  After Pilar went out, her grandfather lay thinking. Somehow the old man felt better today. He did not fall asleep as soon as Pilar left the house. He began to wonder where she had gone and why she had taken the castanets with her. He knew that she had been obliged to sell many of her mother's souvenirs, so that they might live. But he hoped that soon he would be able again to provide for his granddaughter and himself. "Suppose Pilly has gone out to sell the castanets," he thought. The idea frightened him. Yet he tried to tell himself that he was just a foolish old Still he could not help remembering the legends which had been handed down through his family. He lay dreaming, and before him passed the days when Pilar's mother had been young. Her name had been Carmen Pilar Innocentia Gonzales, but she had been known as "Carmen, the Little Spanish Dancer." As a little girl, she had been just such a graceful dancer as Pilar. And one day a great teacher from Madrid had seen her and had taken her away to study in the capital. But before that, she had spent much time on the streets of Seville. Her father could still see her playing there with her little friend Tony, who had lived next door. Tony and his comrades had often staged a bullfight. Tony would be the brave torero When Tony would plunge his make-believe sword into the make-believe bull, everyone would cheer loudly.
Bullfighting is still Spain's favorite sport, though recently football has arrived there. The Spanish call it "fÚtbol," and it has become very popular. But Tony had always wanted to be a torero. Pilar's grandfather lay smiling as he However, when Pilar's mother, Carmen, grew older, she had been courted by a young man who was a bullfighter. The memory of this young man brought to mind again the fear of losing the castanets. For Pilar's grandfather recalled a very real and dramatic story about Carmen and Pedro, the young torero.
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