At table, s picking eeth his knife.

    quot;I  to learn t;

    inues to pick eet  to learn t t; o learn it noo be a lady, Papa; isnt so ;Papa, I  to learn t;

    teresa is spoiled, indulged in everyt o tease   often er pleading s , munches.

    quot;And weac;

    quot;Jo Aunt Roxanas.quot;

    an animal he can become.

    quot;? My daug fat w;

    Maria leaps to ers defence, surging do you insult my sister!quot;

    Mendoza ts ; s;Im not er mixing ;

    quot;I  to learn piano,quot; ts.

    quot;Over my dead body o Roxanas to learn t no;

    quot;t Joo teac;

    A creaking ting ing pigs and flapping chickens.

    Effortlessly, its installed in teresas room; entranced, s tes. quot;Kitty, kitty, t is coming to teac;

    ting, lolling in a rocking-cequila. Jo, elegant, a stranger, damned, folio of music under o give teresa lessons. First, scales. . . soon, Czerny exercises. Jos, cime.

    Bored, equila and nods off to sleep. . . A Czerny exercise; teresa  quite mastered it. Making a mess of it, in fact. On purpose? Joter.

    Joands beo put e tle, broten fingernails.

    Surns to  taken aback. Despises s going to be almost too easy!

    But o be accomplis in teresas bedroom,  in Jo t Roxanas chful eye.

    quot;In c;

    A  cat in expectation of mass conversions among t in ruins, on a kind of bluff, brooding over ty. And terriump, s, sached, rejoicing in his own coldness, his own wickedness.

    Naked, teresa oar, stands looking up vaguely at t. S ongue at her saviour.

    quot;Ill be o be married.quot;

    quot;Married?quot;

    quot;to a fine bandit gentleman.quot; Makes a face. quot;Because I  everyt first I must be married.quot;

    quot;O; says Jo, gone into ;You  be married. I  let you be married.quot;

    Suspicious, at first. t;Do you love me?quot; Exultant, sing. quot;So you love me! You must love me! Youll take me a;

    t rummages trunk in s out old books and curious instruments. terious sries t it is locked; stles tatedly. quot; are you up to?  secrets do you  t? Is it --quot;

    t lets akes o ;ake ts to, ;

    quot;Your. . . son o set you free?quot;

    quot;Not my son, Roxana.quot;

    S s forgets t of ;

    quot;;

    ide-eyed, sares at him.

    quot;Yes, old man, I do believe I do. Its been so long, nooget;

    quot;ell be toget;

    So  materials and no;ttle teresa, not o ;

    quot;No. Not teresa.  o anyone? Not teresa.quot;

    An eclipse of t tar, t and Joe demon -- torm! Out of noo a sandstorm. Roxana, alone in ters close and mutters prayers, incantations.

    t s t of torms, ory figures emerge and merge, figures of demons or gods not necessarily tinent, ts banned daemonology.

    t acle; Aztec and toltec gods appear in giant forms. to have disappeared.

    ual is done, all clears; terior of t over tar cast dos face. Jo pick t t is couge has nearly killed him.

    Outside, all is calm noern, firm,  to .

    quot;;

    quot;ing.  to us.quot;

    Outside, against till  part of ts in t, ing, impassive.

    t, leaning s tly ceremony. But Jo;Got t;

    quot;I got it.quot;

    t.

    quot;;

    quot;On account,quot; says t;On account.quot;

    ips . coillness of t, s diminish.

    Jos ter repeater in  looks perfectly normal. Not used to guns,  clumsily. ment is obvious.

    quot;s so special about it? Could  one in tore.quot;

    quot;It s,quot; says t, impassive as any Indian. quot;And t is t  in it, it belongs to ;

    quot;But --quot;

    quot;t is t for you, even trigger. But t miss targets. t;

    Incredulous, Joakes aim, fires at a movement in toarget, teresas kitten, dead.

    quot;Five left no; says t. quot;Use t a ;

    teresa s ten. quot;Kitty! Kitty!quot; But tten doesnt come. quot;ten it,quot; says teresas mot;And ill, teresa, youre ;

    Its a store-bougagecoacy. All  of teresas bedroom, Maria pops ters  a picture. But teresa sulks.

    quot;I dont  to get married.quot;

    too bad, teresa! tomorro and  married.

    I . I !

    You   time.

    teresa, in  a fees of t;edding Marc; on .

    Jo t;edding Marc;; a , drunk, flings  t. titiously ter. t s, all notable villains. But too mucension to be any joy. Roxana, unsmiling, rings up t mirror on er. t, morose, stoops over  ts treat empt.

    teresa creeps out of eals along treet, conceals ily in treet.

    s for ake me aenderness. Perake o look at er t. Perhaps. . .

    Its very late, no stays up.  t form of a  passed out on tuck a feat on tors aken off rousers, daubed h rouge.

    silently pours  t, love -- certainly ion.

    quot;I could almost ask you. . .quot;

    Joles a few bars of C;Funeral Marc;.

    quot;But to ttle teresa. tleman. . . quot;

    Maybe. Maybe not. But, maybe. . .

    eresas angles in t bustle in t; t a carriage for   paper flo s s table in black, eresa, in urns to urns the embrace fiercely.

    Joograps time. Unudents black velvet jacket, elegant, deadly, mad, ohe church.

    t back t; Jos of tar clotests t of ts.

    t  go to t!  get out of bed. Please, Roxana, dont you go to t? Not see my little niece teresa get married? And you soo, you irreligious old man. Arent you fond of teresa?

    But t is sick t cra of bed. ares at tains on his handkerchief.

    quot;Im dying, Roxana. Dont leave me.quot;

    te, teresas fatakes ar. tion rustles. tly.

    Roxana, late, troubled, untidily dressed, slips in at the church.

    teresa steps out of ted carriage in front of tely around for Joime, t respond, s too mucer ttle dressed up, boots polished, offers her his arm.

    traditional gasps as s s will o save me?

    t.

    teresa arrives beside  glance of furious dislike. t says t he wedding service.

    Joar clotar, ss point-blank thed Mendoza.

    Mendoza tumbles backar steps.

    Silence. ting. then, gunfire. havoc!

    But no bullet can toucs to attack s to two men fall.

    teresa, in ands speechless, shocked.

    owards her dead husband.

    Jos Maria. So the body of her husband.

    teresa at last wakes up. So an end.

    Roxana figer s, noise, gunsmoke.

    Outside t. teresa cant speak. Roxana ohe whorehouse.

    Jos from the church door. Now hes like a mad dog. Blazing, furious, deadly -- carrying a gun.

    By ter teresa faster, faster -- tumbles over e lace  and blood. Faster, faster -- he devil himself is coming!

    ts mistress and ttle teresa run to gazes out of toheir heels.

    t opens the whorehouse door.

    he bar.

    Slowly, s.

    Johnny.

    teresa sees ory to protect  to eria.

    Joartled, s; so turned against urned e!

    akes aim at t, fires t.

    ten its t, forgotten everyt th which he can kill.

    and teresa drops dead by train slides doo ter.

    t bursts into a great fit of tears. Roxana kneels by to ly. Crosses , slumped on the whorehouse veranda, a long, dark look.

    t of turns, runs.

    Coda

    Almost t. e, fantastic rocks, sand, burning sun. Joole one of t founders beneatance. . .

    But ted. A s black jacket, er from t last, a t house.

    quot;t;

    Flies buzz on an unburied corpse in a murky interior. Joce-faced, fevered -- you would he devil pursuing him.

    At t before  till, so silent as at first to seem part of to see Joumbling towards him.

    quot;I ing for you,quot; says t;e o conclude.quot;