Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/209



person in Las Rubertas not actually bedridden was in the plaza that morning to drink and gossip with his friends, to view the sports and contests, and then—oh, glorious news!—to celebrate the victory of Spain over the pigs of Americans.

As Nan's horse ambled easily through the soft sand of the road leading into the square, she saw its sides lined with the old men, the women and the children of the village, and all the country round, while every youth who owned or could borrow a horse was a dashing caballero.

And anxious to attract attention to himself, each in his vanity spurred his horse deep, and held it hard with the cruel Mexican bit, that the bewildered animal in its pain might prance and cavort.

But a group of horsemen at the far end of the square seemed to be the center of interest, and they were being discussed with 197