warning letter,
however, admonishes him that so long as he does not walk in a certain
locality, no harm to him can possibly accrue. It is not easy for Mateo
to avoid the indicated thoroughfare, as it happens to come exactly
within our watchman's beat at night; but he surmounts the obstacle at
the risk of incurring his employers' displeasure, by exchanging beats
with a brother watchman. The irregular act is, however, made known to
the authorities, and Mateo is threatened with instant dismissal if he
persists in avoiding the street in question. Fortunately, the sereno
receives a second missive from the anonymous correspondent, containing
the assurance that there is still hope for immediate and radical
disenchantment if Mateo will only follow the writer's advice. This
consists, first of all, in depositing a piece of coin under the door of
his correspondent's habitation. At an early hour, the money will
disappear through some unseen agency, and will afterwards be consigned
to a disenchanting locality in the Cuban bay. The sereno is next
enjoined to examine the lining of his bran-new panama, which he has
lately purchased to wear only on festive occasions. If all goes well, he
will assuredly discover certain black pins and human hairs crossed,
entwined and affixed in a peculiar fashion to the crown of his hat. The
same evil omens will likewise appear at the ferule end of his
gold-knobbed walking-stick. Satisfied that there is 'no deception,' the
proprietor of the enchanted hat and cane wraps up those articles
carefully in several folds of paper, according to instructions, and
early one Sunday morning deposits the parcel in a certain hole in an
undesirable field on the confines of the town.

'When I had done so,' concludes the watchman, pausing to inform the
inhabitants that it is three-quarters past midnight and
nu-bla-do!--'when I had done so, I walked without fear along the
forbidden street, and I have walked there in safety ever since!'

The watchman enjoins me to be warned by his story, and once more advises
me to provide myself with a few contradanos.

'Had I taken the same precautions,' observes Mateo, 'I should have
escaped all my troubles.'

'And preserved your panama and gold-headed cane!' I add.

'Past one o'clock and seren-o!' sings the watchman as he takes his leave
of me.

My interest in the tobacconist's family is considerably increased by
what I have heard, and my visits are none the less frequent becaus