St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-12

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$50 ssass'~ CodhtoeG
The breakfast hour, hswsver. varied
according to each ones fancy. 1t was
,nly 1t dinner that all the boarders sat
down together. Generally we were not
more than six or eight TO gather round
the lamp-lit table, and ]. and were
the only foreigners. The others were
natives Of Granada who had left its
heated streets for the cool grove, or
else Andalusians from near towns talk
ing short holiday. They were. If any
thing. too friendly; for. though sur
conversation with many was limited to
"Buenas dias' and "Buenas tardes.'
this and a bow were expected every time
We met. To us, of . less polite race. 1t
became something of a nuisance. With
few friendliness went further, especial
" with an amiable and pious family
from Cadiz, who were our ncighbOrs at
able for fortnight. The mother AMI
two daughters were always yelled IN
their mantillas, if by Glance we saw
them in the morning on their way to or
from mass. But they were never with
gut smiles for us. and the father spoke
some English. He was SO extremely
civil at all times that we were the more
surprised one evening when he lost
his temper outright.
IL like everything in. your country
except your wine," ]. told him. in nus.
swer to Leading question; for we
never could get used to the vile flavor Of
pigsl<in. at -
He turned upon, us in fury. "What!
not like my wine? But it is good
the best. ! send it almost all to Eng
land" -
The trouble was, he was q wine mer-
chant, and he could not be convinced
that j. meant nothing personal until
we had kept awake the long evening
with him over bottle of his sherry.
Then we had bride and groom from
Malaga, N d the groom also spoke Eng
fish. He told us they had come that
they might, during their honeymoon.
hear little birds sing, and wander UNI
der green trees, which we thought .
pretty sentiment until it had been re-
peated to every man, woman and. child
in the hotel. From the beginning OF
dinner to the end one Of the little girls
from Cadiz would keep up . ceaseless
cultural sprattle. Those occasional
mandolins would rouse the bride into
fiutter Of excitement; Il it was song
of Malaga they were playing. she would
thenelean over to Explain. But their
tranquil gayety never Jared; 1t seemed
as much part of the summer silence as
the chanting Of the crickets in the
grove.
The arrival Of the marchioness was
the first Chock that shook us out of our
slumber. She lived in Granada; two
of her children had whooping cough,
and she had chosen the hotel as a pleas
ant hospital for them. I never knew
anyone to pervade a place as she did.
II we went to sit in the rocking-chairs
in front, there she was with her whoop-
ing babies; if we hurried back into the
hall, she was at our heels; and we
could not retreat into the dull.
gloomy, uninviting sitting-room that
she and her nursery. whoopins
and yelling, did not follow. This wa.
had enough, but what mattered more
was that she turned our peaceful gar.
den into a sick-room, and our Dime,
into q public reception. BY the second
course one child or the other always
began to whoop, and had to be BARRED
away, purple and choking; by the tfrffd
there was q great Gathering of horse
hoofs in the road below the terrace, and
the marquis would pull up his horse,
and the marchioness would rush to lean
over the balustrade and give him her
harsh. voluble report; he was afraid,
It seemed, Of the contagion which he
had passed on to us so cheerfully. By
the fourth party Of friends would
troop into the garden and young ladies
and priests and expansive dowagers
would make circle round the table,
and watch us as we ate. / suppose j:
would have been a dreadful breach Of
Spanish etiquette had they been asked
to dine, or, il asked, had they accepted!
It was detestable. The whole atmos
phere, the whole feeling, Of the hotel
and its garden was chanEed.s But the
other Spaniards did not like 1t . bit
better. Everybody grumbled. every.
body complained, and with heroic Fl
fort the manager got up enough ener
gy to tell the marchioness she must 90
and we all deed back into our accus
toned hs bits:-CenturY:.