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           Marta,whichprintedthemundertheheading“Fromourspecialcorrespondent,”thoughtheauthorshipwasanopensecret.EverybodyinCostaguana,wherethetaleofcompatriotsinEuropeisjealouslykept,knewthatitwas“thesonDecoud,”atalentedyoungman,supposedtobemovinginthehigherspheresofSociety.Asamatteroffact,hewasanidleboulevardier,intouchwithsomesmartjournalists,madefreeofafewnewspaperoffices,andwelcomedinthepleasurehauntsofpressmen.Thislife,whosedrearysuperficialityiscoveredbytheglitterofuniversalblague,likethestupidclowningofaharlequinbythespanglesofamotleycostume,inducedinhimaFrenchified—butmostun-French—cosmopolitanism,inrealityamerebarrenindifferentismposingasintellectualsuperiority.OfhisowncountryheusedtosaytohisFrenchassociates:“Imagineanatmosphereofopera-bouffeinwhichallthecomicbusinessofstagestatesmen,brigands,etc.,etc.,alltheirfarcicalstealing,intriguing,andstabbingisdoneindeadearnest.Itisscreaminglyfunny,thebloodflowsallthetime,andtheactorsbelievethemselvestobeinfluencingthefateoftheuniverse.Ofcourse,governmentingeneral,anygovernmentanywhere,isathingofexquisitecomicalitytoadiscerningmind;butreallyweSpanish-Americansdooverstepthebounds.Nomanofordinaryintelligencecantakepartintheintriguesofunefarcemacabre.