ide her, putting his foot on the
chair. He loved to talk at the hour of noon. "When you was a little
girl, no bigger than that, you come to my house one day 'bout noon, like
this, and I was in the door, playing guitar. You was barehead, barefoot;
you run away from home. You stand there and make a frown at me an'
listen. By 'n by you say for me to sing. I sing some lil' ting, and then
I say for you to sing with me. You don' know no words, of course, but
you take the air and you sing it justa beauti-ful! I never see a child
do that, outside Mexico. You was, oh, I do' know--seven year, may-bee.
By 'n by the preacher come look for you and begin for scold. I say,
'Don' scold, Meester Kronborg. She come for hear guitar. She gotta some
music in her, that child. Where she get?' Then he tell me 'bout your
gran'papa play oboe in the old country. I never forgetta that time."
Johnny chuckled softly.

Thea nodded. "I remember that day, too. I liked your music better than
the church music. When are you going to have a dance over there,
Johnny?"

Johnny tilted his head. "Well, Saturday night the Spanish boys have a
lil' party, some DANZA. You know Miguel Ramas? He have some young
cousins, two boys, very nice-a, come from Torreon. They going to Salt
Lake for some job-a, and stay off with him two-three days, and he mus'
have a party. You like to come?"

That was how Thea came to go to the Mexican ball. Mexican Town had been
increased by half a dozen new families during the last few years, and
the Mexicans had put up an adobe dance-hall, that looked exactly like
one of their own dwellings, except that it was a little longer, and was
so unpretentious that nobody in Moonstone knew of its existence. The
"Spanish boys" are reticent about their own affairs. Ray Kennedy used to
know about all their little doings, but since his death there was no one
whom the Mexicans considered SIMPATICO.

On Saturday evening after supper Thea told her mother that she was going
over to Mrs. Tellamantez's to watch the Mexicans dance for a while, and
that Johnny would bring her home.

Mrs. Kronborg smiled. She noticed that Thea had put on a white dress and
had done her hair up with unusual care, and that she carried her best
blue scarf. "Maybe you'll take a turn yourself, eh? I wouldn't mind
watching them Mexicans. They're lovely dancers."

Thea made a feeble suggestion that her mother might go with her, but
Mrs. Kronborg was too wise for that. She knew t