From the time that she first begins to walk, until she is handed over, too often against her inclination, to a husband, the Cuban girl is under surveillance. Whether this close guardianship is prompted by fear of the evil designs of the young men of her acquaintance, by anxiety about her own tendencies to go astray, or both, is not clear. Perhaps the old Spanish custom is unnecessary and is maintained merely because it is an established practice. Be that as it may, the Cuban girl is not allowed any kind of intercourse with the other sex, except for the members of her own family, until she leaves her father’s house for that of her husband, unless it be under supervision. Occasionally lovers contrive to exchange a few words privately through the bars of a ground floor window, but the proceeding is not countenanced by the maiden’s mother, and may entail a penance in expiation of the bold defiance of the laws of etiquette and modesty. The little _Cubana_ is escorted to school and thence home again. Her little brother goes to a separate institution. It would not be at all proper for boys and girls to read their primers upon the same benches, or even in the same room. Later on, when she has grown to be a big girl and of an age at which an American miss is supposed to take care of herself, the Cuban is still treated as if it were not safe to leave her alone for a moment. She goes to the theatre or plaza with her mother, and young men of her acquaintance cast languishing glances at her from the _foyer_, or the benches along the walk. One of them may be particularly favored by her parents and he may be permitted to call upon her, but he will never be permitted to see her, except in the presence of a sister, or a less sympathetic _dueña_. Their courtship is carried on without any of the sweet _tête-à-têtes_ that are as essential to Anglo Saxon love-making as mustard is to ham. I presume, although I have made no precise enquiry on the subject, that most Cuban girls of good families do not kiss the men to whom they are married until after the priestly benediction has been pronounced upon the union.