"Speak not of her, Señhor; Donna Maria de los Dolores was called after our Mother of Sorrows, and she may as well begin her apprenticeship to grief. She is the only child of my brother, who had sent her to be educated at New Orleans, and is now returning home to see her father, before she takes the veil of her novitiate." A very low sigh--so low as only to be audible to myself--came from beneath the beech-tree; and I threw a handful of dry chips upon the fire, hoping to catch a glimpse of the features of my fair fellow-traveller. Fra Miguel, however, balked my stratagem by topping the fire with a stout log, as he said, "You are too spendthrift, Señhor; we shall need to husband our resources, or we 'll not have enough for the night long." "Would you not like to come nearer to the blaze, Senhora?" said I, respectfully. "Thanks, sir, but perhaps--" "Speak out, child," broke in the Father, "speak out, and say that you are counting your rosary, and would not wish to be disturbed. And you, Senhor, if I err not, in your eagerness to aid us have forgotten to water your gallant beast: don't lead him to the stream, that would be unsafe; take my sombrero: it has often served a like purpose before now. Twice full is enough for any horse in these countries." I would have declined this offer, but I felt that submission in everything would be my safest passport to his good opinion; and so, armed with the "Friar's beaver," I made my way to the stream. Whatever his eulogies upon the pitcher-like qualities of his head-piece, to me they seemed most undeserved; for scarcely had I filled it, than the water ran through like a sieve. The oftener, too, was the process repeated the less chance did there appear of success; for, instead of retaining the fluid at all, the material became so saturated that it threatened to tear in pieces every time it was filled, and ere I could lift it was totally empty. Half angry with the Friar, and still more annoyed at my own ineptitude, I gave up the effort, and returned to where I had left him, confessing my failure as I came forward. "Steep your 'kerchief in the stream, then, and wash the beast's mouth," said he, upon his knees, where, with a great string of beads, he was engaged with his devotions. I retired, abashed at my intrusion, and proceeded to do as I was directed. "What if all these cares for my horse, and all these devotional exercises, were but stratagems to get rid of my company for a season?" thought I, as I perceived that scarcely had I left the spot, than the Friar arose from his knees, and seemed to busy himself about something in the trees. Full of this impression, I made a little circuit of the place; and what was my surprise to observe that he had converted his upper robe of coarse blanket-cloth into a kind of hammock for Donna Maria, in which, fastened at either end to the bough of a tree, she was now swinging to and fro, with apparently all the pleasure of a happy child.