“What odd slippers with no heels!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, we all like to have our feet ready to jump into mud or water, for our roads are not yet good. These slippers are called ‘chinelas’ (chē nay′las). They have no heel and just a catch to put the toe in. They have no laces. With them we slide along the ground. But we cannot back up straight, or run last in them. If we wish to go back we must turn around, so as to keep our chinelas on our toes. The young people do not wear stockings in our warm climate, where one lives close to Nature,—too close sometimes, when the snake bites.”
“But taken all together, what a happy Eden this is for a boy or a girl,” I added.
Chapter XIX
The “Adios” Feast
Next day as we were walking down the road to the good-by feast, I noticed a crowd gathered in a circle, and stooping over.
“What are they doing; digging gold?” I asked.
“No, they are making game-fowl fight,” Moro replied. “They wager money on which will be the winner and put the other to flight. The boys and men get very much excited.”