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48 DAYS IN THE SUN
tical gifts of the Spaniard, particularly the practical
gifts of the Andalusian. The Spaniard has little de-
sire for material enjoyments; he has no appreciation of
placid comforts and despises the way to their attain-
ment: the method of slow, peaceful progress. The
peseta coin which he finds in the street or obtains by
begging is a far more agreeable object to him than the
ninety-nine righteous pesetas gotten by personal ex-
ertions, for this peseta he finds is for him a symbol—
as it were—of happiness, which comes from without,
which must seek him unsought. For this reason his
plans have very little continued direction; he never
works for a distant goal, or for long intervals, but
only by spurts—that is, only until the great lottery
number falls due. For there is no doubt that he will
be the lucky man some day.
A locomotive driver and a locomotive fireman, who
were playing the lottery together, were driving a pas-
senger train northward to Madrid on the day before
Christmas, the day of the great drawing. During a
stop at a certain station, a stop that was to last a few
minutes, they obtained a list of the successful numbers.
They learned that their number was one of the lucky
ones, whereupon they abandoned the locomotive at
once, leaving the train and its hundreds of Christmas
passengers to take care of themselves.
Progressive newspapers in Spain write savage ar-
ticles attacking the Christmas lotteries and the national
fever that comes with them; they draw the darkest
picture of the Spanish gambling nature and predict
disastrous consequences to the economic future of the
nation. But after every drawing, these same news-
papers will give to their readers precise reports of the
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