“Yes, thank you. They are all well, and I think they will be up this evening—at least, some of them will. I heard words to that effect,” Everett replied.
“I hope all will come,” Elvira said.
“What? Mr. Darrell, senior, also?” Corina asked.
“Certainly. Why not?” Mercedes answered.
“We were speaking of the ladies—but if Mr. Darrell should call, we will be happy to receive him with sincere cordiality,” Elvira added.
“All of which would be thrown away upon the stiffest neck in San Diego County,” Victoriano observed.
Everett laughed.
“Why, Tano! What makes you talk like that?” Mercedes exclaimed, reddening with evident annoyance.
“Because his ‘butt-headedness’ is like that of a vicious old mule, which no one began to break until he was ten years old, and loves to kick from pure cussedness,” Victoriano explained, with free use of slang.
“If Mr. Darrell has said or done anything to vex you, the best thing is not to go to his house, but it is not very courteous to speak as you have in the presence of his son,” Doña Josefa said.