s curieux. You sall see
ver many sort of de pas. Bolero, et valse, wis de Coona, and ver many
more pas, all mix up in von puchero. Allons! monsieur, you vill see ver
many pretty girl, avec les yeux tres noir, and ver short--ah! ver
short--vat you call em in Americaine?"

"I do not know what you allude to."

"Cela! Zis, monsieur," holding out the skirt of his hunting-shirt; "par
Dieu! now I have him--petticoes; ver short petticoes. Ah! you sall see
vat you sall see en un fandango Mexicaine.

"`Las ninas de Durango
Commigo bailandas,
Al cielo saltandas,
En el fandango--en el fan-dang--o.'

"Ah! here comes Monsieur Saint Vrain. Ecoutez! He never go to
fandango. Sacre! how monsieur dance! like un maitre de ballet. Mais he
be de sangre--blood Francais. Ecoutez!

"`Al cielo saltandas,
En el fandango--en el fan-dang--.'"

"Ha! Gode!"

"Monsieur?"

"Trot over to the cantina, and beg, borrow, buy, or steal, a bottle of
the best Paso."

"Sall I try steal 'im, Monsieur Saint Vrain?" inquired Gode, with a
knowing grin.

"No, you old Canadian thief! Pay for it. There's the money. Best
Paso, do you hear?--cool and sparkling. Now, voya! Bon jour, my bold
rider of buffalo bulls I still abed, I see."

"My head aches as if it would split."

"Ha, ha, ha! so does mine; but Gode's gone for medicine. Hair of the
dog good for the bite. Come, jump up!"

"Wait till I get a dose of your medicine."

"True; you will feel better then. I say, city life don't agree with us,
eh?"

"You call this a city, do you?"

"Ay, so it is styled in these parts: `la ciudad de Santa Fe;' the famous
city of Santa Fe; the capital of Nuevo Mexico; the metropolis of all
prairiedom; the paradise of traders, trappers, and thieves!"

"And this is the progress of three hundred years! Why, these people
have hardly passed the first stages of civilisation."

"Rather say they are passing the last stages of it. Here, on this fair
oasis, you will find painting, poetry, dancing, theatres, and music,
fetes and fireworks, with all the little amorous arts that characterise
a nation's decline. You will meet with numerous Don Quixotes,
_soi-disant_ knights-errant, Romeos without the heart, and ruffians
without the courage. You will meet with many things before you
encounter either virtue or honesty. Hola! muchacho!"

"Que es, senor?"

"Hay cafe?"

"Si, senor."

"Bring us a couple of tazas, then--dos tazas, do you he