Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-28

when the door should open for Vivillo, or
whether their departure would rob Carmona
of the spectacle of his mean revenge | hoped
it would; for | could not bear that he should
see the suffering he had inflicted on Pillar for
my sake, and revel in it. Still. when he went
l must go too; and l felt vaguely that l
ought to be near Pilar-my loyal sister Pillar
during the act which would be tragical for
her.
AS Dick said, there were brilliant moments
in the bull fight; and the amateurs acquitted
themselves in a way to deserve the enthusiasm
of the crowd. The beautiful young Queen
threw a jewel to each fighter who finished
bull after the javelins of the cavaliers had done
their work; and when the last of the brave
trio had bowed himself out of the ring, that
phase of the sport which Spaniards know and
love began. The blindfolded horses trotted in,
ridden by professional piCadors with Indifferent,
sullen faces and then stir of excitement ran
from tier to tier of the audience, as a breeze
blows over wheat field. The first part had
been only pretty play; now was coming the
real thing, with the best bulls and the best
espadas of Spain.
The bride in her white mantilla looked down
at her fam and counted the gded ivory sticks,
when the first bull charged the first horse.
She, the Queen of Spain must not seem to
finch, though her English eyes had never seen
such crimson sights as these. This was the
national sport; she must learn to understand
that when men yelled and even women cried
"Bnena vdrdl" it was not with JOY because
horses side was torn, but because a picador
had made the perfect thrust. She must seem
to love what the people loved, if she wished
them to love her. But not far off sat another
young girl in white, who had no such compel-
ing Obligations
Monica, warned beforehand perhaps, when
she was forced to come. put up her fan when
ever a bull rushed toward horse, and would
no doubt have kept it there had not her mother
spoken to her more than once peremptorlly.
At last there was no more question as to
whether the King and Queen would stay to
see Vivlllo play his part. The fourth bull had
been dragged away dead by the team of tas-
seled mules, and the piercing blast, which had
grown to sound tragic in my ears, summoned
Nivillo, all unknowingly, to his fate. And the
royalties kept their seats, though the after
noon waned. and shadow, like the creeping
shadow of death, darkened two-thirds of the
arena.
So keen was my sympathy with Pillar that l
felt my throat contract and my mouth go dry.
So must it be with her at this moment which
called her brave favorite to his death; SO, like
mine, only faster and more thiCkly, must her
heart be beating. Could she after all bear the
ordeal? Would she not turn and hurry out
before the first picador drew the blood she had
tried SO hard to save? But no; she sat STILL
her eyes large her face blanched, and one hand
twisted in the folds of her lace mantilla as it
rose and fell on her breast
Before the dead was well out of the ring
and his red track sanded, the door of the pen
was thrown open Tor the nth Dull, said never
to be coward. 1t was a compliment to Car
mona and to Vivillo to be chosen for this posi-
ton on the program. since it has become
proverb that the pick of the animals should
be fifth on the list. 1t was also a compliment
to Carmona that the King should wait to see
how his Vivillo would die.
The attendant sprang back as he opened
the door, retiring more hastily than was his
wont into the space between the barriers out
of the bulls way 1t was as if he too expected
the newcomer to be something beyond the