The ill-humor of the señora increased every time the captain shouted
"Port," "Starboard" to the sailors, who then hastily seized their
poles and thrust them against the banks, thus with the strength of
their legs and shoulders preventing the steamer from shoving its hull
ashore at that particular point. Seen under these circumstances the
Ship of State might be said to have been converted from a tortoise
into a crab every time any danger threatened.

"But, captain, why don't your stupid steersmen go in that
direction?" asked the lady with great indignation.

"Because it's very shallow in the other, señora," answered the captain,
deliberately, slowly winking one eye, a little habit which he had
cultivated as if to say to his words on their way out, "Slowly,
slowly!"

"Half speed! Botheration, half speed!" protested Doña Victorina
disdainfully. "Why not full?"

"Because we should then be traveling over those ricefields, señora,"
replied the imperturbable captain, pursing his lips to indicate the
cultivated fields and indulging in two circumspect winks.

This Doña Victorina was well known in the country for her caprices and
extravagances. She was often seen in society, where she was tolerated
whenever she appeared in the company of her niece, Paulita Gomez,
a very beautiful and wealthy orphan, to whom she was a kind of
guardian. At a rather advanced age she had married a poor wretch
named Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, and at the time we now see her,