BRUNO 49 



weather, some days being quite chilly, and 

 others warm enough for summer clothes, we 

 awoke one morning to the fact that to-morrow 

 would be Christmas. It had seemed to us, 

 since our arrival in St. Augustine, as if we 

 were in a foreign country, the Spanish element 

 was so large in proportion to the rest of the 

 town, both in the people and their customs and 

 in the arrangement and the construction of the 

 city. We heard of the celebration of midnight 

 Mass in the old Cathedral, and resolved to 

 " assist ; ' but, as the evening came on crisp 

 and chilly, our enthusiasm cooled with it. The 

 tonic qualities of the unaccustomed salt air had 

 inspired us with a keen interest in food and 

 sleep ; so, after fully deciding to sit up for the 

 Mass, we were ready by half -past nine to declare 

 that there was not a sight in the world worth 

 the sacrifice of such a night's sleep as that for 

 which we felt ready. So we embarked for 

 dreamland, whence we were recalled at daylight 

 by Bruno's excitement over a perfect din of tin 

 trumpets and toy drums. 



As we dressed, we peeped through the blinds 

 at the processions of small boys marching by in 

 the narrow streets below, blowing trumpets and 

 pounding drums. The daily drills at the bar- 



