At the moment when Stephen was sounding the horn to summon the young
mystic to his supper, a promiscuous crowd of loafers with chairs tilted
against the wall of the village tavern received a shock.

They heard the tinkle of bells in the distance, and looking in the
direction of this unusual sound, saw a team of splendid coal-black
horses dash round a corner and whirl a strange vehicle to the door of
the inn.

There were two extraordinary figures on the front seat of the wagon. The
driver was a sturdy, thick-set man whose remarkable personal appearance
was fixed instantly and ineradicably in the mind of the beholder by an
enormous moustache whose shape, size and color suggested a crow with
outstretched wings. As if to emphasize the ferocious aspect lent him by
this hairy canopy which completely concealed his mouth, Nature had
duplicated it in miniature by brows meeting above his nose and spreading
themselves, plume-like, over a pair of eyes which gleamed so brightly
that they could be felt, altho' they were so deep-set that they could
scarcely be seen.

This fierce and buccaneerish person summoned the dozing hostler in a
coarse, imperative voice, flung him the reins, sprang from his seat, and
assisted his companion to alight. She gave him her hand with an air of
utter indifference, bestowed upon him neither smile nor thanks, and
dropped to the ground with a light flutter like a bird. Turning
instantly toward the tavern, she ascended the steps of the porch under a
fusillade of glances of astonishment and admiration. Young and
beautiful, dressed in a picturesque and brilliant Spanish costume, she