washed to an orange tint, and black in spots with dampness; and
for the fountain covered with green moss that stood before its
gate, and around which were gathered the girls and women of the
neighborhood with red water-jars on their shoulders, and little
donkeys buried under stacks of yellow sugar-cane, and the negro
drivers of the city's green water-carts, and the blue wagons that
carried the manufactured ice. Toward five o'clock they decided
to spend the rest of the day in the city, and to telephone for
the two boys to join them at La Venus, the great restaurant on
the plaza, where Clay had invited them to dine.

He suggested that they should fill out the time meanwhile by a
call on the President, and after a search for cards in various
pocketbooks, they drove to the Government palace, which stood in
an open square in the heart of the city.

As they arrived the President and his wife were leaving for their
afternoon drive on the Alameda, the fashionable parade-ground of
the city, and the state carriage and a squad of cavalry appeared
from the side of the palace as the visitors drove up to the
entrance. But at the sight of Clay, General Alvarez and his wife
retreated to the house again and made them welcome. The
President led the men into his reception-room and
entertained them with champagne and cigarettes, not manufactured
by his Government; and his wife, after first conducting the girls
through the state drawing-room, where the late sunlight shone
gloomily on strange old portraits of assassinated presidents and
victorious generals, and garish yellow silk furniture, brought
them to her own apartments, and gave them tea after a civilized
fashion, and showed them how glad she was to see some one of her