Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/165

 amiable and receptive feminity coyly bidding for attention.

Nan burst upon this assembly like a bird of paradise. The movements of Señor Apedaca no longer attracted attention; the scraping of the school-master's violin fell upon deaf ears, while bile was suddenly disseminated throughout the system of the belle of Las Rubertas.

Fat señoras whose days were over, looked at Nan in sullen curiosity, while their swarthy consorts shot her bold or surreptitious glances of admiration.

Nan and her party, which included Mrs. Gallagher in her blanket, took her seat upon a bench apparently as unconscious of the concentrated gaze as though she were alone.

All was in readiness, but the great moment had not arrived until the floor manager, having previously given each male dancer a number, took his place in the center of the floor and designated those who were to choose partners for the coming waltz or quadrille.

The floor-manager of a baile is supreme, and to ignore his commands is a serious breach of etiquette, if not an insult.

But who could ignore Ignacio Bojarques?