;::::::.m T\YO BIRD- LOVERS IN MEXICO '#'•""•- 



nine delicacy. " What ! " they exclaimed. " La Senor- 

 itd is jjfoinof on into the wild barrancas f Dlos 

 mlo ! Impossible ! Think of the hard trail, the fierce 

 tigres, the bandits ! Only yesterday a traveller and his 

 mozo were held up and robbed of six hundred pesos ! " 

 And so on, but to no purpose. La Senorita was more 

 resolved than ever, having- come thus far, to yield to 

 the fascination of the volcano,, which drew like a lode- 

 stone ; and indeed we knew the dangers were exagger- 

 ated by these good people — these women who live but 

 the hundredth part of the life of an American girl. 



Tlie hotel was clean and neat, the jxitio shaded by 

 masses of oranges and lemons, wliile tame deer, parrots, 

 burros, dogs, cats, and doves occasionallv wandered 

 past our door, or stop])ed to regard us with wondering 

 eyes. 



We sent for a cdf/ucrrj guide and arranged for liorses 

 and a pack-train. " L'sfd iino/ bien, Senorita,'' was 

 his commendation when he learned that she desired 

 a man's saddle. Tlie Mexican women always use a 

 most cumbrous kind of side-saddle, carrying two sad- 

 dles — one facing left aiul one right, that tlu*y may, 

 when (•rani])('(l. change tlieir positions; — most uncom- 

 fortable for the occupant and dangerous and i)ainf ul for 

 the animal on these steep and rockv trails. Sciior'ita 

 gained the guide's devotion and complete admiration 

 when he, idly suggesting a comparison of revolvers, 

 siiw that her weapon, far from being a toy, was better 



«4 V2\ -^ 



