. She was a picture of youth, beauty and grace. Jose did not think about the people listening as he drew his bow back and forth. He thought only of making his music as true as possible for Inez,—Inez who had given him his dear dog-friend Carlos. Antonio leaned against the stone wall of the barn, watching the face of his music-loving little brother. "I must try to let the lad have some music-training," he said to himself. He watched, too, the modest, graceful dancing of Inez; and he decided that however interesting far-away America had been, his own fatherland was a goodly country. CHAPTER VI AN AUTUMN RAMBLE "With dreamful eyes My spirit lies Under the walls of Paradise." —Thomas Buchanan Read. The father was better. He could move the weak hand and foot, although he was not yet able to use them. But he could sit all day in the arm-chair on the porch. From there he was able to direct the late autumn work. This was fortunate. Antonio had half forgotten what needed to be done, and Jose did not yet know much about it. [42] [43] [44] [45] The mother's face had brightened. She did the work of the household and cared for Tareja with a thankful heart. Joanna and Malfada were again busy all day out of doors in the field with their brothers. Now the winter's supply of gourds, left among the stubble of maize-stalks, had grown very large and yellow. There were two kinds of gourds,—one, smooth and round, the other, long and striped. These were gathered and lifted, some to the low roof of the barn, others to the top of the rocky ledge, where they would not have to stand in the wet after the autumn rains began. The melons, also, were gathered and stored in the same way. Upon these places, gourds and melons would keep sound until February. All through the winter the better ones would be valuable food for the family, while the coarser ones would be used for cattle and pig. There was a good supply of cabbage in the garden for the winter's house-use and for feeding the live stock. Sown late in the summer, the cabbage had grown to four or five feet in height. Its lower leaves would be picked off, week after week, then the stalks cut down in the spring to make room for other crops. Twice Jose went with Antonio to the wild lands of the remote hillside, and loaded upon the ox-cart gorse, heather, bracken and wild grass as winter stabling for the cattle. This they cut or scraped together with broad-bladed hoes,— simple tools made of a flat piece of iron shaped like a spade and fastened upon a handle. Jose's hoe-handle was so long that he had very hard work to manage it. But he bravely kept on, no matter how his arms and back ached during those early November days. It would soon be time to plough the stubble and to sow the winter barley, rye and wheat, the flax, and the maize for cattle feed. "We will take a holiday, Jose, before we begin this new work. Where would you like to go?" Antonio asked, as they walked homeward from the wild-land by the side of the oxen. Carlos ran ahead on the wood-road, sniffing the fresh air. "I would like best to go up to the hill-top, where we can look off and see Guimarães and the old ruined Roman city, Citania." "We will go to-morrow. You have earned a holiday, and the up-hill walk will straighten your shoulders. The hoeing has made you bend over like a little old man." The next morning's work of caring for the live-stock was done early. Each with a lunch-basket, and a cloak hung over one shoulder, the two brothers set forth, followed by Carlos, and watched out of sight by the family on the front porch. They found the mossy old foot-path which led from the main road up the hill. Pine needles made the rocks here and there as slippery as glass. But tufts of tall, stout grass along the path served as a help in climbing. The sky overhead was deepest blue. Through the trunks of trees on both sides of the path they could see many a maize-field yellow with stubble, and many a vineyard with brilliant bronze leaves. The trees were very beautiful. Here was the straight trunk of a eucalyptus "tall as the mast of some great admiral;" here was a cork-tree with a rich, brown velvet-like trunk, and here a gum-tree, its long drooping leaves of russet, red and orange showing like jewels against the slender, dark trunk. There were seats for the weary built against the trees along the way. Once in a while the brothers stopped to rest. And at the noon hour they ate their luncheon, Jose sitting at Antonio's feet, and giving a large part of his own share to the dog. By early afternoon they came to the rocky crag of the hill. A humble hermitage stood upon the outer edge of this great rock. Near the hermitage a gilded cross was built upon a broad pillar of piled stones,—the work of some long- ago, shoeless Carmelite or Trappist monk. The hermitage was deserted now, but the palms and ferns around it were rich in beauty. Antonio, who had read much about his country's history, told Jose that all these green growing things had been planted and tended with loving care by the devout monks who had taken on themselves the vows of poverty and of silence. Antonio and Jose lay down upon the soft, fine grass, under a tall palm-tree, and looked out over the wide view which the rocky crag gave. The mole-crickets made a soft churr-churring sound around them. Blackbirds in the tree- tops gave shrill, crowing calls. From hilly pastures, shepherds among their sheep sang in rivalry with one another. For a long time the brothers were silent. The beauty of the scene almost took away speech. On all sides were purple hills and upon every hill-top stood a hermitage or shrine with a shining cross above it. Far away rose the giant peak of the Penha, a mountain covered with green up the greater part of its height, then bare granite to its top. Antonio pointed to the southeast: "There on the plain, is Guimarães, with its many roofs and chimneys; and, look, there is the smoke of a railroad train." "Will you take me there some time, Antonio, so that I can see a real train of cars?" "Yes, Jose, we will go there on our next long holiday. Now look over yonder. Half way up the hill do you see some rows of stone wall?" [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51]