A LUDICROUS SCENE. 



103 



he said, and the laugh was strong against me. I was 

 a httle annoyed at being made such a mark, but, rec- 

 ohecting the achievement of our vernacular at Noh- 

 cacab, I answered him with an English oration. The 

 effect was instantaneous. He had never before heard 

 a language that he could not understand, bent his 

 ear earnestly, as if by close attention he could catch 

 the meaning, and looked up with an air of real per- 

 plexity that turned the laugh completely against him. 

 He began again, and I answered with a stanza of 

 Greek poetry, which had hung by me in some un- 

 accountable way ; this, again, completely silenced 

 him, and he dropped the title Ingles, put his arms 

 around my neck, called me " amigo," and made a 

 covenant not to speak in any language but Castilian. 



This over, he ordered the music to commence, 

 planted a vaquero on the floor, and led out a Mes- 

 tiza to dance, again threw all the bystanders into 

 confusion, and sat down quietly on the floor at my 

 feet. All the Mestizas were again called out in 

 order, presenting the same pretty spectacle I had 

 seen the evening before. And there was one whom 

 I had noticed then, not more than fifteen, delicate 

 and fragile, with eyes so soft and dovelike that it 

 was impossible to look upon them without a feel- 

 ing of tenderness. She seemed sent into the world 

 to be cherished and cared for, and closeted like the 

 finest china, the very emblem of purity, innocence, 

 and loveliness ; and, as I had learned, she was the 

 child of shame, being the crianza, or natural daugh- 



