FELISBERTO HERNANDEZ
409
The next mo rnin g, toward noon, Horace returned a lone, to walk
down the dirt road tha t led to the house by the river. He came to a
closed ga te, next to whi ch there was another even small er house
p ro babl y belonging to the fo rester. He clapped and an unshaven man
in a torn ha t came o ut chewin g.
" Looking fo r someone?"
" I' ve been to ld the owner of tha t house over there has a doll. . ."
The man-now leaning bac k on a Iree -broke in
to
say:
"The owner is o ut. "
Ho race drew severa l bill s from his wall et; and the man , eyeing the
money, began to chew mo re slowl y. Horace stood there thoughtfully
ri ppling the bill s, as if they were pl ay ing cards. The man swallowed
and wa tched . When he seemed to have had enough time to imagine
everything he could do with the money, Horace said:
" I mi g ht just want to have a look a t tha t doll. "
"The boss comes a t seven. "
" Is the house open ?"
" No, but I have a key. In case anyone finds out," said the man ,
reaching for
th e loot,
" I don 't know anything." H e pocketed the
money, takin g out a bi g key: " Give it a coupl e of turns. . . The doll is
upsta irs... And make sure you leave everything
jest
as you find it. "
Horace strode down the road, once aga in full of youthful excite–
ment. T he sma ll front door was as dirty as an old hag and the key
seemed to squirm in the lock. He went into a dingy room with fishing
poles leaning aga inst the wa lls. He picked hi s way through the filth
and on up a recentl y varni shed staircase. T he bedroom was comfor–
tabl e; but there was no do ll. He looked everywhere, even under the bed;
and a t las t he fo und her in a wardrobe. At first it was like running into
one of Ma ry's surpri ses. T he do ll was in a black evening gown dotted
with tin y stones like drops of glass.
If
she' d been in one of his show
cases he would have thought of her as a widow sprinkled with tears.
Suddenl y he hea rd a bl as t, like a gunsho t. He ran to look over the top
o f the stairs and saw a fi shing po le lying on the fl oor below, in a small
cl oud of dust. T hen he decided to wrap the do ll in a bl anket and carry
her down to the ri ver. She was li ght and cold; and whil e he looked for a
hidden spo t under the trees he caught a scent tha t didn 't seem to come
from the fores t, and traced it to her. H e found a soft spo t on the grass,
spread o ut the bla nket, holding her over hi s shoulder, and laid her
down as gentl y as if she' d fa inted in his arms. In spite of the seclusion,
he wasn 't a t ease. A frog jumped and landed nearby; and as it sat there
panting, he wo ndered whi ch way it was going to jump next. In a
moment , he drove it o ff with a stone. But still ,
to
hi s disappointment,
he couldn 't concentra te properl y o n the doll. He didn 't da re look her in
