The days went by. There were frequent holidays, since Spain
is always commemorating some anniversary, and no work could
be done on those days. Even on the rest there were few hours
for action. No one ever came to his office before ten in the
morning, and each afternoon, between two and four, everyone
barred his entrance for the luncheon hour. In the few hours in
which business could be transacted, I wasted time because I
had to walk almost everywhere, since the taxicabs stood idle
on the streets except for the few days immediately after the
gasoline rations were allotted. I learned that when I was able
to find a taxi, it was advisable to hire it for all day. When I got
one, I seemed always to be travelling farther than necessary.
Once I asked to go to the Avenue Lopez de Hoyas and arrived
instead at the Calle de Lopez Ruare. Another time I asked to
be taken to a telephone and was driven across town to the
telephone company building.

I could not blame the driver, however. My inadequate Span-
ish was probably the reason. At any rate, there were two occa-
sions when, told that I should drink bottled water only, I asked
for that and obtained citrate of magnesia instead. I drank half
the bottle the first time, merely supposing it had an unusual
taste, before I read the label.

If I did not take a taxi, I used other means of conveyance
when possible. Sometimes, when they were not too crowded,
I took a street car. Usually, when I boarded one, I found the
conductor could not push his way through the throngs to col-
lect the fare. I took a hansom cab but once, since I found I
could walk to my destination faster.

Madrid was a city where the streets in the main business
district, running in all directions from the Plaza del Sol, were
thronged day and night with people walking leisurely and
apparently going nowhere. I found it was a city where drivers
generally obeyed the signs warning against señales ac£sticas,
horn-blowing, and other loud noises, and where the pedestrians
almost always waited for the traffic lights to change and seldom

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