The voice of Mr. Jefferson recalled me to the ladies, and I found myself making a melancholy bow to Mrs. Randolph, his surviving daughter. She in turn presented me to the other ladies,--of whose persons and appearance, out of the medley of muslins and fans, bright eyes, bared busts, and thinly veiled forms, I retain only the remembrance that one was Mrs. Dearborn, another a Mrs. Smith, daughter of the renowned Senator Bayard of Delaware, and a third Mrs. Madison. Of the fourth lady, whose name I did not catch, I recall that she was an elderly dame of sedate manners, but far other than sedate in her compliance with the extreme mode. Her gray curls were all but dripping with pomade, and the gore in the left side of her narrow skirt extended up above mid-thigh. Her jewelled garter was the handsomest one visible, for which reason, I presume, it was more openly displayed than those of the other ladies. Mrs. Madison, petite and charming, notwithstanding her plainness of feature and the fact that she was nearer forty than thirty, promptly rallied me upon my look of depression. The Colonel and Mrs. Smith joined forces with "Dolly," as the latter addressed her, so that I was compelled to smile, if only to save myself from a general onslaught. "That is better!" exclaimed Mrs. Madison. "He, a doctor! to think of dining with so gloomy a countenance!" "Above all, to think of any other than a smiling face in _your_ presence!" chimed in Mr. Burr. "I had not thought it possible of one who has proved that he can be gallant even to horses." At this there was a chorus of curious questions. I turned, seeking a way of escape, and discovered that I was all but touching elbows with my lady of the mire! Presently I found myself bowing. Though still half bewildered, I realized that I was being introduced to her as Miss Vallois, the niece of Senor Vallois. Colonel Burr, who had been introduced with the other gentlemen while I stood in my daze, now sought to engage her attention. His eye for feminine charm and beauty is as well known as is his success with the ladies. With such a rival, my utter loss of composure doubtless would have resulted quickly in the more serious loss of the lady's attention, had she not at the last moment recognized me as the buckskin _caballero_. With a glance of frank pleasure which came near to finishing me on the spot, she signed gracefully to her uncle: "_Santa Maria!_ It is he--the _caballero_ who so kindly came to our assistance!" "I have already expressed to the senor the full measure of our gratitude for his service," replied Don Pedro, in a tone which recalled the girl to her first manner of polite hauteur. "Permit me to join my thanks to those of my kinsman," she said to me. Nettled by the condescension of her tone and bearing, I shook off my daze, and rejoined with more wit than courtesy, "Believe me, senorita, no thanks are due me other than from your coach horses."