The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-07-15
FLIRTING IN MEXICO.
How 1t Is Carried On in the City of
Monterey.

A correspondent of the Omaha Bee has
been flirting in Monterey, Mexico. and in
a letter 10 that journal tells how it is done
in that country. After declaring that girls
! in that country are not permitted to see
their lovers unless in the presence of a
guardian, he says:
On the plaza every evening the band
plays its charming music, and here the low
ers most likely meet for the first lime.
! The men promenade around the square
in one way, while the women go the op-
posite, and a policeman is there to see hat
every man behaves himself and keeps his
| place. 1t was here on the plaza that the
writer first fell in love-quite confession,
| l admit. On! she was a handsome crea-
| ture, but have since met dozens equally
so. The old idea that man loves but once
| does not apply 10 Mckee. Here be can not
| only love more han Oncs. but love sew
eral at a time. He can fall in love.tnree
times day and still have good appetite.
! However, tins particular episode is not
/ without some interest. At the time it took
! place l was completely ignorant of the
/ manners and customs of Mexican etiquette.
! | saw the object of my admiration on the
! promenade and she smiled graciously.
This was great deal for her to do, as she
was as prOnd az Lucifer. But that smile
was enough. | was told that she could
5 eak little English, so l resolved TO ask
her where BrOwn-J0nes lived, and after
waiting for her drop something. which,
by the way she never did, told friend of
my intentions 10 speak to her. and so
started across the plaza to where She was
seated. Before reaching the place, how
ever, l was seized by my friend, who
| looked as white as a ghost, and said
"Don't you do il. my boy; they will arrest
you or her relatives will snOot you"
Such a warning is at to cool the ard0r
of any lover, so my friend proposed to carry
on filtration in the proper way. One must
first find out where she lives; TO do this you
must follow her home from the plaza. 1t
is also advisable to let her see that you
are following her. At midnight return
with your instruments ana serenade under
| her balcony. You must continue this
course perhaps for weeks, and then per-
haps she will drop you her handkerchief
or billet petit 1t is a very good plan to
do a. Romeo did in soliciting the assistance
of one OF the dOmestics, and also to always
look out for "breakers." Never go sere-
nading unless your weapons are loaded for
big game, as possibly they may make il
dreadfully unpleasant for you. Yet, Of
course, no trouble is likely to happen, as a
serenade s a very common thing here, and
little is thought of il. To be conventional
| followed The SenOrta down long. dark
Streets TO where she lived. After she had
entered the house | crossed the street and
secreted myself in a dark passageway un-
der the impression that might see her on
her balcony later. l had been there only
a few minutes, when low creeping figure,
dressed entirely in black, came in beside
me. This proved to b. another lover. and
as ne had his hood pulled over his face l
could not identity him. He accOsted me
in Spanish, and while l was explaining to
him that could not speak that language
another lover slipped into the doorway.
The second gentleman could speak few
words of English, so we then compared
n otes and found that we were each follow
ing the same girl. The very best of friend
ship Immediately sprang up between US,
each exchanging cards, and. shaking
hands. agreed 10 be friends. Then we en-
tered into a long eulogy upon the beauty
of our lady love and discussed plans
whereby we might bring her to her win
dow. These were many, but mostly i'm
practical. | suggested that we should get
a ladder and climb up t. her balcony, but
no ladder was to be found Then
one oil the Mexicans proposed that
we climb mp me over the other.
and we finally adopted this plan.
We crossed the street and looked up
to the balcony; it was probably twenty
feet above the pavement. As was the
tallest they asked me to stand first, but l
declined, and as TIE others objected to be-
come the foundation We resolved 10 shake
dice for it. So we went into a neat little
cantlna around the corner. The first man
on! was 10 be Oh top, and was the lucky
man. We returned To The house, and the
first Mexican braced himself against the
wall, supported the weight of the second
Mexican, and alter | lad removed my
shoes l climbed up on top. | could just
reach the balcony, and with cOnsidera bic
effort pulled myself up to it. l tapped
gently on the window, but no answer
came; again and again. louder and louder,
but no dark eyes pierced through the cur
tain to greet me. With a last effort |
climbed over the railing and put my eye
close to the glass.
"Mon Dieu. it is a storage-roOmW
We had made a mistake, and had gone to
all this effort for nothing. 1 dropped
down. Putting on my shoes. and feeling
nv ardor cooling. | suggested we should
take a drink and go home. But the others
were not prepared to give up so easily, so
thew went in search OF some musicians frr'I
a serenade, while l returned to my hotel
The following evening found me under |
the window again, this time accompanied
nv two musicians, whose beautiful music
m ght soften her proud heart and pulse
her to listen to my pleadings My friends
will laugh when they hear l sang Henry
Norman's midway Plasance" to her. |
had scarcely finished when / heard soft
voice at lower window not two feet from
where | stood saying: "Senor is an Eng
lshman? and senior answered Not an
Englishman, but an American" Now,