ke a leg, ma lady," was a triumph in
the lyric line.

We used to walk to Lobuc every afternoon to purchase eggs. The
doctor's "_Duna ba icao itlong dinhi?_" always amused the natives,
who, when they had any eggs, took pleasure in producing them. It was
with difficulty that I taught him to say "_itlog_" (egg) instead of
"eclogue," which he had been using heretofore. He made one error,
though, which never could be rectified,--he always called a Chinaman
a "hen chick," much to the disgust of the offended Oriental, whose
denomination was expressed in the Visayan by the word "_inchic_."

I pause before attempting a description of the Oroquieta ball, and,
like the poets, pray to some kind muse to guide my pen. To-night
I feel again the same thrill that I felt the night of the grand
Oroquieta ball. The memories of Oroquieta music seem as though they
might express themselves in words:

"The stars so brightly shine,
But ah, those stars of thine!
Are none like yours, _Bonita_,
Beyond the ocean brine."

And then I seem to see the big captain--"Foxy grandpa"--beating the
bass drum like that extraordinary man that Mark Twain tells about,
"who hadn't a tooth in his whole head." I can remember how Don Julian,
the crusty Spaniard, animated with the spirit of old Capulet, stood on
the chair and shouted, "_Viva los Americanos!_"--and the palm-grove,
like a room of many pillars, lighted by Chinese lanterns.

It was a time of magic moonlight, when the sea broke on the sands in
phosphorescent lines in front of the _kiosko_. Far out on the horizon
lights of fishing-boats would glimmer, and the dusky shores of Siquijor
or the volcanic isle of Camaguin loomed in the distance. Here there
were little cities as completely isolated though they were parts
of another planet, where the "other" people worked and played, and
promenaded to the strumming of guitars. And in the background rose
the triple range of mountains, cold, mysterious, and blue in the
transfiguring moonlight.

The little army girl, like some fair goddess of the night, monopolized
the masculine attention at the ball. When she appeared upon the floor,
all others, as by mutual consent, retired, and left the field to her
alone. The "Pearls of Lobuc," who refused to come until a carriage was
sent after them, appeared in delicate gauze dresses, creamy stockings,
and white slippers. And "The Princess of the P