A MODERN BONA DEA. 



63 



an indication of a change of feeling and government ; 

 as a prelude to the restoration of the influence of the 

 church and the revival of ceremonies dear to the heart 

 of the Indian. As such, it was hailed by all the villages 

 through which she had passed ; and that night she would 

 receive the prayers of the Christians of Gualan. 



The Santa Lucia enjoyed a peculiar popularity from 

 her miraculous power over the affections of the young 

 for any young man who prayed to her for a wife, or any 

 young woman who prayed for a husband, was sure to 

 receive the object of such prayer ; and if the person 

 praying indicated to the saint the individual wished for, 

 the prayer would be granted, provided such individual 

 was not already married. It was not surprising that a 

 saint with such extraordinary powers, touching so di- 

 rectly the tenderest sensibilities, created a sensation in 

 a place where the feelings, or, rather, the passions, are 

 particularly turned to love. 



Donna Bartola invited us to accompany her, and, 

 setting out, we called upon a friend of hers ; during the 

 whole visit, a servant girl sat with her lap full of to- 

 bacco, making straw cigars for immediate use. It was 

 the first time we had smoked with ladies, and, at first, 

 it was rather awkward to ask one for a light ; but we 

 were so thoroughly broken in that night that we never 

 had any delicacy afterward. The conversation turned 

 upon the saint and her miraculous powers ; and when 

 we avowed ourselves somewhat skeptical, the servant 

 girl, with that familiarity, though not want of respect, 

 which exists throughout Central America, said that it 

 was wicked to doubt ; that she had prayed to the saint 

 herself, and two months afterward she was married, and 

 to the very man she prayed for, though at the time he 

 had no idea of her, and, in fact, wanted another girl. 



