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266 of Spanish-speaking people looked on, asserting that I could and would not fail in the effort, I set confidently about my task. But no sound came of broken crockery or falling dulces.

The rule was, that every one should have three trials. After the third stroke imagine my chagrin, when the handkerchief was removed, to see the monkey above my head, slowly descending, grinning and wriggling his tail. A wild and clamorous burst of laughter went up when I discovered the trick. They insisted that I should have another stroke at his monkey-ship; so, acting on the rule, "If at first you don't succeed," blindfolded and pole in hand, I advanced, and, with one vigorous stroke, shivered it, amid shouts of laughter and rounds of applause. No dulces were ever so sweet to me!

A happy event for me was an invitation from General Palacio's household to attend the posadas in their house, affording me the opportunity of witnessing a distinctively national custom in all its true elegance.

Mary and Joseph were represented by two wax figures, placed upon a flower-wreathed, moss-embowered vehicle, made for the purpose, and propelled by an enthusiastic youth. The procession, consisting of the family and invited guests, formed on the corridor, which had been profusely decorated for the occasion. The posada began with the singing of a hymn, in which all participated with due solemnity. We marched around the corridor, with candles in our hands, preceded by the images, knocking at a door each time, but were always refused admittance by some one inside the rooms. At last we knocked at the chapel door, where we sang a petition, as if Mary and Joseph themselves were imploring admittance. Questions from within called forth the natural responses from the wayfarers without, who sang, "The night is cold and dark, and the woman who seeks a night's lodgings is the Queen of Heaven, having not where to lay her head."

The door at once opened, the weary pair entered, and the procession moved into the chapel singing a ringing anthem, which to me had the spirit of our ever-familiar "All hail the power." The litany