But,
although this clashed a bit with his preconceived ideas, he knew
that many of the nicest Panamanian families lived in modest
quarters.
His natural impulse was to apply boldly at the door, but he had
learned something of local customs, and he determined to give no
possible ground for offence. After she had recognized him and seen
his willingness to follow the habit of her Spanish suitors, it
would be feasible, perhaps, to adopt a more Americanized method.
Meanwhile, he must run no risk of antagonizing her people.
In the Central American scheme of courtship patience plays a large
part. It is the young man's practice to martyr himself until the
sight of him becomes such a reproach that the family must perforce
express its sympathy. Although this procedure struck Anthony as
ludicrous in the extreme, its novelty was not without charm, and
he had lived through such a period of torturing uncertainty that
the mere fact of the girl's presence was compensation enough for
his pains.
For an hour he stood motionless, staring at the upper windows of
No. 89. Then his feet began to hurt, and he paraded slowly back
and forth "playing the bear," as he had heard it termed. Another
hour passed, and he discovered that, if his presence had not been
marked by the members of the Torres household, it was at least
exciting comment elsewhere in the neighborhood.
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