The Portland daily press., 1869-07-24

knows why come here. Do not be afraid
thatI shall say anything unbecoming CD
0Gttef0P ~ @&M#& ###
ue iast words he said in tremulous tone,
while be placed bis hands to his temples, as
II toappease his throbbing brain.
Anita continued he. Il love you madly.
No one ever has loved SO before am sure
OF thai. count my ounces by the lnousano
shall Islaythe pie at your feet? You ST axe
your head. You do not want my godp Well,
am a desnerate, man. Can win your love
by drawing this knife and plunglng into tho
dark heart OF Gotta, who also loves you, and
wbo sooner or later, viii use his willy speech
an The snake-like power of his eyes TO draw
you within his arms, and after lew days
would east you off or kill you? Speak, Anita.
--sbaI his liieless body fall at your feet?
Tecualticho rose and drew his long knite.
Cola remained in his chair. Not sign of
fear could be seen upon his handsome lace
one hand ne had concealed in his capacious
POCKET. mat hand was slasping pistol.
hair only partly concealed her bosom, her
small mouth was partly open, revealing her
White, even teeth, and her eyes gittered like
/ diamonds as she put her little hand upon the
raised arm f6f Tecualticho. She could not
speak-anger mixed VITA fear paralyzed her
tongue.
'Carambai recuaiticho,' cried Gotta With a
sneef; Eyou made a very fine speech. You
ought to learn English and become a politi-
cianp it
The Californian again cast upon him a look
ofhaie but his knife fell from BIS erasp as he
saw The rnuzzle OF Cota's pistol.
Anita returned to her hammock
I We both came here TO confess continued
Gotta Look at MS, Donna Anital Which do
Jou preierp am not very rich, still have
enough to last both OF us while we live ham,
PLY the restof our lives, If you deign to cast
alook OF favor upon me- a. aFt'iaE
Her dark eyes rested upon him, and it
seemed as u they drew him towards her with
irresistible power. He sank upon his knees
and raised hisfolded hands
Rise, Senor, am not the holy Madonna
said Antia, with a winning smile; there is
only-o way TO win my lover
- There is a way, then, oh there is a way =
cried Teeualticho, with sparkling eyes, speak,
Donna Anita, speakp = -
'One or the other must perish! For / loUe
yon oothP came slowly from the red lips Of
Anita. aaa's Ff' ~ ~
'Ah, how smpleF clied the Californian,
turning towards his rival Now, compadye,
what say youP shali,it be knife, pistol, or
'Pah! Tscualtiche. You are getting ex-
cited, honbre said Gotta, cody rolling ci-
garlic between his fingers He had reseated
himself.
That is no answer; you ale afraidn
NO, Senor, but | am calm!
\ .sfQn are a cowardr shouted the Califor-
uian furiously.
Gotta shrugged his shoulders.
my dear friend, you have curious way OF
challenging cabaliero. You have insuited
mesaWel, accept your challenge. Each in
sultyill cost you five thousand dollars Come.
we WI play for the hand of this beautiful
maidee. will stake fifteen thousand dollars
agaanstthe same amount Of yours. III. 1 lose.
tnen sn VII give up all my claims to the hand
liDona Anita Chould YOU lose, then the
thing is setledF Ssaaa sosE sf - 7oiss'''y
= Gotta rosS and, after kissing lie hand Of lie
girl, he lett The room. He was soon inined
bythe Californian. shexes on play and saain
had stopped all though nc i evenee that had
whirled through the minG Of Tecaulf;cbos
They parted, after pronisin. each other III
SvsIG-sa saeA hnI1s OF noon and Shree on The
following day. "iee oii s'ne
ainey dlq not wall. home, bowe,or E.ob
concealed himself near the housenf A~a;ta
and watched uutil the sun arose. anna
itwassnear nine O'Clock when Gotta Ss,3
cd the teghcuse which he had caused III
erected near his gambling tent. On opens =
tne door the fllstssieht that met his e, es VA,
;n n's sefValt, lsnacio husily engaged in open.
,nS lns sIron box IN whichihe kept bis treas
nre, by means OF chisel and hammer.
I4sse,noDa;; 1, y Dsl; cried Gotta, what are you
fAh.isit you Master p cried Tgnacio cool.
y, YOU ask What am doing? Easy 10 an
sWer. thought that some OF the Americans
had pltia blue pillinto@your head and a.
am the nearest OF kin l thought to inherit
your fortune before the gs iagos would eoma
and take iti Yon see what | have done p,
ana lgnaclo lifted the broken Id of fbe hoy
revealing pile OF gold. .la9 -
sElli three bags each. with five thousand
dollars. commanded Gotta throwing himself
sIgnacio you are an unfortunate hon,5re !,
mnlnured the.seryant as he filled the bass
with solden ounces. Halt an hour alter he
said to Gotta '''s'
Three thousand are LETT, master,
/. very well, amigo. Now take the three
bags TO the saloon Of Senior Tecualtirho. No
Worus-do as you are commnnded!'s cried
sp5al 9osa e saw shat h.s sslysn was sOoat o
q lew steps. You are too week to lift the
thfeerat once.n a g b. s1AsfsE ssaa35asfa 80
Ign scio obeyed. " hen he retnrned for the
third bag he east sly glance into the open
strong box. The three thousand dollars had
disappeared. =, 7.
Gotta rose Iazilys wrapped his serape around
his body and followed him.
F.1a - - s**ssisI S*4s *eiFsl n is3.t
That night rumor went through Oaveri-
tas, to the effect that Gotta, the king of gam
piers, was dead broke, and that the beautiful
Donna Anita had promised to marry Tecaul-
ticho, the lucky winner of fifteen thousand
dollarssss7sses ssissssE 9f
CHAPTER III. sssd.
A volume would scarcely suffice 10 describe
hesfestivities that followed the nuptiais OF
Tecualticho and anita. The Californian
spared no money. Even to this very day the
Mexican population OF Calveriias speak with
eloquence OF the bull and bear fights, the ban
quets and iandangoes IN honor of the mar
riage. The festivities lasted three days. g'.'
What did Gotta do during these three davs?
He was the gayest OF the gay, and he over
whelmed the couple with foWery speeches
and iwell-timed compliments. Not a word.
action, or glance, indicated that he had lost
his fortune, on, what he priced the more,
Donna Anita.
Six, weeks had passed since Anito had be-
come the wife Of Tecualticho. They were re- e
siding In aneatly framed cottage which the
californian had bought of miner The abode
stood about half a mile from Calyeritas, upon
a spun OF the Black Mountains, and not lar
from the trail leading to Stockton. During
thosessix weeks Teeualtieho had not touched
a card, orsentered a gambling saloon At
last an irresistible desire oyercame him once
more to try his hand at play No Mexican or
native Californian cansresist the alluring ex-
element that accompanies gambling. An
tonic Gotta was dealing Monte when the Cal
itornian entered the saloon.
Z sAh, con.padrel feel highly honored to see
yons once more. They told me that you had
made ayow never TO enter a saloon again.
saitl Oota. fe
Tecualticho did not answer, but threw fif-
" dollar piece upon the seven of diamonds.
The card won. Gotta tore up the pack of cards
he was dealing from. s-.s.ss, 80
Here are some OF miner cried Tecualticho,
drawing three packs of Mexican PLAYING cards
from his pocket and offering them. -
Gotta took up one OF the packs and allowed
the cards to pass through his fingers. He
knew the value of every card by merely look
ing at its backs : He also knew that those
three packs were the only ones that could be
procured In the camp. All the others had
been brought up that morning by Gotta, who
had heard that the Californian would come
towards noon. The tnewpa was slufied,
cut and the game Of monte began anew.
Five hundred upon the siete de ba stosl