ed
with such sarcasm as only she knew how to use.

The alferez put on his helmet, arranged his clothing a little, and
went out with heavy steps, but returned after a few minutes without
making the least noise, having taken off his shoes. The servants,
accustomed to these brawls, were usually bored, but this novelty of the
shoes attracted their attention, so they winked to one another. The
alferez sat down quietly in a chair at the side of the Sublime Port
and had the patience to wait for more than half an hour.

"Have you really gone out or are you still there, old goat?" asked
the voice from time to time, changing the epithets and raising the
tone. At last she began to take away the furniture piece by piece. He
heard the noise and smiled.

"Boy, has your master gone out?" cried Dona Consolacion.

At a sign from the alferez the boy answered, "Yes, senora, he's
gone out."

A gleeful laugh was heard from her as she pulled back the bolt. Slowly
her husband arose, the door opened a little way--

A yell, the sound of a falling body, oaths, howls, curses, blows,
hoarse voices--who can tell what took place in the darkness of
that room?

As the boy went out into the kitchen he made a significant sign to
the cook, who said to him, "You'll pay for that."

"I? In any case the whole town will! She asked me if he had gone out,
not if he had come back!"

CHAPTER XL

Right and Might

Ten o'clock at night: the last rockets rose lazily in the dark sky
where a few paper balloons recently inflated with smoke and hot air
still glimmered like new stars. Some of those adorned with fireworks
took fire, threatening all the houses, so there might be seen on the
ridges of the roofs men armed with pails of water and long poles with
pieces of cloth on the ends. Their black silhouettes stood out in
the vague clearness of the air like phantoms that had descended from
space to witness the rejoicings of men. Many pieces of fireworks of
fantastic shapes--wheels, castles, bulls, carabaos--had been set off,
surpassing in beauty and grandeur anything ever before seen by the
inhabitants of San Diego.

Now the people were moving in crowds toward the plaza to attend the
theater for the last time, Here and there might be seen Bengal lights
fantastically illuminating the merry groups while the boys were
availing themselves of torches to hunt in the grass for unexploded
bombs and other remnants that could still be used. But soon the mus