The Pretty Sister Of José

It had taken him a long time, and it had cost him-Jos -much hard labor, to prepare for his aged grandmother and Pepita the tiny home out-side Madrid, to which he at last brought them in great triumph one hot summer‟s day, when the very vine-leaves and orange-trees themselves were dusty. It had been a great undertaking for him in the first place, for he was a slow fellow-Jos ; slow as he was dull and kind and faithful to Pepita and the grandmother. He had a body as big as an ox, and a heart as big as his body, but he was slow and dull in everything but one thing-that was his carpenter work.