Clarence King 



asking a question of idle curiosity, or 

 offering objection to the execution of 

 so trivial a document. 



" Ridiculous ! " he exclaimed ; " the 

 authorities of Spain have not pro- 

 vided in the Codex for such jesting. 

 What is this all for ? " 



" Sefior Secretario," I replied, " I 

 have conceived this innocent little 

 caprice of legalizing my purchase of 

 the basin, to gratify a certain Don 

 Horacio, known in America as the 

 Bachelor of San Francisco, a gentle- 

 man whose fine literary taste has led 

 him to venerate your great Cer- 

 vantes, and whose knightly senti- 

 ments have made him the intimate 

 friend of Don Quixote." 



" But," said the secretary, " no con- 

 tract of sale with a minor for vendor 

 can be legalized by me. The Codex 



provides " He was going on to 



explain what the Codex did provide, 



when Salazar, who knew more about 



31 



