Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-13

kind thought VIII you finish this waltz
with my friend, and the fiancee of Luis.
Rafaela Sal? She had quarreled with Luis,
/ see; Don weellam is dancing with Caro-
lima Ximeno. and she cares TO waltz with
| no one else. Pardon me II l say that no
/ one has ever waltZed as well as your ex-
cellency, and l must not be selfish. -
| Il will release you II you are tired. out
| otherwise l shall do myself the honor to
waltz with your friend later
Il must look after my other guests,
she said coldly and he was led with what
grace he could summon to the fair but
| sulky Rafaella
How am 1 to help flirting with that
| girl?' he thought as he mechanically guided
another light apd graceful partner through
| the crowded room. IF she were one girl L
| might resist. But since IL o'clock yester-
day morning she has been three. And II
| she was twenty yesterday, twelve this
morning, she Is twenty eight tonight, and
this might be a court ball in Madrid. ]
| shall leave the day after l bring the
governor to terms"
He sat beside Dona Ignacia during the
contra DANA and found the scene remark
ably brilliant and animated considering
| the primitive conditions. In addition to the
| bright flags on the wall and the vivid
| colors of the women the officers of the
| Preside and forts wore full dress uniform.
either white coats with red velvet vest, red
pantaloons and sash, or white trousers and
| scarlet coat and waistcoat faced with
green. The young men rom the mission
| wore small clothes of a dove-colored cloth,
| fastened at the knee with silver buckles,
| and white silk stockings; two gentlemen
| from Monterey wore the evening costume of
| the capital, black silk small clothes, with
white silk waistcoat and stockings. and
| much fine lawn and lace. The room was
| well lighted by many wicks stuck in Jumps
| to tallow. The Indian musicians, soldiers
| recruited from superior tribe in the santa
! Clara valley, were clad almost entlrelE III
| played; and Indian girls. in short red
| skirts and snowwhte smocks open at the
! throat, their long hair decorated with
| flowers and ribbons, already passed about
wine and tulces. The windows were OPEN
| The sweet night air blew In.
The contradanZe was not unlike the
| square dances OF England except that II
was far more graceful, and the men
rivaled the women in their supple glidlngs
and bendings. doublings and swayings.
| Concha danced with Ignacio Sal, Rafaella
with William Sturgis; their plant grace as
| facile as grain ripping before the vino,
would have put the best ballet In Europe
| to the blush. Concha'S skirts swept Reza-
novs feet. her little slippers twinkled be
| fore his admiring eyes, and ue lost no slnu.
| Gus turn or undulation OF her beautltul
| figure; but she never vouchsafed MN a
! glance.
| When the dance finished his hostess intro
| duced him to the prettiest of the girls. and
| he paid them as many compliments as their
| heads would stand. He even took some
| trouble to talk to them IL only to fathom
! the sources of their unlikeness to Concha
| Arguello. He concluded that the gulf that
| separated her from these charming, viva
/ cious shallow young girls was not dug by
! education alone. Municipalities were rare
| enough in Europe; out here, in earthly but
! sparsely settled paradise they must be
| rarer still, but that one had wandered into
| the lovely shell of Concha ArgUello he no
| longer doubted. The fact that 1t had de-
| veloped haphaZardly, with little or no
| help from her sentence. and was still fluid
and uncertain, but multiplied her in in
| terest and charm. The women to whom he
| was accustomed knew themselves, conse-
| quently were no riddle to man Of his
| experience, but here he had odd sense
| dark with girl who might one day Symbol
/ lie some high and imprisoned ideal he
| had cherished in the days before ideals
! had been cast aside with the negative viz
| tues that bred them.
| AS he coolly studied the good looks of the
| young caballeros and ne plain intellectual
| face and slight little t.gure of the Bos
| tonian, noted the utter Indifference with
which they We're treated by the favorite
of Preside and mission, he felt a sudden
! rush of arrogance. youthful tingling of
| nerves. the same prophetic sense of immi
| nent happiness and power that his first
| contact with the light electrical air and
! the beauty of the country had induced.
! After all. he was but forty-two. Life on
the whole had been very kind to him.
| And although he did not realize it as yet.
| his frame, blighted by the rigors of the
| past three years, was already sensible of
renewal of juice and sap. He admitted
that he was more interested than he had
been for many years, and that if he was
not in love- he tngled with very natural
masculine desire for an adventure with
pretty girl.
| But he was by no means a weak man,
| and his mind counted the cost even while
| his imagination hummed. He had al