"
I could feel my eyes snap. "You respect no woman's mind," I said,
savagely; "nothing but the woman in her. But I will not quarrel with
you. Tell that baby over there to come and waltz with me."
At dawn, as we entered our room, I seized Chonita by the shoulders and
shook her. "What did you mean by such a performance?" I demanded. "It
was unprecedented!"
She threw back her head and laughed. "I could not help it," she said.
"First I felt an irresistible desire to show Monterey that I dared
do anything I chose. And then I have a wild something in me which has
often threatened to break loose before; and to-night it did. It was
that man. He made me."
"_Ay, Dios!"_ I thought, "it has begun already."
VII.
The festivities were to last a week, every one taking part but
Alvarado and Dona Martina. The latter was not strong enough, the
governor cared more for duty than for pleasure.
The next day we had a merienda on the hills behind the town. The green
pine woods were gay with the bright colors of the young people. Here
and there a caballero dashed up and down to show his horsemanship and
the silver and embroidered silk of his saddle. Silver, too, were
his jingling spurs, the eagles on his sombrero, the buttons on his
colorous silken jacket. Horses, without exception handsomely trapped,
were tethered everywhere, pawing the ground or nibbling the grass.
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