e all of one hue, namely a
dark ash color. The deceitful bird merchant had ingeniously painted him
from the crown of his head to the very tip of his tail feathers!

Like all these Spanish cities, the windows of the dwellings are secured
by a screen of iron bars, and many fronts where the house is of two
stories in height have also delightful little balconies, answering a
Romeo and Juliet purpose, all courtship being conducted here in a
surreptitious manner. A Mexican never goes about a courtship whereby he
hopes to win a wife in an open, straightforward manner. On the contrary,
he forms cunning schemes for meeting his fair inamorata, and employs
ingenious subterfuges to gain a stolen interview. He tells his passion
not in words, but with profound sighs and significant glances, as he
passes her flower-decked balcony, while she, although perfectly
understanding his pantomime, assumes the most profound innocence and
even indifference. This fires the suitor's ardor; he bows sadly when
passing her balcony, with his right hand pressed vehemently upon his
left breast, where a youthful lover's heart is popularly supposed to be
located. Finally, after a good deal of pretentious pantomime, the fair
senorita appears to realize the purport of all this wooing, and seems
gradually to yield to his silent yet expressive importunities. There is
also a language of the fan, of flowers, of the fingers, all of which are
pressed into the service of the amorous couple. We were shown a small
pocket manual printed in Spanish and sold in the stores and upon the
streets, containing a printed code of the significance of certain
flowers, a "dumb alphabet" for the fingers, and the meaning of the
several motions of the ever-ready fan which, like a gaudy butterfly,
flits before the face of beauty. There is the rapid flirt which
signifies scorn, another motion is the graceful wave of confidence, an
abrupt closing of the fan indicates vexation, and the striking of it
into the palm of the hand expresses anger. The gradual opening of its
folds intimates reluctant forgiveness, and so on. In short, the fan can
be more eloquent than words, if in the hands of a Mexican senorita,
stimulated by the watchful eyes and the adoration of an ardent Romeo.
But this is only preliminary. All parents are presumed to be implacably
and absolutely opposed to all lovers' wishes, and great diplomacy is
consequently required. This ludicrous game often continues for a
twelvemon