St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-12
A MkIDEN's DEVICE.
Denied Writing Materials, A Lovely
Senorita Adopts n Novel Plan.

Senorita Adopts a Novel Plan.
While / was in Cuba | was fortunate
enough to form the acquaintance OF lazy
of noble Mexican family. who had been SET
tied on the island for many years. She must
have been between 60 and 10, but, except
that her hair was snOw-whlte ana her Iorih
somewhat bent. she showed little sign OF age
while her skin still preserved its smoothneSS
and her ewes sparkled with the vlyaclty OF
youth. She was one of the most charming
takers have met. One evening, IN CONVEX
sation with her | alluded to the passage III
the sBarbiere" where Don Bartolo exam
ines his nieceS fingers to see II sne mas ueeil
writing to AmaViva. surely, Sdlu' III
is out of the nature of things 10 suppose
that Don Bartolo would exercise so strict
watch upon his ward.
Donna Juana smiled.
''Welr' she said, after moments pause,
81 will tell you OF case i'll point, which
shows that when | was a girl such extreme
vigilance was by no means uncommon. L
was educated with my sisters at convent
near Mexico. | was the youngest and when
! was Is | returned to my fathers house.
NV sisters had married, and | was alone
with NV father and my duenna. L led
very happy life: whatever l wished for was
mine at once; and | was careful not to give
utterance to unreasonable desires. In the
morning | sat in the house or walked with
INV duenna; in the afternoon we drove, my
father riding by the side of the carriage.
Four things only were denied me-pen, ink,
pencil, paper. But had no one to write to
and did not feel the restriction hard one,
indeed, [ never thought much about it. SO.
Won see. senior. that your Don BartOlO is not
such an exaggerated character, for my
fathers views were but those of his country
men,"
But tell me, senora," said 1, ''did the
time ever come when you found these re-
strctiOns burdensome"
''You shall hear" she said: ''that is, IT
you care to listen to the love story OF an old
woman like myself. l was seated one morn
ing at the window, when | noticed young
cavalier come riding up the street. He was
superbly dressed and mounted; he wore
broad-brimmed sombrero, trimmed with
silver lace; his large black riding-cloak was
lined with scarlet, and his heavy silver spurs
jingled as he rode. l thought | never in my
life had seen so handsome a cavalier. He
saw me sitting at the window and looked
so tixedly at me that drew the curtain in
nv embarrassment. He must have turned
his horse at the head of the street, for while
1 was still trembling with excitement he
came riding past again, and this time as he
passed he took off his sombrerO and bowed.
l scarcely slept that night. Next morning
/ accompanied my duenna to mass at the
cathedral AS we left the church l raised
my eyes and saw the cavalier who had
bowed to me the day before standing at the
entrance. Senior, [ need not tell you that
had never had any experience in affairs of
the heart; | was fresh from the convent and
had scarcely spoken to any man except my
confessors and my father; but l felt in
stinctvely that this handsome gentleman
had come there to see me. AS we passed l
felt his hand touch mine, and little note
was placed between my fingers.
when we returned to the house I man.
aged. not without difficulty, to open and
read my letter alone. 1t is fifty years since
[ received it, and | have it still-my first
lOve-letter. Can you enter into the feelings
of Mexican girl when she is told for the
first time that her eyes are brighter than the
stars, more tender than the gaZelle'S, and
that her heart surely cannot be colder than
her smile? But will not weary you with
the repetition of my precious little letter,
every line of which still know by heart
read and reread it, and then sat down to
consider how L was to answer it,"
There your difficulty must have been in
surmOuntable."
Truly it did at first seem so. Writing
materials | hadnone. Contide in my duenna
/ dared not; she was a relative of my
father stern and severe. Still | was de-
termined to answer the letter. So kind a
note; so handsome cavalier; it would be
cruel to leave him without a reply. Beside,
nv heart was enlisted on his side The
letter had to be answered. that was certain
only, how was to do it?
Il need not tell you who know something
of Spanish life, that my library was ex-
tremely select. Indeed, it consisted but of
nv book of office and two large books of de-
votonal eXhOrtations. But | had huge
pocket of saints cards had used at the con-
vent-One for almost every day in the year.
do not know whether you have ever seen
such cards-with the picture of the saint or
martyr at the top, and prayer addressed to
him underneath. Well, | was desperate,
and l resolved to sacrifice the saints cards.
l cut out the words | needed-and the fer
vid CALCULATIONS served my purpose we'll
and thus l composed my letter. Then
took one of my handkerchiefs and sewed
each word to it in regular order.
The next morning was at my window
betimes, and it was not long before l saw
the cavalier approach on foot I rolled my
handkerchief into ball, and when he was
close up to the window let it drop at his
feet. He picked it up, pressed it to his
lips. and fastened away.
In this manner we correspondent for
nearly two months, exchanging handker-
chiefs daily. either at my window or at the
cathedral door. During all this time | had
never exchanged a spoken word with this
gentleman. He told me who he was, and
| was rejoiced to learn that his family was
equal in position TO our own. By this time
my pile of saints cards had long been ex-
hausted and the books of sermons were
sadly mutilated. but they furnished me
with the faireSt phrases! When the second
month had passed l wrote that l thought he
should speak with my father.
1.-The next day he came, accompanied by
his uncle. and proposed formally for my
hand. Ny father readily accepted him, for
he was man of distinction and noble We
were married soon after. and lived for ten
years in Mexico. Political disturbances
forced us to retire to Cuba, where my hus-
band had estates. l have been twenty
years a widow, and have never ceased to
regret my loss So you see. senior, that al
though won my husband by deception,
yet it was, as it were, forced upon me. and
/ think in my case it was pardonable Only
the saints cards and those pious books!
that was a grievous sin, and have done
penance for it since may tell you
l have given the substance of the story,
but the manner of the narration cannot he
reproduced The lovely. white-haired old
lady. telling her little love story of half a
century ago, now with smile, and then a
sigh; her soft voice and the tenderness in
her eyes as she spoke of her husband and
lover would have impressed the most care
less listener; and by one who heard her the