shioned piano,
long beyond use. How it was ever brought over the mountains to this
village is a wonder. When we asked him, what we were to pay for the
dinner, he replied, nothing; that we would begin to pay later. The
impression made upon us by San Pedro was more agreeable than that
produced by Zautla. The town government is large and vigorous,
comprising a dozen well-built young fellows. On account of the church
festival, plenty of subjects had been brought together. We did not
understand what the _secretario_ expected, and therefore took up our
quarters at the town-house. We paid dearly for our misunderstanding. We
waited long for supper, but none came. The _presidente_ and the older
men were at church. The _secretario_ was nowhere to be found. While we
were waiting, the young fellows who were making candles, and a crowd of
boys, crouched about the fire and watched the work. Presently they lay
down a couple of _serapes_ on the floor, and the whole group, eighteen
or twenty in number, dropped down upon them, a perfect mass of humanity,
packed close together in the most curiously twisted attitudes, and were
fast asleep in no time. They had no covering, but seemed to keep each
other warm. After they were fast asleep, some of the other men appeared,
and we urged the bringing in of supper. A handful of _tortillas_ and two
fried eggs were not a hearty meal for six hungry persons, nor were our
sleeping accommodations satisfactory. With difficulty we got some mats,
and I lay down upon the smaller table, Frank on the larger, Louis and
Manuel rolled up on the ground below the latter, and Ramon and the
_mozo_ on the long bench. Half a dozen of the older men remained sitting
about the fire. It can be understood that the room was fairly full. The
men made no pretense of sleeping until past ten o'clock, and two or
three times during the night they broke out into loud conversation.

[Illustration: CHINANTEC GIRL SPINNING; SAN JUAN ZAUTLA]

[Illustration: CHINANTEC WEAVING; SAN JUAN ZAUTLA]

Just outside the town-house, under a thatched shelter, a group of old
women were cooking _atole_ in great _ollas_ until a late hour. This
gruel they ladled out to those men and boys who had been working, and
doled out to them drinks from black bottles. The men and boys, with
their red head-cloths or neck-cloths, went forth from time to time in
groups upon some public errand. Towards evening, eight or ten little
fellows came from the forest with