a self-possessed manner, a wide, white forehead, a wealth of
rich brown hair, and blue eyes.
    The other young ladies of Sulaco stood in awe of her character and
accomplishments. She was reputed to be terribly learned and serious. As to
pride, it was well known that all the Corbelàns were proud, and her mother was a
Corbelàn. Don José Avellanos depended very much upon the devotion of his beloved
Antonia. He accepted it in the benighted way of men, who, though made in God's
image, are like stone idols without sense before the smoke of certain burnt
offerings. He was ruined in every way, but a man possessed of passion is not a
bankrupt in life. Don José Avellanos desired passionately for his country:
peace, prosperity, and (as the end of the preface to »Fifty Years of Misrule«
has it) »an honourable place in the comity of civilized nations.« In this last
phrase the Minister Plenipotentiary, cruelly humiliated by the bad faith of his
Government towards the foreign bondholders, stands disclosed in the patriot.
    The fatuous turmoil of greedy factions succeeding the tyranny of Guzman
Bento seemed to bring his desire to the very door of opportunity. He was too old
to descend personally into the centre of the arena at Sta. Marta. But the men
who acted there sought his advice at every step. He himself thought that he
could be most useful at a distance, in Sulaco. His name, his connections, his
former position, his experience commanded the respect of his class. The
discovery that this man, living in dignified poverty in the Corbelàn town
residence (opposite the Casa Gould), could dispose of material means towards the
support of the cause increased his influence. It was his open letter of appeal
that decided the candidature of Don Vincente Ribiera for the Presidency. Another
of these informal State papers drawn up by Don José (this time in the shape of
an address from the Province) induced that scrupulous constitutionalist to
accept the extraordinary powers conferred upon him for five years by an
overwhelming vote of congress in Sta. Marta. It was a specific mandate to
establish the prosperity of the people on the basis of firm peace at home, and
to redeem the national credit by the satisfaction of all just claims abroad.
    In the afternoon the news of that vote had reached Sulaco by the usual
roundabout postal way through Cayta, and up the coast by steamer. Don José, who
had been waiting for the mail in the Goulds' drawing-room, got out of the
rocking-chair, letting his hat fall off his