land out there."

"That is very poetical, but after all, you are only saying that I am a
pretty savage with an education that will be more common in the next
generation. It is little consolation for an existence where the most
exciting event in a lifetime is the arrival of a foreign ship or the
inauguration of a governor." And once more she smiled at Sturgis. He
raised his glass impulsively, and she hers in gay response. A moment
later she gave the signal to leave the table. Rezanov followed her back
to the sala chewing the cud of many reflections.

X

Concha had eaten no supper. As she entered the sala she clapped her
hands, the guests ranged themselves against the wall, the musicians,
livelier than ever, flew to their instruments; with the drifting,
swaying movement she could assume at will, she went slowly, absently,
to the middle of the room. Then she let her head drop backward, as if
with the weight of her hair, and Rezanov, vaguely angry, expected one
of those appeals to the senses for which Spanish women of another sort
were notorious. But Concha, after tapping the floor alternately with
the points and the wooden heels of her slippers, for a few moments,
suddenly made an imperious gesture to Ignacio Sal. He sprang to her
side, took her hand, and once more there was the same monotonous
tapping of toes and heels. Then they whirled apart, bent their lithe
backs until their brows almost touched the floor in a salute of mock
admiration, and danced to and from each other, coquetry in the very
tilt of her eyebrows, the bare semblance of masculine indulgence on his
eager, passionate face. Suddenly to the surprise of all, she snapped
her fingers directly under his nose, waved her hand, turned her back,
and made a peremptory gesture to that other enamoured young swain,
Captain Antonio Castro of Monterey. Don Ignacio, surprised and
discomfited, retired amidst the jeers of his friends, and Concha, with
her most vivacious and gracious manner, met Castro half way, and,
taking his hand, danced up and down the sala, slowly and with many
improvisations. Then, as they returned to the center of the room and
stepped lightly apart before joining in a gay whirl, she snapped her
fingers under HIS nose, made a gesture of dismissal over her shoulder,
and fluttered an uplifted hand in the direction of Sturgis. Again
there was a delighted laughter, again a discomforted knight and a
triumphant partner.

"Concha always give