fiestas, come pigeon-shooting matches and a season of horse-races. The ladies lay aside their lace mantillas in favor of the Parisian chapeaux; the heavy swells exchange their jackets and wide gray hats for high silk tiles and long frock-coats. The Duc d'Orléans, thanks to his long sojourn on English soil, is the bright particular star of these occasions. He plays the social king while waiting for a call to play a more important kingly part.
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AT THE RACES
And now having told you of the bright side of the feria, I turn with hesitation to another feature of the fête; one which to Spanish minds is all brightness and exhilaration, but which to us presents only its dark and blood-stained aspect.
The Bull Ring, the Plaza de Toros must now claim our attention. It is with hesitation that I lead you thither; and for two reasons, first, the doubts of my ability to present in words the impressions there received; and secondly, the fear that those impressions, crudely formulated and perhaps too