hilippines," Diega, with
her saucy pompadour, forgot that it was time to drop your hand at the
conclusion of the dance. Our noble Ichabod was there in a tight-fitting
suit of black and narrow trousers, fervently discussing with the
French constabulary man whether a frock was a Prince Albert. Paradies
capered mincingly to the quick music of the waltz, and the old maid,
unable to restrain herself, kept begging the doctor--who did not
know how to dance--only to try a two-step with her, please. And
the poor doctor, in his agony, had sweated out another clean white
uniform. I had almost forgotten Maraquita and the _zapatillas_
with the pearl rosettes. She was a little queen in pink-and-white,
and ere the night was over she had given me her "_sing sing_" (ring)
and fan, and told me that I could "ask papa" if I wanted to. The next
day she was just as pretty in light-blue and green, and with her hair
unbound. She poked her toes into a pair of gold-embroidered sandals,
and seemed very much embarrassed at my presence. This was explained
when, later in the day, her uncle asked me for Miss Maraquita's ring.

Although the cook and the _muchachos_ ate the greater part of the
refreshments, and a heart or two was broken incidentally, the Oroquieta
ball passed into history as being the most brilliant function of its
kind that ever had been witnessed at the post.

The winter passed with an occasional plunge in the cool river,
and the surf-bath every morning before breakfast. In the evening we
would ride to Lobuc, racing the ponies back to town in a white cloud
of dust. Dinner was always served for any number, for we frequently
had visitors,--field officers on hunting leave, commercial drummers
from Cebu, the circuit judge, the captain of the _Delapaon_. The
doctor had been threatening for some time, now, to give Vivan a
necessary whipping, which he did one morning to that Chesterfield's
astonishment. Calling the servant "_Usted_," or "Your honor," he
applied the strap, and old Vivan was shaking so with laughter that
he hardly felt the blows. But after that, he tumbled over himself
with eagerness to fill our orders. We had found the coolest places in
the town,--the beach at Lobuc, under a wide-spreading tree, and the
thatched bridge where the wind swept up and down the river, where
the women beat their washing on the rounded stones, and carabaos
dreamed in the shade of the bamboo. The cable used to steady the
bridge connected with the s