The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1878-05-30

All t1dt bocIoi
he exclaimed, extending his hand. "1ou
must be one Of the disappointed ones. "
The young man blushed deeply, ,,-
1t was generally known that he had
,nce sought the hand of the senOrata.
Who stood SO near the altar.
whether | am or not, it does not af-
feet the wager" he replied, nettled
somewhat by the MeXican'S words. II
cover your purse thus, Marmajo.-
These serors are our Witnesses
And Jose, here, the stake -holder?'
Isl, Senor.'
Good? Now. Jose, let us have the
,est liquor that your house supplies"
The wager was sealed III draughts OF
| .olerable liquor, and Benito MarmaJo
V thdrew from the convivial company
nd remounted his lithe-limbed steed.
DAY after tomorrow, senors," he
said, with q smile to the few who were
,ble to wish him adios from the porch
IF the house. and touching his horse
gently with the spurs he was soon be-
yond the boundaries Of the town.
| One by one the drunken revelers left
the drinking place with brains too be-
| fuddied to think of the covert threat
lily concealed by MarmaJo's wager.
They did not dream of the blow that
was lowering over the head of the
Young Northener, who had entered the
territory and won, over the alterations
| OF many native beauX the hand Of the
| Sonora lneZ.
i Beautiful, wealthy, and good, the
maiden, a descendant of one of Cor
tez' mailed followers, had long been
the belle of the country about Taos.
| Her fathers large hacienda swarming
with cattle and boasting of silver mines
of great length, would, in the cou rse
of time, become hers. Thus she was
the richest heiress in the territory.
To all her admirers, save Richard
| Compton from the States, she turned il
| deaf ear. The handsome Marmajo had
| courted her smiles in vain, and the
| youthful Iglean had poured the story OF
| his passion into her ears, while she
| tho ught of the American who had won
| her heart. And it was to be Il grand
| wedding. The brides father had mvi-
| ted the officers of the territory, and the
wealth and beauty of the country Wrre
expected to grace the occasion. But
| Marmajo, the disappointed suitor had
wagered thirty ounces of gold with
| Iglean that the American would not
kiss inez on the wedding night.
1t was getting dark on the night OF
the wedding, when mounted man
| drew rein under the branches OF tree
| that stood at the edge of narrow
Mexican road. He wore a broad
| brimmed sombrero that shaded his face,
but the dark mustache that almost
touched his shoulders. and the hands,
small as a woman's proclaimed his iden-
tity.
1t was Benito Marmajo.
| The coil of lariat hung from his sad
dies pommel, and he seemed to be
awaiting the approach of some person
! from the south east. Immovable as "a
statute, and speaking not, he sat up
| right in his saddle; but his eyes were
| restless and full of anxiety and expect
ancv. He was not far from the home
| OF the happy sonora. A few moments
gallon would have brought him to
the house already ringing with the
laughter of wedding guests. but the
| Mexican with Spanish blood did not IN
tend to visit the marriage board.
/
At last he started and uncoiled the
larlat. Then the tread of a horse be-
came distinctly audible, and a minute
later an object appeared in the moon
| light that slunbered i'll the road not far
away.
"Alone?n muttered the watcher, as
tonished, and then, with the lariat
dangling from his hand, he said: ut is
well. Now for the thirty ounces which
Iglean staked."
The horseman continued to approach,
apparently unconscious of the presence
of the daredevil Adonis of New MeXi-
co. whose eyes were fastened upon him
with the glare of the basilisk,s orbs.
Il know tbs he-the hated America
| no!'' Missed Marmajo as he hastily pre-
pared the lariat for the throw. "Would
to Jesu that Leon were here to see this
deed. The boy always prlded himself
OH the use of the cord"
Leon was the speakers brother, boy
whom he had not seen for several years
but whose image was enshrlned on his
heart as the only person whom he had
ever loved. Nearer ana nearer came
the lassoer's victim, galloping slowly
over the narrow road, now III the moon
light, and now again almost lost among
the shadows. All at once the lariat de-
scribed a circle above Marmajo's SOM
brero. Then it shot toward the horse
man and dropped over his head like
moose of death.
The next minute the Mexicans steed
darted forward, and the victim was
ierlled violently from the saddle as the
exclamation "Jesu, pity" fell from III:
lips"
The Internal moose had pinioned his
arms to his sides, and a smile of mali
cious triumph crossed Marmajo's face
as he looked over lis shoulder and saw
the object which bounded over the
ground at his horses heels. Through
the chapparal and into the unobstruct
ed moonlight, the Mexican urged hi
steed. which seemed eager to escape
as it were, the dreadful thing that th'
lasso dragged behind him.
The thirty ounces are mine!" tht
lassoer exclaimed, looking back, ant
then he laughed. 'MarmaJo knew
when he bet that the Americana Woult
not kiss the sonora tonight.
His horse did not seem to tire. Owe
the gently undulating country, and Ii
the golden light of the moon, he Dor
his reckless rider, whose heart bea
fast with a devilish triumph. TIL
spurs, jingling in their sockets, eve
and anon touched the blood-staine,
on1 ha caprr h