"We have laid before the Captain our point of view," Hernandez was saying. "Even the charming Señora Valentino, a stranger here and altogether free from self-interest, agrees——"
They passed into the ballroom.
Señor Mendoza walked up and down the room, pretending to clap his hands before this señorita, or that, this being the signal by which the favored one was notified that she was to set foot to the measures. Laughter and bantering without stint went around.
"Lolita Hernandez!"
"Lucinda Higuera!"
"Tula Laynez!"
"Juanita Calderon!"
"Alfreda Castro!" from yet another partisan; and so on.
"The Señorita Carmelita!" cried a dozen voices as the doña entered.
"Beautiful! Beautiful!" exclaimed the usually phlegmatic Fulgencio Higuera. "The señorita Mendoza has stolen the light of stars for her eyes, and she has robbed the gardens for her cheeks. Let her dance El Son."