During one of my first trips to town, Jakie and I were standing by
grandpa's shop on the east side of the plaza, when suddenly those bells
rang out clear and sweet, and we saw the believing glide out of their
homes in every direction and wend their way to the church. The
high-born ladies had put aside their jewels, their gorgeous silks and
satins, and donned the simpler garb prescribed for the season of fasts
and prayer. Those to the manor born wore the picturesque _rebosa_ of
fine lace or gauzy silk, draped over the head and about the shoulders;
while those of humbler station made the shawl serve in place of the
_rebosa_. The Indian servants, who with mats and kneeling cushions
followed their mistresses, wore white chemises, bright-colored
petticoats, and handkerchiefs folded three-cornerwise over the head and
knotted under the chin. The costumes of the young girls were modelled
after those of their mothers; and the little ladies appeared as demure
and walked as stately as their elders. The gentlemen also were garbed
in plainer costumes than their wont, and, for custom's sake, rode on
horseback even the short distances which little children walked.
The town seemed deserted, and the church filled, as we started
homeward, I skipping ahead until we reached a shop window where I
waited for Jakie and asked him if he knew what those pretty little
things were that I saw on a shelf, in big short-necked glass jars.
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