I knew not whither. It seemed to me that some one was following me. When I came to myself I discovered that Carmen had never left me.
“‘Great stupid of a canary-bird!’ she said, ‘you never make anything but blunders. And, indeed, you know I told you I should bring you bad luck. But come, there’s a cure for everything when you have a Fleming from Rome* for your love. Begin by rolling this handkerchief round your head, and throw me over that belt of yours. Wait for me in this alley—I’ll be back in two minutes.
* Flamenco de Roma, a slang term for the gipsies. Roma
does not stand for the Eternal City, but for the nation of
the romi, or the married folk—a name applied by the
gipsies to themselves. The first gipsies seen in Spain
probably came from the Low Countries, hence their name of
Flemings.
“She disappeared, and soon came back bringing me a striped cloak which she had gone to fetch, I knew not whence. She made me take off my uniform, and put on the cloak over my shirt. Thus dressed, and with the wound on my head bound round with the