le to speak approval of the deed; ay, one who would for
as much do murder!

And in that same city is a man who would do the same for Inez Alvarez--
though she has neither blonde complexion, nor blue eyes. Instead she is
a _morena_, or brunette, with eyes and hair of the darkest. But she is
also a beauty, of the type immortalised by many bards--Byron among the
number, when he wrote his rhapsody on the "Girl of Cadiz."

Inez is herself a girl of Cadiz, of which city her father was a native.
The Conde Alvarez, an officer in the Spanish army, serving with his
regiment in Biscay, there saw a face that charmed him. It belonged to
the daughter of Don Gregorio Montijo--his eldest and first-born, some
eighteen years older than Carmen. The Andalusian count wooed the
Biscayan lady, won, and bore her away to his home. Both have gone to
their long home, leaving their only child inheritress of a handsome
estate. From her father, in whose veins ran Moorish blood, Inez
inherits jet-black eyes, with lashes nearly half-an-inch in length, and
above them brows shaped like the moon in the middle of her first
quarter. Though in figure more slender than her aunt, she is quite
Carmen's equal in height, and in this may some day excel; since she has
not yet attained her full stature.

Such are the two damsels, who have danced with the young British
officers, and made sweet havoc in their hearts. Have the hearts of the
_senoritas_ received similar hurt in return? By listening to their
conversation we shall learn.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

MUTUAL ADMISSIONS.

The dwelling of Don Gregorio Montijo, as already stated, is
terrace-topped, that style of roof in Spanish countries termed _azotea_.
This, surrounded by a parapet breast-high--beset with plants and
flowering shrubs in boxes and pots, thus forming a sort of aerial
garden--is reached by a stone stair, the _escalera_, which leads up out
of the inner court, called _patio_. During certain hours of the day,
the azotea is a favourite resort, being a pleasant place of dalliance,
as also the finest for observation--commanding, as in this case it does,
a view of the country at back, and the broad bay in front. To look upon
this last have the two "senoritas," on the same morning, ascended--soon
after breakfast, which in all parts of Spanish America is eaten at the
somewhat late hour of 11 a.m.

That they do not intend staying here long, is evident from the character
of their dresses. Bo