ms and the blue sea sparkles in the
sun. "In every Christian kind of place" it is the time of Christmas
bells and Christmas masses. Even at the Aloran convent--about the
last outpost of civilization (only a little way beyond live the wild
mountain folk--sun-worshipers and the Mohammedans) the padre has
prepared a treat of nuts and raisins for the boys and girls--somewhat
of a Christmas cheer even so far across the sea. They have been
practicing their Christmas songs, Ave Maria and the "Oratorio," which
they will sing around the streets on Christmas eve. The schoolboys have
received their presents--dictionaries, sugared crackers, and perfumed
soap--and now that their vacation has begun, their little brown heads
can be seen bobbing up and down in the blue sea. Their Christmas-tree
will be the royal palm; and _nipa_ boughs their mistletoe.

Last Christmas in the provinces I spent in Iloilo at a hostel kept
by a barefooted Spanish landlady, slovenly in a loose morning-gown
and with disheveled hair, who stored the eggs in her own bedroom and
presided over the untidy staff of house-boys. As she usually slept
late, we breakfasted without eggs, being limited to chocolate and
cakes. The only option was a glass of lukewarm coffee thinned to
rather sickening proportions with condensed milk. Dinner, however,
was a more elaborate affair, consisting of a dozen courses, which
began with soup and ended with bananas or the customary cheese and
guava. The several meat and chicken courses, the "_balenciona_"--boiled
rice mixed with chicken giblets and red peppers--and the bread, baked
hard and eaten without butter, was washed down with a generous glass
of _tinto_ wine. A pile of rather moist plates stood in front of you,
and as you finished one course an untidy thumb removed the topmost
plate, thus gradually diminishing the pile.

The dining-room was very interesting. A pretentious mirror in a
tarnished gilt frame was the _piece de resistance_. The faded chromos
of the royal family, the Saints, and the Enfanta were relieved by the
brilliant lithographs presenting brewers' advertisements. A majestic
chandelier, considerably fly-specked, but elaborately ornamented
with glass prisms, dropped from the frescoed ceiling, and a cabinet
containing miscellaneous seashells, family photographs, and starfish
occupied one corner of the room.

There was a Christmas eve reception at the home of the "Dramatic
Club," where the refreshments of cigars an