"Good heavens!" she said, "you must do something, child,
to occupy your mind--if it is only a flirtation with that conceited
Secretary." But this terrible alternative was happily not required. The
Comandante had still retained as part of the old patriarchal government
of the Mission the Presidio school, for the primary instruction of
the children of the soldiers,--dependants of the garrison. Miss Keene,
fascinated by several little pairs of beady black eyes that had looked
up trustingly to hers from the playground on the glacis, offered to
teach English to the Comandante's flock. The offer was submitted to
the spiritual head of Todos Santos, and full permission given by Padre
Esteban to the fair heretic. Singing was added to the Instruction, and
in a few months the fame of the gracious Dona Leonor's pupils stirred to
emulation even the boy choristers of the Mission.
Her relations with James Hurlstone during this interval were at first
marked by a strange and unreasoning reserve. Whether she resented
the singular coalition forced upon them by the Council and felt the
awkwardness of their unintentional imposture when they met, she did not
know, but she generally avoided his society.
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