Page:Face to Face With the Mexicans.djvu/431

Rh "Yes, he is a beauty now, but wait till he is twelve or fourteen years old, and he will be mas serio," meaning that he lost his spirituelle expression and became coarse and sallow. Pity it is that this loveliness is so evanescent.

The evangelistas (letter-writers) have a distinct position to themselves. They subserve a valuable purpose to the great army of servants and low-class people, who, through them, carry on a correspondence with their lovers. With a board on his knees, or perhaps sometimes a plain little table, and a big jug of ink, and pen behind the ear, the evangelista is ready to serve his customers. Anxious lovers stand around awaiting his leisure, the desire to transmit their sentiments making his services in high demand. Note paper, variously shaped, is at hand, and for a medio or real, a letter is furnished that will be expressive of grief, jealousy, love, and overweening affection.