San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-11-15


vacant seat in the forward corner.
''Cunnel, you'll look after her, said Tommy
at the door; "shes in my charge. Wilder
of Smith, she Is; him that was killed down to
the Walker mine last month, but she don't
savy a word of English, bein' French. You
know'd Smith, didn't We, cunnelp
Eyes, l know'd him well enough, but ]
never know'd he had wilder. I'll look after
her-in English" growled the colonel, and
the door slammed and the stage rolled ahead.
As we pulled out the clouds parted for an
instant, and bright ray of sunlight Lit up
the coach, striking full upon the dark veil of
our new companion 1t made briefly visible
the outlines of her face. and those of US who
were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse Of
it were convinced that the lady had great
beauty. Indeed, the judge, who had happy
facility of expression, acquired from long
though not lucrative practice at tho bar,
leaned over to the doctor and whispered in
tones of fervent admiration:
'She's as pretty as Cle-op-e-try, by Jovel"
to which the doctor responded with an as
senting nod of much vigor.
Nowhere in the world is a lady more GER
tain of respectful consideration than in the
wild west She is invariably treated with
CulNdlTOuS SdildhLly bustU 10 Iedily mag Ilu-
cent; men hasten to do her homage and are
proud to be commanded by her. Still, the
presence of Mrs. Smith in the coach acted on
the party as a little restraint, which the
Judge and the colonel vainly endeavored to
dispel
'Fond of travelin', maamG" said the latter,
in his best offhand style, as he leaned toward
her and smiled handsomely. The lady made
no reply, and the judge knocked the colonel's
elbow.
''Sh! COLONEL" he said; "you don't spose
she understands you, when it's as much as l
can do to untangle Your ideas from your
words. She speaks French!"
The colonel accepted the rebuke meekly,
and made no further conversational effort.
The road became more and more difficult as
we advanced, and the fresh mules were IN
ruly and drove very hard. Several times, in
bad places, they had baked, and the coach
had swung around in a way that would have
upset lighter vehicle, yet no exclamation
of alarm escaped from the lady, who sat mo-
tionless in her corner.
"Turrible bad place to be held up long
here" said the major, after an unusually
long silence, during which the coach had
slowly pounded over a huge rock and then
off with an unpleasant scrunch. 81 should
hate to be stopped here, for have a matter
of 81, 200 about me, which l don't care to
lose. OF course, we're all friends herep he
hastily asked.
We were and then it came out that each
man was carrying various sums of money,
ranging from $500 to 81 600, the last amount
being the property Of the colonel, who de-
scribed accurately how he had concealed it
In package, sewed in his clothing next to
his body, where 1t was quite inaccessible to
dishonest persons
II reckon it'll take a pretty smart chap to
find that" he remarked complacently, as he
slapped his hand ON the spot where the treas
ure was concealed We could not deny this,
and murmurs Of admiration were heard at
his shrewdness. AT this time-in fact, since
we left Sampson's-the mysterious Mrs
Smith had not moved or changed her posi-
ton. She still kept her veil down, and in the
slowly waning light her black dress seemed
to emphasize the shadows in the coach.
Judge" said the major at length, sit mus:
be lonesome for her You're considerable of 81
ingoist, couldn't you give her little touch
in the native, just to be perliteT
The Judge looked embarrassed ant
scratched his head confusedly
why, mebbe | might rack out some
French" he said ''It amt much to do. but
er-what'll sayi You got 70 be mighty cir
cumspec in talkin' French to a lady-it's 81
terrible free lsngwidge."
Both the military men were impressed by
this, the colonel particularly so, and for 81
moment his fa;e was expressive of painful
perplexity
'Well, just cay somethin' civil" he said az
length; TASK her if she wants the winder up
Taln't ikly she does, but you might, ash
her,"
''Oh, no, colonel!" said the Judge, mot
that. That particular word winder-in
French"-here the judge lowered his voice to
a whisper, lis cusSin an you'll hev to ex-
cuse me. That's where draw the lne"
well, chin your own way, then," said the
colonel, testify, though reckon can open
q winder fur a lady-in French-without
breakin' any Of the commandments. Only
say somethin', or We'll think you don't know
how
This was touching the judge on a tender
spot, and looking at the colonel with an air
of naughty dignity he said, slowly:
'If it'll amuse the boys l reckon III take a
little pasear, though Pm a trife rusty in my
langwidges just now. Had considerable prac-
tice, too, down in San Nigel county.
Then, with a soft ahem and flourish of
his handkerchief, he leaned forward, and
casting a bewitching glance at the lady,
murmured:
"Buenos dias, sonora Habsis vosotros-er
that is-como esta veyw
The lady made no answer; in fact, seemed
not to hear, but the judge was in nowise dis
concerted
Reckon she was thinkin' of the late la
n,anta5 and didn't wholly toh nv, 70 MN