The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-16

my wits, approached the girld nearest
 me, and, after making my best Papan-
 Ii bow, said what must have sounded
 like Kerry oostay olly?" She under
 stood, however, and jumped up direc-
 tly, beaming all over. The musicians l were playing a waltz, and in a moment l more l found myself threading the | mazeS" With the best dancer l had
 ever met in my life, at home or abroad. The ease with which she adapted her
 self to my none too graceful steps and
 the lightness with which she herself
 danced were revelations to me, but l afterWard discovered that all the girls
 danced fully as well as she, the wonder
 ful musical ear which is a character
 istic of all Philippine natives, and the
 fact that they were unhampered by
 tight dresses easily accounting for the phenomenon.
 The waltz being over, l found myself
 somewhat at loss for conversation. The only Spanish phrases l could re-
 call were those to the effect that The cat chases the rat.' "The father eats 1 the bread of the baker" and other par
 ticularly idiotic platitudes derived from
 my Spanish grammar. Not wishing to
 create an impression of feeble minded ness, I abstained from making any of { the above remarks; but after much brain effort I ventured upon one which i seemed to me to possess at least the merit of conventionality and succeeded
 in saying that it had been splendid
 day. It occurred to me afterward that,
 In view of the fact that there had not
 been cloud in the sky since the Octo-
 Der monsoon had set in and prabably
 wouldn't be until February, this obser- vation might have seemed to be lack ing in that wit and briliancy calculated to make favorable impression.
 At any rate, my companion, after
 moments hesitation, replied Sl, se
 nor" and then as the music for an-
 other dance struck up she said some-
 thing about an 'otro senor," and un- tremendously detached herself and walked off. She probaly told her girl friends afterward that it was perfectly true that Americans and Englishmen were all lunatics-a popular theory in the Far East.
 Not being familiar with the intrica- cies of the ''rigadon," as the dance now under way was called, I retired to a doorway to look on. It was not lively as it's name would imply. being n spe- cies of quadrille, with quantities of lowing and scraping, forwarding and backing and exchanging of partners. saw my late acquaintance going through it all with tall captain of the "guardia civil" whose sabre and spurs (which he wore during the entire even- ing) clattered and clinked in most martial way.
 Besides the Englishmen and myself there were present representatives of numerous other nations--Germans. Frenchmen, Swiss, one Japanese, and one-half breed Dutchman from Batavia who drank more and made more noise than all the rest together.
 Senor R was everywhere; flirting with the girls, drinking with the men and doing his best to see that every body was having a good time; always armed with box of cigars, which be offered to members of both sexes indis- criminately--and which were general ly accepted in either case.
 Among the late arrivals was one who particularly attracted my attention; a girl of perhaps seventeen or eighteen, tS DliCh dS d tlONr Nlti tiSil-IQiiit4 6, frizzy hair: arayed in a most superb ball dress of pink tulle, trimmed with white flowers; an importation from Paris, as I afterward learned. The ef- feet of this costume against her black neck and arms was striking, so say the least, especially as she was the only girl present who did not wear the na- tive attire. She came accompanied by younger brother, who was rigged out in kind of fancy dress, and l am told that they had been abducted when very young from one of the inland tribes of savage aborigines. and brought up by fabuously rich Mestizo family. The l diamond necklace which the gllr wore, | together with her dress, must have been worth a small fortune. They were both treated with great deference until | the youngest who had been making a | nuisance of himself generally by his | impish performances, managed to trip | up Senor R.. Then human nature as- serted itself, and he had his ears boxed | on the spot-a proceeding which his sis ter viewed with equanimity and evi- dent approval.
 Among the other remarkable people present were two twin sisters, whose father I was given to understand had 1 openly declared in the present of wit nesses that to either of them who should an Englishman or American mar ry he would give the sum of half mill lion in Mexican dollars. Unfortunately, the combination cf native, Spanish and Chinese ancestors from whom the young ladies were derived had resulted in a hideousness of form and feature to describe; and, so far as l can learn, no "Inglis" or "Americano" D has yet had the temerity to pay atten- tions of a serious nature.
 About midnight the music ceased and all hands marched out into the garden. l then realized that the supper which had gone before was a mere appetizer to what was to come. Two very long tables were set out on the lawn, under a sort of tent arrangement covered with every imaginable kind of food which the islands or their neighbors could produce; a whole course dinner, in fact; soup fish, entrees, roasts, game, pastry, ice-cream, mountains or fruit, regiments of bottles, and confec- tionery ad lib. 1t was a case of first come, first served. Each guest secured ] seat ate his or her fill, and then rose 10 give place to the next conner. They