SAN VICENTE BANOS 249 



uninhabited country. The escape of the tree 

 ducks (through no fault of his own) had deter- 

 mined the Patron, at once, to make good the loss. 

 The incident showed his fine sense of responsibility. 

 A glorious night of rare beauty tempted us to 

 neglect sleep. There is nothing in the world so 

 lovely as a still cloudless tropic night on the water. 

 Any description becomes a mere juggling of words 

 that at last conveys only some physical facts which 

 may be compressed into a tabloid form of agree- 

 able temperature and bright stars. What really 

 makes it so fine is the hypnotic effect upon man 

 himself, who, exalted by its poetic charm, gives 

 it the additional quaHties which the irreverent 

 call "soul-stuff." 



