Page:The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/299

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RANK AND FASHION

is by no means unusual. What an amount of worry and designing is thus saved to the mother of numerous unmarried girls; how many petty jealousies are thus avoided, for each girl must possess just as many and just as tasteful dresses as her sister. Bordering the promenade is a long row of light and airy structures of wood and canvas, adorned with rugs and flowers. They are what the Spaniards call "casillas," "little houses," and during the fair time serve as temporary homes for the "four hundred" of the city. The family that is of any social pretensions will, at the approach of fair time, rent from the authorities one of these little booths, paying as much as sixty dollars for three short, happy days. Tables and chairs, pianos, lamps, and—most important of all—a sideboard are installed and a kitchen ex-