Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/50

28 the narrow boarding in front of the establishment the tragic heroes scowling and looking down upon their comrades of the comic kind; and the mirth-moving varlets in return playing off their jests and raising the laugh against them:—they all roar, expostulate, and swear, and dance in concert; while a man in an excessively broad-brimmed sombrero, long dagger, prodigious boots, fierce mustachios, and large cane, thunders forth the programme of the performances! "If the Blessed Virgin be willing, the next drama to be set forth will be one of horrifying interest, entitled, 'The Lady of Crime, or the Cardinal Sins'; and the succeeding entertainment will consist of a highly celebrated farce, much distinguished as 'The Spanish Barber, or the Courtships of a Week.' " The comedy is not half so rich as may be witnessed by waiting on the dispenser of indulgences in the huge building hard by; if you are inclined to view the matter in a humorous light; and as to the tragedy, you have only to let your mind recur to the scenes that have been formerly enacted in the same apartment.

Within the numerous balconies in front of the houses opposite, under the brilliantly-