midnight
At the period when the institution rises before us , its students represented the four quarters of the globe . There were young women fitting for the missionary field in India and China ; the daughters of eminent financiers in England , Germany , France and Spain , those whose parents ' influence was felt in distant climes , including several from the revolution-pestered republics of South America . Manuela Estacardo was the only child of the deceased sister of President Pedro Yozarro , Dictator of Atlamalco . She was a brilliant daughter of the tropics , gifted in mind and person , with the midnight eyes and hair , the dark complexion , classical features , small white teeth and faultless form rarely seen except in the fervid sunlight of the low latitudes . Positive and negative electricity draw together , which perhaps explains why the two most devoted intimates at the seminary were Señorita Estacardo and Warrenia Rowland . The latter was a true product of the North , with blue eyes , pink skin , hair like the floss of the ripening corn , and a figure as perfect as her sister 's of the South , while the mental gifts in one were equalled in the other . The friendship of these two began with their first meeting , and continued unrippled to the sad day of gladness when they were graduated .