ered the room, and, with a modest yet
gracious smile, took a seat opposite her pupil-teacher.

"Dignity," thought the latter--"native dignity and grace! Being the
daughter of a great chief of the Incas--a princess, I suppose--she
cannot help it. An ordinary Indian female, now, would have come into
the room clumsily, looked sheepish, and sat down on the edge of her
chair--perhaps on the floor!"

But as he gazed at her short, black, curly hair, her splendid black
eyebrows, her pretty little high-bred mouth, beautiful white teeth, and
horribly brown skin, he sighed, and only said--

"Ay, ay! Well, well! _What_ a pity!"

"What ees dat?" inquired the girl, with a look of grave simplicity.

"Did I speak?" returned Lawrence, a little confused.

"Yes--you say, `Ay, ay. Well, well. _What_ a pittie!'"

"Oh!--ah!--yes--I was only _thinking_, Manuela. What will you have?"

"Som muttin," replied the girl, with a pursing of the little mouth that
indicated a tendency to laugh.

"It is not mutton. It's beef, I think."

"Well, bee-eef very naice--an' som' gravvie too, plee-ese."

She went off at this point into a rippling laugh, which, being
infectious in its nature, also set her companion off, but the entrance
of the landlord checked them both. He sat down at a small table near to
them, and, being joined by a friend, called for a bottle of wine.

"Hotter than ever," he remarked to Lawrence.

"Yes, very sultry indeed."

"Shouldn't wonder if we was to have a sharpish touch or two to-night."

To which his friend, who was also an American if not an Englishman, and
appeared to be sceptical in his nature, replied, "Gammon!"

This led to a conversation between the two which is not worthy of
record, as it was chiefly speculative in regard to earthquakes in
general, and tailed off into guesses as to social convulsions present,
past or pending. One remark they made, however, which attracted the
attention of our hero, and made him wish to hear more. It had reference
to some desperate character whose name he failed to catch, but who was
said to be in the neighbourhood again, "trying to raise men to join his
band of robbers," the landlord supposed, to which the landlord's friend
replied with emphasis that he had come to the right place, for, as far
as his experience went, San Ambrosio was swarming with men that seemed
fit for anything--from "pitch-and-toss to manslaughter."

Not wishing, apparently, to hear anything mo