'I went to sleep and had a pleasant dream of being a cherubim, the kind that flew round NOAH when he was building the Ark, and had no legs! and having a dear little pair of gaiter boots for wings; while I had for a companion, another æronaut with large black eyes, _a propos_ of which--
'I NEVER loved a dear gazelle, And gazed upon its soft, black eyes, But what it turned out a d---- sell-- A damsel heaving gentlest sighs'--
who was all thy's and thou's. In addition to black eyes, she had black hair and a travelling-shawl, and she had feet; and both the tiny little ones were somehow thrust into the pockets of my shooting-coat, and ---- I woke up and found that there were a pair of little, high-heeled, black slippers, with white silk stockings attached, resting on the cushion by my side. You may talk about dream-books, and explanations of dreams, but such bona-fide realizations please me most: and I looked down at them and determined they should be mine if I had to go a hand on them--matrimonially of course, _à la mode de_ 'I'd offer thee this hand of mine,' with piano accompaniment.
'But she woke up, and as the sun was now shining brightly, she saw me regarding those 'leather mice,' whereupon she at once hid them, not by rudely withdrawing them, but by cuddling them up under one end of the travelling-shawl; which end was in close proximity with my pantaloons pocket. Now reader fancy my feelings nursing a pair of twins like those; belonging to a very pretty woman--moreover a widow.
''_Buenas dias, Señor_!' It was so cheerfully, pleasantly spoken, and with such a winning smile, and the dark eyes beamed so softly under the long black eye-lashes, that it elicited all the writer's stock of amiability in return. It came out in conversation that the lady was from Seville, was a widow, and her first name was JUANITA, (_tal y tal_, or So-and-So;) and as I had passed many pleasant days in Seville, and bore away gay souvenirs of 'The Marvel,' we were soon in earnest chat about its wonders and beauties. She was charmingly _naïve_ in conversation, and showed in every remark, what is an exception with Spanish ladies--an intelligent and animated disposition. At Bailen, where we dined, I lost my heart when I handed her from the diligence--beside, she faintly pressed my hand with her gloved hand, and showed me those feet!