' The Gitanas, in the exercise of this
practice, find dupes almost as readily amongst the superior
classes, as the veriest dregs of the population. It is their
boast, that the best houses are open to them; and perhaps in the
space of one hour, they will spae the bahi to a duchess, or
countess, in one of the hundred palaces of Madrid, and to half a
dozen of the lavanderas engaged in purifying the linen of the
capital, beneath the willows which droop on the banks of the
murmuring Manzanares. One great advantage which the Gypsies
possess over all other people is an utter absence of MAUVAISE
HONTE; their speech is as fluent, and their eyes as unabashed, in
the presence of royalty, as before those from whom they have
nothing to hope or fear; the result being, that most minds quail
before them. There were two Gitanas at Madrid, one Pepita by name,
and the other La Chicharona; the first was a spare, shrewd, witch-
like female, about fifty, and was the mother-in-law of La
Chicharona, who was remarkable for her stoutness. These women
subsisted entirely by fortune-telling and swindling. It chanced
that the son of Pepita, and husband of Chicharona, having spirited
away a horse, was sent to the presidio of Malaga for ten years of
hard labour.
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