see it; and why shouldn't he get to see it, if Alessandro's here
all summer?" And before the aprons were done, Margarita had a fine
air-castle up: herself and Alessandro married, a nice little house,
children playing in the sunshine below the artichoke-patch, she herself
still working for the Senora. "And the Senorita will perhaps marry Senor
Felipe," she added, her thoughts moving more hesitatingly. "He worships
the ground she walks on. Anybody with quarter of a blind eye can see
that; but maybe the Senora would not let him. Anyhow, Senor Felipe is
sure to have a wife, and so and so." It was an innocent, girlish castle,
built of sweet and natural longings, for which no maiden, high or
low, need blush; but its foundations were laid in sand, on which would
presently beat such winds and floods as poor little Margarita never
dreamed of.

The next day Margarita and Ramona both went about their day's business
with a secret purpose in their hearts. Margarita had made up her mind
that before night she would, by fair means or foul, have a good long
talk with Alessandro. "He was fond enough of me last year, I know,"
she said to herself, recalling some of the dances and the good-night
leave-takings at that time. "It's because he is so put upon by everybody
now. What with Juan Can in one bed sending for him to prate to him about
the sheep, and Senor Felipe in another sending for him to fiddle him to
sleep, and all the care of the sheep, it's a wonder he's not out of his
mind altogether. But I'll find a chance, or make one, before this day's
sun sets. If I can once get a half-hour with him, I'm not afraid after
that; I know the way it is with men!" said the confident Margarita,
who, truth being told, it must be admitted, did indeed know a great
deal about the way it is with men, and could be safely backed, in a fair
field, with a fair start, against any girl of her age and station in
the country. So much for Margarita's purpose, at the outset of a day
destined to be an eventful one in her life.

Ramona's purpose was no less clear. She had decided, after some
reflection, that she would not speak to the Senora about Margarita's
having been under the willows with Alessandro in the previous evening,
but would watch her carefully and see whether there were any farther
signs of her attempting to have clandestine interviews with him.

This course she adopted, she thought, chiefly because of her affection
for Margarita, and her unwillin