ied on my frock; Jose-Maria
set his little dagger teeth in my sleeve; a fierce scent assailed my
nostrils; a shower of powder frosted my shoulder.

I freed myself to speak to the geologist who seemed eager to be on
his way. "I am very grateful to you," I said, mendaciously. "I hope
it has not been too much trouble."

"I got her here, didn't I?" he said with an air of weary pride. He
looked so haggard that my heart smote me. "_Senor_ Morales should
not have burdened you. You look ill and----"

"I was a well, strong man when I left Vera Cruz," he said darkly. "I
wish you luck, Miss Vail." He took one step and halted. "Do you
believe in corporal punishment?"

"Mercy, no! It's a relic of barbarism. No one does, now!"

"You will," he said, earnestly, "you will! Corporal punishment?--My
God,--_capital_!"

"Farewell, old camel," Dolores called, kindly, after his retreating
figure. "Go with God!"

"Michael Daragh," I whispered, when we at last were packed into the
taxi, "couldn't we stop at some school on the way home and leave
her?"

"Not in those clothes, woman dear,--not with those animals."

"_Cuidado, Hombron!_" said my dewy-eyed dove. "If you seek to
turn from me the heart of my virgin mother (she pronounces it
veergeen mawther), I will not let her marry with you, and you will
be old sour face _soltero_, and she will dress the saints! But," she
went on indulgently, "if you are good to me, I am good to you!
See,--I kiss up to God!"--and she wafted a heavily scented kiss
toward the ceiling of the taxicab.

Desperately,

JANE.

CHAPTER XXI

_Wednesday._

Well, Sally, mia, life looks a bit more rosy! I've separated Dolores
from her cigarette, from her furry coat of powder, from her athletic
perfume, from her circus clothes, and to-day, in spite of her
incredible size (the inches and pounds she has acquired in six
months!) the years have fallen from her. In a slim, brown tricotine
with a wide, untrimmed hat of silky brown straw her loveliness has
come back, and with it my enthusiasm.

She is docile in the main, when not too violently opposed, and I feed
my fancy on the joy and pride I shall have in her, when she has
finished school, in five years.

She starts on Monday, a splendid, firm, well-disciplined sc