Chata and Chinita, Chapters XIV-XVI [pp. 393-409]

400 Clata and Chinia. [Oc
as if fascinated; he saw it grimy, vivacious, female child of the many who lived with
beautiful, but weird, tempting, mysterious. the hacienda limits was absent from th
No angel had stopped him on his way. He church; and they were so many that th
took the charm nmechanically, and the child, proud mothers, who had spent no little
with a joyous yet mocking laugh, fled away. their time and substance in arraying then
He roused as from a spell, called after her, were fain to crowd the aisles and doorway
tossed the charm into the air, and caught it or stand craning their necks without, hopin
again, and called once more, but she neither to catch a glimpse of the high altar, as th
answered nor stopped. He gazed around crowd surged to and fro, making way forth
him once again. A superstitious awe, akin tiny representatives of womanhood, wh
to terror, crept over him; he shuddered, claimed right of entrance from their ve
thrust the talisman into his belt, and put powerlessness and innocence. Quaint and
spurs to his horse. ludicrous looked these little creatures, mi
That day, for the most part, he rode alone, cing daintilyintothechurch, their wide-sprea
and when for a time he joined Gonzales, he crinolines expanding skirts stiffly starche
w a s silent-silent, too, was his companion, and rustling audibly, under brilliant tuni
a n d nor one nor the other divined the of flowered muslin, or purple and gree
th oughts of the man who rode at his side. stuffs. These dresses were an exact imit
tion in material and style of the gala atti
xv. of the mothers. The full skirts swept t
ground, and over the curiously embroider
THE fiesta of the nozvena of the Blessed Vir- linen chemise which formed the bodice w
gin, one of the most charming of all the )-ear, thrown the ever present reboso of shimmne
wasbeingcelebratedwith unusual pomp in the ing tints. The well oiled black locks
church at Tres Hermanos. Since the death these miniature rancleras were drawn ba
of Padre Francisco, no priest had been regu- tightly from the low foreheads; the lon
larly stationed there; but at the expense of smooth braids fastened and adorned by kno
Dona Isabel, one had been sent there to re- of bright ribbon, and crowned with flowe
main through the nine days sacred to Mary, of domestic manufacture, their glaring hu
and the people gave their whole time to and fantastic shapes contrasting strangel
devotional exercises, much to tie neglect of with the masses of beauty and fragran
the usual hacienda work. The crops in the that each child clasped to her bosom. I
fields were untended, while the men crowded spite of its incongruities, a fantastic an
to mass in the morning, and spent their af- pleasant sight was offered; and Dona Rit
ternoons at the tienda, playing monte and looking around her with the eye of a de
drinking pulque; while the women and chil- otee, doubted whether any more pl)easi
dren streamed in and out of the church, the could be devised for God or man.