had lost its repugnant character, and on some it
seemed most becoming. The costumes of the vaqueros, too, bore well the
light of day. The place was open to all who chose to enter, and the
floor was covered with Indian women and children, and real Mestizoes in
cotton shirts, drawers, and sandals; the barrier, too, was lined with a
dense mass of Indians and Mestizoes, looking on good-humouredly at this
personification of themselves and their ways. The whole gathering was
more informal and gayer, and seemed more what it was intended to be, a
fiesta of the village.

The bayle de dia was intended to give a picture of life at a hacienda,
and there were two prominent personages, who did not appear the evening
before, called fiscales, being the officers attendant upon the ancient
caciques, and representing them in their authority over the Indians.
These wore long, loose, dirty camisas hanging off one shoulder, and
with the sleeves below the hands; calzoncillos, or drawers to match,
held up by a long cotton sash, the ends of which dangled below the
knees; sandals, slouching straw hats, with brims ten or twelve inches
wide, and long locks of horse hair hanging behind their ears. One of
them wore awry over his shoulder a mantle of faded blue cotton cloth,
said to be an heirloom descended from an ancient cacique, and each
flourished a leather whip with eight or ten lashes. These were the
managers and masters of ceremonies, with absolute and unlimited
authority over the whole company, and, as they boasted, they had a
right to whip the Mestizas if they pleased.

As each Mestiza arrived they quietly put aside the gentleman escorting
her, and conducted the lady to her seat. If the gentleman did not give
way readily, they took him by the shoulders, and walked him to the
other end of the floor. A crowd followed wherever they moved, and all
the time the company was assembling they threw everything into laughter
and confusion by their whimsical efforts to preserve order.

At length they undertook to clear a space for dancing, backing the
company in a summary way as far as they could go, and then taking the
men and boys by the shoulder, and jamming them down upon the floor.
While they were thus engaged, a stout gentleman, of respectable
appearance, holding some high office in the village, appeared in the
doorway, quietly lighting another straw cigar, and as soon as they saw
him they desisted from the work they had in hand, and, in the
c