By and
by there was a slow rippling laugh from Isabel, and the
Senora's face lost its air of dismal distraction.
At length Navarro had brought his narrative of small events
down to the afternoon of that day. There had been a bull-
fight, and Isabel was making him describe to her the chulos,
in their pale satin breeches and silk waist-scarfs; the
toreros in their scarlet mantles, and the picadores on their
horses.
"And I assure you," he said, "the company of ladies was very
great and splendid. They were in full dress, and the golden-
pinned mantillas and the sea of waving fans were a sight
indeed. Oh, the fans alone! So many colors; great crescents,
growing and waning with far more enchantments than the moons.
Their rustle and movement has a wonderful charm, Senorita
Isabel; no one can imagine it.
"Oh, I assure you, Senor, I can see and feel it. But to be
there! That, indeed, would make me perfectly happy."
"Had you been there to-day you would have admired, above all
things, the feat of the matadore Jarocho. It was upon the
great bull Sandoval--a very monster, I assure you. He came
bellowing at Jarocho, as if he meant his instant death. His
eyeballs were living fire; his nostrils steamed with fury;
well, then, at the precise moment, Jarocho put his slippered
feet between his horns, and vaulted, light as a bird flies,
over his back.
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