followed, and having overtaken him as he was mounting the steps of a
church, he took him apart, and poured forth so interminable a string of
rigmarole, all about the theft of the purse, and the prospect of
recovering it, that the poor Sacristan could do nothing but listen with
open mouth, unable to make head or tail of what he said, although he
made him repeat it two or three times.

Cortado meanwhile continued to look fixedly into the eyes of the
Sacristan, whose own were rivetted on the face of the boy, and seemed to
hang, as it were, on his words. This gave Cortado an opportunity to
finish his job, and having cleverly whipped the handkerchief out of the
pocket, he took leave of the Sacristan, appointing to meet him in the
evening at the same place, for he suspected that a certain lad of his
own height and the same occupation, who was a bit of a thief, had stolen
the purse, and he should be able to ascertain the fact in a few days,
more or less.

Somewhat consoled by this promise, the Sacristan took his leave of
Cortado, who then returned to the place where Rincon had privily
witnessed all that had passed. But a little behind him stood another
basket-boy, who had also seen the whole transaction; and at the moment
when Cortado passed the handkerchief to Rincon, the stranger accosted
the pair.

"Tell me, gallant gentlemen," said he, "are you admitted to the Mala
Entrada,[17] or not?"

[17] _Mala Entrada_, the evil way.

"We do not understand your meaning, noble Sir," replied Rincon.