Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/30

28 fountains better supplied, the squares enclosed in fine stone balustrades, and the stone seats softly tinted. Chance, or perhaps some longing memory of the family doctor at home, led us into a doctor's office here. Imagine a small door set in a large carved gateway leading through a stone archway into a broad, sunny patio. Under an arch at the right, a pair of fine horses champing in their cool stone stalls; under an arch at the left, some pet birds, a couple of tame ducks, a green and gold parrot on the wall, a silver-trimmed saddle with sharp spurs, and a gay riding-blanket hanging beneath it; through an open door, the clean stone kitchen; through another, a stone bedroom with fresh, clean beds; through a third, the office, — stone, too, like the others, — and all opening on the warm, silent courtyard. The room was cool and dusky, tiled, as were the rest; there were bamboo chairs and lounge, a professional-looking desk, a small pharmacy at one end, a table covered with the wonderful feather-work for which the town is noted, in the centre, and a few engravings on the wall. The shuttered and grated window was closed; light and air came through the great inner door, which stood always open.