uelo himself, and at the same time christened _El Tigre_
(the Tiger) for the feline swiftness of his movements and the ferocity of
his attacks.

The next eight years were for _El Tigre_ fruitful of fame and riches but
utterly arid and barren of even the most casual feminine attachment.
Well educated, clever, with the manners of a courtier, and with physical
beauty and personal charm few men equalled, he was invited by the
nobility often, received as an equal by the men and literally courted by
the women. But the attentions of women were all to no purpose. For _El
Tigre_ only one woman existed--Sofia, now the Duchess de Oviedo--though
he had never again set eyes on her from the hour of their parting beneath
the fig tree.

Owners of large Mexican sugar estates in the valley of Cuautla, the Duke
and Sofia divided their time between Paris and Mexico. Their marriage
was far from happy. Before their union, busy tongues had brought Count
Leon rumors of her admiration for Mauro, rousing suspicions that were not
long crystallizing into certainty that, while she was a faithful, honest
wife, he could never win of her the affection he gave and craved.
Obviously proud of her, always devoted and kind, he received from her
respect and consideration in return, which indeed was all she had to
give, for the loss of Mauro remained to her an ever-gnawing grief.

Oddly enough, fate decreed that the destiny of Mauro and Sofia should be
worked out far afield from their burning Utreran plains, high up on the
cool plateau of Central Mexico.

For several years most generous offers had been made _El Tigre_ to bring
his _cuadrilla_ to Mexico, but, surfeited with fame and rolling in
riches, he had declined them. At last, however, in 188-, an offer was
made him which he felt forced to accept--six thousand dollars a
performance for ten _corridas_, to be given on successive Sundays in the
Plaza Bucareli in the City of Mexico, all expenses of himself and his
_cuadrilla_ to be paid by the management. And so, late in April of that
year _El Tigre_ arrived in Mexico with his _cuadrilla_ and (as stipulated
in his contract) sixty great Utreran bulls, for the bulls of Utrera are
famed in _toreador_ history and song as the fiercest, most desperate
fighters _espada_ ever confronted.

At the first performance _El Tigre_ took the Mexican public by storm. No
such execution, daring, and grace had ever been seen in either Bucareli
or Colon. _El Tigre_