ando, and there danced at the fiesta
of San Pascual Bailon and asked for a son. It is well known that in
Obando there is a trinity--Our Lady of Salambau, Santa Clara and San
Pascual--which grants sons or daughters as required. Thanks to this
wise triumvirate, Dona Pia became a mother, but like the fisherman
in Macbeth, who ceased to sing after he found a rich treasure,
Dona Pia lost her gayety, became very sad and was never seen to
smile again. Every one, even to Captain Tiago, declared that it was
a pure caprice. A puerperal fever put an end to her grief, leaving
a beautiful daughter motherless. Father Damaso baptized the child,
and, as San Pascual had not given the son which had been asked for,
the name of Maria Clara was given to it in honor of the Virgin of
Salambau and of Santa Clara. The little girl grew up under the care
of her aunt Isabel,--that good old lady with the manners of a friar
whom we met before. The little girl lived the greater part of the
time in San Diego on account of the healthful climate, and while
there Father Damaso paid her much attention.

Maria Clara did not have the small eyes of her father. Like her mother,
her eyes were large, black and shaded by long lashes, brilliant and
smiling when she was playing, but sad, deep and pensive at other
times. When a child her wavy hair was almost blond. Her nose was
well formed, neither too large nor too flat. Her mouth was small and
beautifully shaped like that of her mother, and her cheeks were set
with dimples. Her skin was like silk and as white as snow, but her
fond parent found traces of the paternity of Captain Tiago in her
small and well shaped ears.

Aunt Isabel attributed the child's semi-European features to
impressions made upon Dona Pia. She remembered having seen the mother a
short time before the child was born, weeping before the image of San
Antonio. Then, too, a cousin of Captain Tiago had the same features,
the only difference being in the choice of the saints, by which the
phenomenon was explained. With her it was either the Virgin or San
Miguel. A cousin of Captain Tiago, a famous philosopher, who knew
Amat [2] by heart, explained it all by attributing it to the effect
of the planets.

Maria Clara, the idol of all, grew up surrounded by love and
smiles. She won the favor of even the friars when she was dressed in
white for some religious procession, her long, wavy hair interwoven
with flowers, two silver or golden wings attached