A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCES IN VENEZUELA. 99 



the north. And there we were living on the bone of con- 

 tention itself. 



It was about this time that I began to see the advisability of 

 being more than ordinarily civil; and so it happened that 1 

 was led into playing cards for the lirst and only time for 

 money and that on a Sunday! We had been working almost 

 incessantly and I had begun to feel that, even if it was to 

 Mr. Grell that we were indebted for the hospitality, it was 

 not cjuitc nice for us to ai)pear only at " feeding time," par- 

 ticularly as our long days out of doors ga\e us such appalling 

 appetites. So on this occasion when I was asked to make a 

 fourth at cards, I saw no way out of it. Moreover, the battle- 

 ship lay in the harbor of La Guayra, and my countrymen 



were in sad disfa^'or in Venezuela. W had ignominiously 



deserted and gone to bed, so there was only one sleepy little 

 woman left to uphold the honor of a great nation! 



The game was " Siete y media," — " seven and a half." I 

 forget the rules now. I only remember that they seemed very 

 intricate as explained to me in Spanish. Fortunately for me, 

 the stakes were low, for I steadily lost all the time. " Grano 

 por grano la gallina come," cj^uoted Mr. I^ugo, — "grain by 

 grain the hen eats." 



Later he remarked how he hated to win from the sefiorita — 

 but the sefiorita observed that he hated it much as the famous 

 walrus wept for the oysters while — 



"... he .sorted out 

 Those of the largest size, 

 Holding his pocl^et-handkerchief 

 Before his streaming eyes." 



I was wofully tired and sleepy. I did not at all know the 

 etiquette of gambling! And I thought the loser must not be a 

 " c[uitter " — even if the extent of her losses was only " dos 

 reales," or twenty-five cents. So I played on until at mid- 

 night the game was declared over. 



