nevertheless, they possess many characteristics which claim attention and
deserve applause. They are never drunkards or wife-beaters; they don't drag
their business to the dinner-table and bed; they are not given to profane
speech; and they show greater interest in a sonnet than in the price of
pork.

Life for both sexes and all grades in Puerto Rico is a rose, a kiss, and
a cigarette; song, laughter, and mañana. The island is, unequivocally, a
Paradise; and, if I remember rightly, dwellers in Paradise are not expected
to labor. These people amply fulfill the expectation.

If you are sick of the worry and fret and jar of contemporaneous life here
at home, if you care for wide, sweet blue sky, eternal flowers, crystal
fountains, and gypsy music, then there is no better place for you to go
than to Puerto Rico. Take a bicycle and ride from Ponce around the island
or straight across to San Juan. You will find the roads, when there are
roads, superlatively excellent--particularly, if you do not mind an
occasional hill or sharp and sudden shower of rain. The larger cities all
have comfortable hotels; and, if you can afford to stay a month in Ponce,
Mayaguez, and San Juan, you will bring back fragrant memories that will
last you many years, or else you will send for your household gods and not
come back at all. And, if you don't ride a bicycle, you will be able to get
just as much pleasure from the toy railroad or wee horses when you travel
about from place to place, while the expense in either case will be
marvellously small.

[Illustration: Railroad from Mayaguez to Aguadilla.]