, 1888-11-22
you. 1t IS my aaugnGer rnat makes these

Lavender sticks suggested Benton.
pleasantly.
These lavender sticks. and did not know
She IS young lady, and l would not have
her do work. S2!ltc;i Mother! it is bad
enough for me, who an Old And did not
know, you understand: .Sot that nv dau.-,-
| ter ever does anything without telling me-
she added, hastily; ''IG, S.'!Ior, never! She
has no secrets from kcr rlother. But her
father Is dead and we Grc poor Here the
| sonora S voice faltercd Z little, and one of the
! tears that had been gathering in her ewes
| rolled slowly down her face I'VE are Door.
| and have TO work, and my daughter, she
| loves me, and she says it makes her sad to
| see me sew, sew, all the time sew, and sho
20 nothing, and SO she El,-l:cS these things to
help her poor mother. That is the way of it,
| senior She is a good daughter, and-and
=" here the senoras feeling overcame hcs,
and, turning TO Tulita, who had stolen to her
side, with little gesture of surrender she al
| lowed her tears to flow unrestrained.
Quickly putting her arms around her
| mothers neck, Tulita Lew her head down
upon her shoulder, and spoke to her sooth-
InSly IN Spanish. Then, turning gTglvely, al
most dellantly TO the ,OGng men, she said:
My mother has not .scn very well for tho
last few days, Senores, 4dto-night she is not
herself You will excus, herr
At this, both of the .entlemen arose. and
MIR. Brown, speaking fer the first time. said;
I'VE are very sorry, indeed we are We had
no idea that-that your mother was not well
In fact, hope that you will pardon us for
taking the liberty of calling on you about so
trifling matter"
Now, although Mr. Browns apology was
not very eloquent, there was sincerity and
hot IL f.anliT
that made its way to the hearts of both of
the women. The sonora raised her head.
and, drying her eyes, said, with smiling sim
plicity:
"Ah, senior, do not feel distressed because
l cry little. 1 often cry; am not very
strong since my husband died. But it is
nothing"
Tulita meanwhile, having arisen, had gone
to the door, in the evident expectation of the
immediate departure of her unexpected
guests. In fact, Mr. Brown himself stood
hat in hand ready to go, but Mr. Benton was
lingering to make some reply to the senora's
words. Then Mr.. Brown, on the impulse Of
the moment, said to the .,irl, who stood near
him, "You are not annoyed or angry with
me-with US, 1 mean, for coming!"
"Why should l bel" replied Tulita, with
dignity. 1T is of no consequence"
y
lavender sticks for me! Will call for them,
of course" said Mr.. Brown.
81 will make some moro for sale at tho
news stand" replied TGita; mo doubt you
can get them there"
Having administered which little cut
Tulita turned her big dark eyes severely
upon the still tarrying Mr.. Benton. Brown,
convinced now that their visit had displeased
the young lady, also turned and glared at tho
cause of his discontinue. What was their
surprise to find that MIR. Benton had reseated
himself and that lie and the sonora had ap-
parently launched into an extended con-
versation.
Are you coming, BentonY' said Brown,
impatiently.
''In minute, my dear fellow" replied his
friend; II have just discovered that Mrs.
Lunavarita and l have a whole lot of mutual
friends up in San Francisco"
And the sonora herself, turning to her
daughter, confirmed this in quite nn ami
mated way, repeating several names, evil
IDENTIFY those of the friends referred to.
Then Mr. Browns eyes sought Tulita's
with such solemn protest that she in her turn
could not help smiling. Common politeness
forced her to say, "Will you not sit DOWN.
But no, Mr.. Brown would not sit down; he
preferred to do penance standing. Then he
looked SO unhappy, casting gloomy glances
at his friend, which that gentleman ignored,
that Tulita finally began to feel little pity
for the young man. Perhaps she had been
too severe. After all he was very evidently
q gentleman, and was not bad looking, and
he had the good taste to appreciate her Law
ender sticks And so, after little hesita-
tion, she ventured to ask him if he was a
stranger in San Diego. She almost laughed
again to see how grateful he looked for this
bit of condescension. In fact this young
man was SO modest and courteous-so differ
ent from his companion, for instance-it was
really pleasure to encourage him little.
Then gradually Mr.. Brown ceased to cast
remonstrative glances at his friend, and pres
emily, when he saw that he was keeping Miss
Lunavarita standing, he consented to sit
down
1t was growing dark when Mr.. Brown
apain arose to his feet and exclaimed,
peremptorily, ''Come, Benton, we must go!
/ don't know what Mrs. Lunavarita and her
daughter will think of us"
Now. even if Mrs Lunavarita's daughter
had cared to give expression to her thoughts
lust then, she was the next moment rendered
speechleSs by her mothers behavior. Giving
Mr.. Benton her hand as he bade her good
night, the sonora said, in pleased and most
vivacious manner, Good night, senior, /
shall look for you tomorrow at 10 o'clock,
and then we will take our little ride"
After leaving the house Mr.. Benton and
Mr.. Brown plodded along through the dusk
and dust in silence for some minutes. Then
Mr.. Benton said, ''Women are strange crea-
lures" To which trite remark his companion
made no reply. But, having arrived at the
end of his reflections, AMI broken the silence,
Mr.. Benton continued: "Do you remember
nv telling you, Frank, that l had sort OF
superstition that your So investment was
going to bring US luckfn And as Brown as
sented, with a nod of his head, "Wel,
think it has, though had no idea when
inouired the name of your friends, OF the
people next door, that the luck was all ready,
laid away in lavender, as it were, waiting
for US to come and get it. Mrs. Lunavarlta
has 200 or 800 acres of land over on the sea
shore. What do you think OF thatt 1t IS
the same old story. They once owned leagues
and this is all they have left, and they have
got that, as Mrs Lunavarita says, because it
Il not worth anything, although she is wrong
there. At any rate she is holding it for her
daughter, hoping that il may be worth some
thing some day. 1t is all they have got.
Two thousand dollars is the highest figure
she has thought Of. If it is anything like
she describes it, and if she Will let me
handle it, propose to make it worth $780,
600 in the next year"
Look here, Tom" said Brown, impulsively,
ssif you do get hold of this thing, you Will do
the best YOU can by Mrs. Lunavarita, won't
your
my dear fellow" said Mr.. Benton in a
rather cold tone, "is it necessary to ask me
thata I am not devourer Of widows and
orphans"
"Oh, hang it, don't be touchy," " said Brown.
"You know 1 did not mean anything IKE
| that. Only these two women are so lonely,
and innocent, and plucky, they really have
| made quite an impression on me-"
81 noticed that one of them seemed to," re-
plied Mr.. Benton, dryly, ''but did not OBJ
serve the other had. As for the proposition,
If everything turns out as expect, it was
lucky day for Mrs. Lunavarita when !
Knocked at her door, And now let Us quit
work for the day, and go and have a respect
able dinner as a send off for the new firm of