ill talk to them all; will laugh with a
little humorous knowledge of each man's peculiarities; and she may give
them cheroots, of her own making; and, for one perhaps, for one, she
will light the cheroot herself first, and thus kiss him by proxy.

And is the girl alone? Well, yes. To all intents and purposes she is
alone; but there is always someone near, someone within call, for the
veranda is free to all. She cannot tell who may come, and some men, as
we know, are but wolves in sheep's clothing. Usually marriages are
arranged by the parents. Girls are not very different here to elsewhere;
they are very biddable, and ready to do what their mothers tell them,
ready to believe that it is the best. And so if a lad comes wooing, and
can gain the mother's ear, he can usually win the girl's affection, too;
but I think there are more exceptions here than elsewhere. Girls are
freer; they fall in love of their own accord oftener than elsewhere;
they are very impulsive, full of passion. Love is a very serious matter,
and they are not trained in self-restraint.

There are very many romances played out every day in the dusk beside the
well, in the deep shadows of the palm-groves, in the luminous nights by
the river shore--romances that end sometimes well, sometimes in terrible
tragedies. For they are a very passionate people; the language is full
of little love-songs, songs of a man to a girl, of a girl to a man. 'No
girl,' a woman once told me, 'no good, quiet girl would tell a man she
loved him first.' It may be so; if this be true, I fear there are many
girls here who are not good and quiet. How many romances have I not seen
in which the wooing began with the girl, with a little note perhaps,
with a flower, with a message sent by someone whom she could trust! Of
course many of these turned out well. Parents are good to their
children, and if they can, they will give their daughter the husband of
her choice. They remember what youth is--nay, they themselves never grow
old, I think; they never forget what once was to them now is to their
children. So if it be possible all may yet go well. Social differences
are not so great as with us, and the barrier is easily overcome. I have
often known servants in a house marry the daughters, and be taken into
the family; but, of course, sometimes things do not go so smoothly. And
then? Well, then there is usually an elopement, and a ten days' scandal;
and sometimes, too, there is an elopemen