The girl looked at him with mock severity. "I have given my sentence."
The host touched a bell.
"Are we ready for the dancing?" he asked.
The company cheered heartily.
"I hear the musicians tuning their instruments. Let us hence. If we cannot have the patter of rain during this season of drought, we can at least have the patter of feet."
Laughing and happy, the sons and daughters of the province repaired to the dancing room.
CHAPTER V
ANOTHER STRANGER MAKES A VISIT
"I hear the neigh of horses and the shouts of men. Has Dario, the head vaquero, returned from the valley of the San Joaquin? Or, perchance, is it some messenger from him?"
"Reverend padre, you hear the work Indians returning with their farm animals from the irrigated ground near the great spring. It is the noon hour."