Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-03-25

Across the way are q dozen MeXiCans,
wrapped in greasy old blankets, sitting
like four and twenty blackbirds all In a
row. | know their faces aud have not
missed one in u month They live in
condition Of body and mind hard for an
American 10 realize. A kind OF present
existence, without loving reference TO
the past; passive. waiting for the fu-
turo, without an inquiry or u wish, q
fear or hope. Small, lank, dark
brown fellows; eight with high check
bones and thick lips, betraying Indian
blood; hair long, straight, black; eyes
dark, suspicious, wavering; habitually
silent; when speaking, with gloomy in
difference, in voice as sad rs memory
Elsewhere they would 90 as tramps /;
but tranrping is a grand fatigue. They
prefer to sit round instead.
II is said this is the bearing Of every
conquered race; but such is the average
Mexican wherever he is found. About
the hills of royal Chapultepec, at the
base of the pyramid Of Chonla-last
vestige of Aztecan grandeur--he basks
in the sun with the chameleons and
lizards, docile in temper, patient under
abuse, idle rs the wind that lifts his long
black locks, Think YOU such men care
for advantages, natural or political !;
they know the joy Of a splendid destiny
fulfilled or the anguish Of such destiny
lost9 They come OF brave blood
Spaniard, Moor, lndian-and how well
they fight for their own the United
States, France, and Austria may testify :;
but 10 us never did life appear so empty,
MmleSs, and ioyloss as the life of these
Sitters in the sun
The puzzling question of to-day Isl.
Howdo they keep soul and body together?
Let us find one in his home, il the dingy
den he inhabits may be called by that
dear name. Leaving the Plaza, where
yagrants most do congregate, we pass
the cottages of "the military ION
whose heads be the blessing Of those
who entertain strangers), cross a sandy
Grrog6, through which in the rainy sea-
son mountain torrent sweeps roaring.
Westward the Struggling suburb
stretches toward the foothills, and,
stumbling along a stony path, we sudden
ly come up against wall 1t is about
six feet high, made Of mud, mixed with
ashes, coal, cow-hOrns, hoofs, mule
bones, barrel hoops, the wheels Of a baby
wagon, cans, broken bottles, boots, cur
rycombs, every refuse substance that
may swell the mass in n treeless region.
The top Of the wall bristlcs with scraps
OF tin, which make it hard 10 climb. /
doubt if Romeo would try II. even 10
seize the white wonder of Juliet's hand.
The gate is made Of upright posts of
dwarf cedar, thick as mans wrist.
bound together by rawhide strings, and
grOsns and creaks in a dismal note as
we push it on wooden hinges. Not
trace of iron is TO be seen.
This formidable outwork incloses
three puppies, of the breed called cast
iron, which look like magniiied rats and
act wonderfully like cats. The propri.
etor of the estate and his spouse, in the
doorway, sit in the artistic pose called
squat,at leisure profound, ii not elegant.
He is evidently made of the same clay as
his wretched mud shanty; might have
sprouted mp from the ground or dropped
down from the caves.
As we enter, they rise in unembar-
rassed politeness. He removes his slouch
OF a hat with slecorous gravity, and the
wife entreats Us 10 enter, saying, with
the air of princess in exile, w0 do her
great honor. The Spanish flavor is
strong here, which may be the reason
she wears dragging bright oalicoes all
the year and sits in the door even when
the snow falls. Her raven black hair
and large, full eyes hint Of bygone beau
tyi but it is by-gone. Premature wrin-
kles are worn deep by the shriveling
wind, her skin is swart and sunburnt,
and the roses in her cheek are only
ashes Of roses.
"Would she give us drink of waterPn
''With much pleasure, ScH0rd."
She difCuses an air of elegance over
her pink calico toilet by throwing
dreary old black shawl round her head
and, scorning 10 lift her voluminous
train (twelye yards for dollar) hastens
to the nearest Gcegaid, or irrigating
ditch, fills a mug of Indian pottery, and
offers it with sweetness and grace, No
new country exuberanoe about her, nor
reveling imagination, like Dick Swivel
ler's; but power of enchantment and
lofty self-poise which no surprise can
startle or disturb II is found alike in
splendor or in squalor, the "grand
air - of Old Spain, descended TO all who
have dash of her blood,
My hostess regrets the water is not
wine, and so catching is the fine charm
that, ensnared and deluded, am hard
" sure it is not wine, and drink their
health in the miserable ditch-water and
am cheered by responsive gracias. /
try TO explain that | am under silken
bonds-ribbons red, blue, white-not
to look upon wine when it is red
but IL is their first hearing of temper
anee aud they do not understand. She
invites me to a seat on the colchon-a