e asked.

"Berhabs he zinkz zhe eez a prinzez, I dunno," he answered, digging the
toe of his bare foot nervously into the sand.

"Zen dell 'im zat he zhold not look vor ztrawberries in ze zea, nor red
herring in ze wood," she said with a look of scorn.

The eyes of the stranger and the gypsy met. They confronted each other
like two savage beasts who have met on a narrow path and are about to
fight for its possession. It was not an unequal match. The man's eyes
regarded the woman with a proud and masterful determination. The woman's
seemed to burn their way into the inmost secrets of the man's soul.

Chicarona was a remarkable character. In her majestic personality, the
virtues and the vices of the Spanish Gypsy fortune-teller were
incarnate. The vices were legion; the virtues were two--the love of
kindred, and physical chastity--the chastity of the soul itself being
unknown.

"We are wasting time gazing at each other like two sheep in a pasture.
Will you sell the girl?" the horseman asked, impatiently.

"I will nod!" she answered, with proud defiance.

"Then I will take her by force!"

"Ah! What could nod ze monkey do, if he were alzo ze lion!"

"I am the lion, and therefore I must have this lamb!"

"Muz? Say muz to ze clouds; to ze winz; to ze lightningz; but not to
Chicarona!"

"If you do not agree to accept a fair offer for this girl, you will be
in jail for kidnapping her in less than one hour!"

At this threat, the brilliant black eyes emitted a shower of angry
sparks, and she exclaimed in derision, "Ze Buzno will dake us do brizon,
ha! ha! ha!"

"Ze Buzno will dake us do brizon, hee! hee! hee!" giggled the little
impish child who tugged at her skirts.

The old woman pressed forward and mumbled, "'Ol' oud your 'an', my
pretty fellow. Crozz ze ol' gypsy's palm, and zhe will dell your
fortune."

With every new refusal, the resolute stranger became still more
determined. "Pearls are not to be had without a plunge," he murmured to
himself, and dismounted.

Throwing the bridle of his horse over the limb of a tree, he approached
the woman with a threatening gesture.

As he did so, the three female figures began to revolve around him in a
circle, pointing their fingers at him and hissing like vipers. As the
old woman passed before his face she threw a handful of snuff in his
eyes--an act which has been, from time immemorial, the female gypsy's
last resort.

Had he been less agile than he was, it wo