, you blessed old scalawag!" Don Mike replied in English, and
ruffled the grizzled old head before passing on to the expectant
Carolina, who folded him tightly in her arms and wept soundlessly when
he kissed her leathery cheek. While he was murmuring words of comfort
to her, Pablo got up on his feet and recovered his hat.

"You see," he said to Kay, in a confidential tone, "Don Miguel Jose
Maria Federico Noriaga Farrel loves us. Never no woman those boy kees
since hees mother die twenty year before. So Carolina have the great
honor like me. Yes!"

"Oh, but you haven't seen him kiss his sweetheart," Kay bantered the
old man--and then blushed, in the guilty knowledge that her badinage
had really been inspired by a sudden desire to learn whether Don Mike
had a sweetheart or not. Pablo promptly and profanely disillusioned
her.

"Those boy, he don' have some sweethearts, mees lady. He's pretty
parteecular." He paused a moment and looked her in the face meaningly.
"Those girls in thees country--pah! Hee's pretty parteecular, those
boy."

His childish arrogance and consuming pride in his master stirred the
girl's sense of humor.

"I think your Don Mike is _too_ particular," she whispered.
"Personally, I wouldn't marry him on a bet."

His slightly bloodshot eyes flickered with rage. "You never get a
chance," he assured her. "Those boy is of the _gente_. An' we don'
call heem 'Don Mike' now. Before, yes; but now he is 'Don Miguel,'
like hees father. Same, too, like hees gran'father."

Throughout this colloquy, Carolina had been busy exculpating herself
from possible blame due to her failure to have prepared for the
prodigal the sort of food she knew he preferred.

Farrel had quite a task pacifying her. At length he succeeded in
gently dismissing both servants, and followed Kay toward the patio.

The girl entered first, and discovered that her family and their guest
were not on the veranda, whereat she turned and gave her hand to Farrel.

"The butler will bring you some dinner to your room. We breakfast at
eight-thirty. Good-night."

"Thank you," he replied. "I shall be deeper in your debt if you will
explain to your father and mother my apparent lack of courtesy in
failing to call upon them this evening."

He held her hand for a moment. Then he bowed, gracefully and with
studied courtesy, cap in hand, and waited until she had turned to leave
him before he, in turn, betook himself to his room.