“Why, the way we thrust ourselves upon this man is horrible!” she cried. “Can you not see that we are not welcome, that he wishes us gone?”
Da Souza smiled in a superior manner; the smile of a man who, if only he would, could explain all things. He patted his daughter on the head with a touch which was meant to be playful.
“My little one,” he said, “you are mistaken! Leave these matters to those who are older and wiser than you. It is but just now that my good friend said to me, 'Da Souza,' he say, 'I will not have you take your little daughter away!' Oh, we shall see! We shall see!”
Julie's tears crept through the fingers closely pressed over her eyes.
“I do not believe it,” she sobbed. “He has scarcely looked at me all the time, and I do not want him to. He despises us all—and I don't blame him. It is horrid!”
Mrs. Da Souza, with a smile which was meant to be arch, had something to say, but the arrival of breakfast broke up for a while the conversation. Her husband, whom Nature had blessed with a hearty appetite at all times, was this morning after his triumph almost disposed to be boisterous. He praised the cooking, chaffed the servants to their infinite disgust, and continually urged his wife and daughter to keep pace with him in his onslaught upon the various dishes which were placed before him. Before the meal was over Julie had escaped from the table crying softly. Mr. Da Souza's face darkened as he looked up at the sound of her movement, only to see her skirt vanishing through the door.
“Shall you have trouble with her, my dear?” he asked his wife anxiously.
That estimable lady shook her head with a placid smile. “Julie is so sensitive,” she muttered, “but she is not disobedient. When the time comes I can make her mind.”
“But the time has come!” Da Souza exclaimed. “It is here now, and Julie is sulky. She will have red eyes and she is not gay! She will not attract him. You must speak with her, my dear.”
“I will go now—this instant,” she answered, rising. “But, Hiram, there is one thing I would much like to know.”
“Ugh! You women!
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