What was that white thing lying under the door? Pilar stooped down and picked up a letter. It was postmarked "U.S.A."
Now very few of Pilar's friends would have known what those initials meant. And even if they had been told, many of them would have shrieked with laughter and cried, "Only red Indians live there!"
But Pilar's grandfather had been in America long ago, and, of course, her mother had danced there.
The letter came from Antonio Santaella, and that was Tony—Tony, who had lived in Seville as a boy and was now an important merchant in America. Enclosed in the letter, Pilar found paper bills—money—more money than Pilar and her grandfather had seen in many years!
Tony wrote that he would always remember Pilar's mother, known as "The Little Spanish Dancer." He also asked Pilar whether she, too, would become a dancer when she grew up.
Pilar's eyes shone.
"Oh, Grandfather!" she cried. "What a kind man Señor Tony is! How much I love him! How I wish to be a dancer like my mother! Shall we have eggs or stew for dinner?" She had said it all in one breath. She rushed to open the door on her way to market, adding, "I shall be right ba—pf-f-f!"
With a terrible thud, Pilar had bumped into a tall gentleman who stood at the door. It was the great dancing master.
"Good evening," he said. "Are you Señorita Pilar?"
| A NET MAKER, SEVILLE |