Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/193

148 Her whole height is not more than a foot, but you cannot number the scratches, knocks, and bruises, that her poor little frame has suffered! Her color is gone—both her eyes, I believe, are out—her nose is knocked off, and there is rather a large hole in one corner of her mouth. The padres declare, that all who attempt to repair her charms sicken and die. Indeed, in the midst of all her finery and ornaments, she reminds one of some shrew of a spinster, who, after wasting her stock of charms on a thoughtless world, makes up for them on every public occasion, by a display of lace and diamonds, hiding, if possible, each wrinkle by a gem.