might have the evil eye.  I heard one lady tell her daughter, “You may look at him just once, Dolores; oh, see how handsome he is!” (Valga me, Dios, que lindo es, pobrecito!)And the way the young lady gazed was a revelation to me.  The fire of her limpid black eyes struck me as a ray of glorious light.  An indescribable thrill, never before known, rose in my breast and she held me enthralled under a spell which I had not the least desire to break.  And they said that it was I who had the evil eye!  To say that these people were lacking in the virtues and accomplishments of modern civilization entirely would be a mistake very easily made indeed by strangers who, on passing through their land, did not understand their language and were unfamiliar with their social customs and mode of living.  They extended unlimited hospitality to every one alike, to friend or stranger, to poor or rich.  They were most charmingly polite in their conversation, personal demeanor, and social intercourse and very charitable and affectionate to their families and neighbors.  These people are happy as compared with other nations in that they do not worry and fret over the unattainable and doubtful, but lightheartedly they enjoy the blessings of the present, such as they are.  Therefore, if rightly understood, they may be the best of companions at times, being sincere and unselfish; so I have found many of them to be later on, during the intercourse of a more intimate acquaintance.  In the large towns, as Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas, where there lived a considerable number of Americans, these would naturally associate together, as, for instance, the American colony in Paris or Berlin or other foreign places, so as not to be obliged to mingle with the natives socially any more than they chose.  But in the village where my relatives lived, we had not the alternative of choosing our own countrymen for social companionship.

Therefore, I realized when I reached my destination that I had to change my accustomed mode of living and adapt myself to such a life as people had led eighteen hundred years ago.  I thought that if I took the example of the Saviour’s life for my guiding star, I would certainly get along very well.  Undoubtedly this would have sufficed in a spiritual sense, but I found that it would be impractical as applied to my temporal welfare and the requirements of the present time.  For I could not perform miracles nor could I live as the Saviour had done, roaming over the country and teaching the natives.  And then, seeing that there were so many Jews in New Mexico, I feared they might attempt to crucify me and I did not relish the thought.  Therefore I accepted King Solomon’s life as the next best one to emulate.  While I was greatly handicapped by not possessing the riches of the great old king, I fancied that I had a plenty of his wisdom, and although I could not cut as wide a swath as he had done, I did well enough under the circumstances.  I was, of course, limited to a vastly smaller scale in the pursuit and enjoyment of the many good things to be had in New Mexico.  Ever joyous, free from care, I drifted in my voyage of life with the stream of hope over the shining waters of a happy and delightful youth.