Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-03-07

| tion was already assembled and seated upon the floor in rows after the Mexican manner. Neither pew nor bench was there, except two rows of seats in the I recess behind him, and those were oc- cupied by scholars of the convent He found the prospect of standing, a con- | spicuous figure, through long service, anything but pleasant. He could not persuade himself to sit upon his heels, as did tho thousand devout worshipers about him.
 While looking uneasily about and pondering his rather uncomfortable sit uation he recognized tho face of Teresa Valencia. She was dressed ill the plain ! garb prescribed by the convent regula- tions, brown gown and white sunbon- net At that moment an acolyte ap- preached from the chancel bearing Q chair and said:
 ''The compliments of his lordship the bishop Here is chair for the gen. | tleman."
 The lieutenant accepted the courtesy with thanks and seated himself before the doubl line of schoolgirls. Phil ,aymer was not a communi- cant of the church before whose altar he now sat- He was a descendant of an old New England family of the Angli- can faith He had graduated from a | good college and at the outbreak of the | civil war was q junior member of a legal | firm. His preparation for college had been pursued at boys military school, ! where he had acquired soldierly bear ing and creditable knowledge of in fantry drill and tactics. He offered his services at the first call for troops and was made captain of company in a good regiment After continuous serv- ice from Bull Run to Autietam he had been appointed lieutenant in the reg ular army and ordered to New Mexico. Fashionable circles of the seaboard cities had known Raymer both as a ,ci- william and a soldier, and some of the best clubs bore his name upon their regis ters, but until he stood at the railing of the sundial in Santa Fe and met the | eyes of Teresa Valencia he had never been strongly attracted by girlish ! charms. Nor could he quite understand I his interest now. He had met many beautiful, accomplished and well edu- cated girls ill the east, but none had in- terested him to the same extent as had this girl. To be sure, he had not heard her voice, he had scarcely seen her move, ho knew nothing of her except through Reeds gossip, he was ignorant of her mental endowments and charac- ter, but he felt strangely drawn toward her and was animated by strong de- sire to make her acquaintance.
 When Raymor turned to place his chair, he caught a second glimpse of | Dona Teresa Tho face in the sunbonnet | was as beautiful and tho eyes shone with the same brilliancy as when he saw her ill finer attire standing at the l palace window. Plainness of dress and absence of ornaments had robbed neither I form nor face of its beauty
 | It is needless to say that Raymer's devotion was expressed ill lip service, and that his thoughts did not stray far from his immediate neighborhood. He had no prayer book, but presently one was thrust into his hand by the lneel- ing Teresa. At the close of the nunc dimittis he sought to return the book, but found the scholars faced about and a l nun standing between him and its own or. The sister received it and his thanks without a word and remained silently and stiffiy on guard until Raymer passed out of the cathedral
 In the evening of the same day Mir Raymer joined Mrs. Stockton on the veranda of the colonel's quarters to lis- ten to the Sunday evening concert of the regimental band. The conversation ran upon various topics during the in tervals between the selections, and when the concert ended the lieutenant ob- served, II went to church today"
 "Did you sit on the floor?''
 "No; the bishop sent me a chair"
 "Oh, yes. have heard that he recog- nized the infiexibility of military joints and shows that courtesy to officersl If you want to be sure of a seat, however, you should always attend church when the bishop is there None of his priests are so considerate
 "I noticed the sisters and scholars from the convent had seats |"
 That is because the sisters are French, Irish and American generally and are not accustomed to sit on the floor. The Mexicans, either by inherit ance from the Moors or through inter- marriage with the Pueblos, seem to pre- fer the floor to a chair. In Mexican families, even among tho aristocracy, the ladies, unless entertaining Ameri- cans, sit on tho floor. "
 ''One of the young ladies from the convent lent me her prayer book She was kneeling behind me.
 Poor child! She will have to dc penance for that indiscretion It is
 against the sisters rules for the pupils
 to communicate with gentlemen.
 But this was not communication,
 Mrs. Stockton, said Raymor. "It was
 a kindly act, such as one might expect
 in any eastern church. "
 True, but advantage might be takeI of it to pass notes, you know. believe
 the sisters are right think can gues.
 who lent you her book. Was it n golde1 tressed blond?"
 "Yes; I have seen her twice at the
 palace windows, but not in conventua
 garb.
 Itwas Teresa Valencia, relative O , the governors wife, who. you perhap , know, is Mexican.
 "I know nothing of the governor family. Having so recently arrived,
 have learned little of the people"
 '"The governor, think you know, i 3 an American, and Teresa Valencia i
 his wife's niece. She is attending schoo ] at the convent and has been allowed t, l visit the palace occasionally. t Convent and palace life must appea , in marked contrast to her. The browl l serge gown and the ugly sunbonnet sh wore at church and the dress and orna 9 ments she wore when witnessing guar, 8 mounting were vastly different Tn f first did not conceal her beauty, and sh l certainly graced the latter.''