was as like her father as--oh, and such a heart! But she will
become--I fear it now--like her mother. And her mother does not want
Torellas.

"'And Torellas! A torero, yes. But whether a man is muletero, vaquero,
or torero, what matters it? Torellas has been all three, and I, too--I,
her brother-in-law, but what matters it? Luis, my brother, was, oh, so
poor when they married, but, my friend, I who say it--I, his brother--a
scamp possibly, yes, but we had family. A handsome boy was Luis, and
she--I admit it--very beautiful and good. But Luis--Luis becomes
wealthy. At once the senora must have a grand son-in-law. Torellas is a
toreador,--yes,--but also Torellas is something more than that. The
strong arm, the quick eye, the'--Juan slapped himself on the left
breast--'the brave heart, yes. But more than that. I know, senor, I who
have been'--he touched them off on succeeding finger-tips--'gaucho in
Argentina, cowboy in your country, a soldier in the Chilean war,
horse-breaker--but I have not fingers sufficient--I who have roamed far,
I know men. And Torellas--but you have seen him, senor? Ah-h--then you,
too, know. Is he not a man? Ah-h--and surely a man can be but a man. And
Torellas,'--Juan pounded the table,--'he is a man--Pir-r'--Juan whirled
in his chair--'_Pedro, cafe_--_al instante. Tres, si, si_--_tres_.'

"'But, Juan,' asks Ferrero when the coffee came, 'a few months ago we
thought--'

"'Exactly--we all thought. It is the senora. Listen, Mr. Cogan. You have
the warm heart, the friendly eye, you, too, shall know. Torellas and my
niece they have regard for each other, and she, the senora, sees no harm
until this Guavera, the politician, comes. Oh, a great man--he is to be
in the next cabinet--possibly. I repeat--possibly. The senora waits for
a chance to terminate with Torellas. Very well. Torellas receives many
letters from foolish girls. So do I, and Ferrero. Pir-r-h--what torero
of fame does not? And the senora, she points to me--as an example. It is
true that I am a weak man and I have no wife--no family--'

"Ferrero began to laugh. 'Mr. Cogan, there was a lady'--begins Ferrero.

"'T-t-t, Ferrero allow me. If we shall have old woman's gossip, allow it
also to be the truth. I was riding, senor, one fine, splendid Argentine
horse--such a horse!--when a carriage approached and a lady--such a
lady!--veiled, you understand, stands before me and a voice says--"Is
this not Senor Juan Roca?" It is true that I had