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THE MUCHACHA GOING IT.

crutches. I danced with my fair friend as often as les convénances allowed; and when not dancing paid her assiduous court. She was gay, brilliant, enjoué; and, notwithstanding her equivocal position, of great delicacy in manner and speech. Her father, she said, was an hidalgo, and, of course, could stoop to no trade-or he might have been rich. He preferred beggary to dishonor; and as for herself, why she must not only supply the necessities of her parents, but in a manner not to offend their prejudices. What a compensatory blessing this consciousness of noble blood must be, since it reconciles its proud possessor to the lowest state of degradation!

After a while the fun became fast and furious. Every body was on the floor at once, and the copitas put life and mettle in their heels. Two of the muchachas became very much disposed to be very confidential with

me

e-told me on what occasions they had met me before in their disguise as viejas (old women), and their successful appeals for charity; and other things which they might as well have retained within their own breasts. Toward midnight they drew the table with all the glasses on into the middle of the floor, and one of these muchachas making a step of some man's hand, lightly sprung upon it. "Ole! ole!" every body shouted, and the girl commenced dancing "with a will." The glasses danced at the same time, and their ring was a fine accompaniment to the guitar. But so skillful was the girl in the greatest fury of her steps, that she neither struck nor overthrew a single glass-a feat I could not have believed practicable. It is true, the table was a large one, and she wore an unhooped dress. The task accomplished, we surrounded her with our congratulations, and pledged her in our copitas.

Besides myself, there was another present who might have been deemed a guest-a contrabandista, who divides the national heart with the tauridor. This

man was indeed the lion of the evening. Every body applauded his jokes and quoted his opinions. With the ladies he was a veritable Captain Macheath—“ the pet of the petticoats." A good-looking fellow, his dress improved his natural advantages. He danced well, sang well, and told a thousand spirited stories. A hatred of the excise is a natural instinct with the mass of people in all countries; and in Spain, where

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHARITY.

indispensable articles are monopolized, the contrabandista, or smuggler, is looked upon as a national benefactor. He brings good tea and the latest news to the padre, silver and cigars to the escribano, ribbons and laces to the muchachas. Against such a person what could be my pretensions, and in such a crowd!

However, I did not envy, I rather admired. Successful audacity always meets a certain approbation, and this man was a hero in his profession.

But there is an end to every thing. At midnight the girls, like Cinderella, put off their spangled dresses and resumed their rags. They went their several ways, with their favored attendants. I had promised the partner of my dance to see her again; but next morning Phoebus dissipated the vow into thin air. I saw her no more forever; but I shall not soon forget her or the Beggar's Fiesta.

I would not be understood to convey the idea that there are no deserving objects of charity among the countless beggars we encounter every where in Spain. On the contrary, there are few countries where poverty is more sincere. Indeed, the incontrovertible destitution, so manifest to our senses, makes imitation more facile. The fear of imposition, therefore, should not withhold our alms. Give always-give with the ready hand. The best part of charity is ours; for it is more blessed to give than to receive.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

SYMPATHY WITH TRADITIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS-FRESHNESS OF SPANISH LIFE-PECULIAR INSTITUTIONS-CHEAPNESS OF LIVING-MY DEPARTURE.

I BELIEVE if I had remained much longer in Spain, I should have become infected with a belief in the superstitions of the peasantry. For every thing respires romance there. Particularly in Grenada, where the Moors lingered longest, and impressed most deeply upon the soil their poetic fancies and fervid temperament. The soft languor of the atmosphere predisposes the mind to a dreamy voluptuousness where, on indulgence, the ideal seems to assume the breathing form of the actual.

Most current and most earnest of all the popular traditions is the one that, on the eve of St. John, unlocks the gates of the subterranean cave, wherein the rest of the year Boabdil and his Moorish retinue are held enthralled, and sends them forth with many an emblazoned banner and gorgeous equipage, with richly dressed cavaliers and knights in gallant armor, with cymbal and trumpet, and all the pomp of war, to revisit the scenes of their former glories. And many a peasant with horror-stricken countenance will tell you how, belated on the mountains past the witching hour of night, he has seen the gorgeous cavalcade, with banner and pennon displayed, sweep down the mountain

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PECULIAR INSTITUTIONS.

side. Other superstitions hardly less romantic, gain equal credence, and engross the popular ear. Hearing these continually, and finding them mostly believed in, you begin from sympathy to accord them at first ready entertainment, and then partial credence. Had I passed the eve of St. John on the Sierra del Sol, with the multitude of both sexes, I too should have been fully prepared for the pageantry of the Moorish king.

Beside the popular traditions and legends, the novel manners, picturesque individuality, and national customs impress a stranger deeply. Now in Paris we find every thing better than any where else-but little or nothing to which we have been unaccustomed. The difference is not one of kind, but degree. In Spain, on the contrary, every thing strikes us as fresh, original, peculiar. There are spectacles and institutions, costumes, and habits of life, different from all we had previously seen or understood; these we much affect after a while, and quit with reluctance. Indeed, I feel a greater desire to revisit the Andalusias than any country of which I have had experience. I liked the people; I liked the bailes; I liked the corridas de toros; I liked the olla podrida; I liked the insouciance, the devil-may-care sort of habits; I liked the majos, contrabandistas, and picaros generally. Indeed, I liked every thing but the pulgas.

Living in the Andalusias is not dear. At the best hotels the board per day is only seven and a half pesètas-a dollar and a half; and this includes as much vin ordinaire for your dinner as you wish. The table too is good, and the cooking not indifferent.

It is unnecessary, however, for me to dwell upon the agreeabilities of a sojourn in these favored regions. The previous pages have revealed in full my sentiments on the subject. Nothing, indeed, could have prevailed