San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-08-28

| ing 10 MN, Salu WIN drunken BTdNlIy'
'Did We see thai greaser make face t mel
He suit me, an I'm goin' T. rebuke i'm" and
he unslung his rife.
mo, no! he didn't make a face at you,
Dick said, endeavoring to quiet him; ''that
was at me-"
"Thas' all ri, but amt you goin' t'ave
sas'fas'h hung
"No, not now; tomorrow, perhaps"
"Thas' all ri, but you're my frien' an goo
| fler, an I'll ave sas'fas'hun for you" and
before Dick could stop him the stranger
threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired. 1t
was a chance shot, of course, but it was a
true one, and down went the old man and the
burro he was riding, both apparently dead
The avenger of his honor looked smilingly at
Dick, and then at his victims, lying in the
dust, and said pleasantly: 9TH man t. wont
do that fur fren amt worth name o man.
How's that fur shot, ehN
Dick was seriously alarmed, for not only
did he realize the sin of killing an unarmed
man, even in New Mexico, but he knew the
fellow countrymen of the victim would work
reprisalS on him by stealing his stock and
annoying his men in every possible way.
And Lie was still more disturbed when he saw
his companion preparing to shoot again.
Hold on!" he cried; you've killed him;
that's enough. You'd better get out of here
now, as quick as you can"
"Kllled him all ri, only he amt tn one.
Here goes fur 'nuther-wash tn ill f'ler
jump" And Dick had just time to strike
I'D the muzzle of the rifle when it was dis
charged again. Then, in desperation, he
seized his companions bride, and facing him
down the road, laid his "cuert" smartly over
the horses back, and in another moment
they had ratified out of sight around a turn
in the road. 1t afterwards turned out that
the burro was killed, but the Mexican was
unhurt beyond a very bad fright.
That evening the men sat around the fire
in the bunk room at the ranch house, talking
and passing the time as usual The new
arrival had been installed as cook with a
monthly compensation of $40 and board,
and he was at that moment in the kitchen
attending to his duties. Jim Carroll, the
foreman-who was popularity believed to
possess fine literary requirements, shame
fully wasted in cow punching-was quite
taken with the cooks appearance and with
Capt Dicks adventure of the morning, and
he declared that henceforth the newcomer
should be known as Don Quixote de Santa
ton, and promptly shortened to Don.
Day by day the men learned to like
the Don. He had such a modest way
about him; he was never clustering, never
profane, but always quiet and cheerful He
was not didactic or puritanical, but he had
singular habit of interspersing scriptural Sc
lections through his conversations that at
first was very puzzling to the men. He did
this without the slightest notion Of the incon-
gruity, or of the unpleasant effect it had on
some, for he did it all in a deeply reverent
way. He never drank again, and was deeply
mortified at his one unfortunate lapse. 1t is
true he could not cook-true, indeed that he
made worse failures than any cowboy ever
made before-but, somehow, no one could
find fault with him.
"Them biscuits hev got consid'able sally
ratus in 'em, expect" he used to say, apollo
getically, as he daily laid a pan of heavy,
saffron colored Jumps of dough on the table,
"but it seems to take heap OF it t operate
on this -four | callate there's four parts sal
lyratus to three of dour-fear We not death
but you won't mind it with a little raw onion
and plenty O. salt"
His mode of cooking beef, too, was darkly
mysterious. There would appear on the
table, three times day, a dingy, blackened
pan, filled with a something or other, floating
in melted grease and as the Don laid it down
he would smile benevolently, seeming to say
that no one could guess what that contained,
not if he were to try week.
9TH foundation fur it is fried beef, he
would say, "but there is other things in it
fur to give it twang--I bring We good tidings
Iofrr tow -c,,ph oh nal ffatia ON
| pork. It's got considerable nourishment into
| it, though it don't look so very good"
- One day there was great excitement at the
| Barzee-the Don had been there about four
months then-for neighbor rode up and re-
ported that there was to be dance the next
| night at the Wilder Davis" four miles up
Los TaDos
| The ''widder" was the relict Of the late Jim
Davis, who came to an untimely end some
five years before by reason of the pistols
missing fire Besides the ''widder," Davis had
left behind him son and daughter. The
son was a harum scarum fellow, even for a
| COW puncher; the "widdern was admitted 30
be rustler. As for the daughter, Mirandy,
she was the belle Of San Miguel county.
Few who saw her could resist her fas-
cinations She was none of your sickly, wee
things; that kind does not flourish On the
frontier. No, Mirandy Yves stout, strong and
handsome withai And yet, frontier born
and bred though she was, she had all the
coquettsh ways that some think are only &C
quired by a society training, but which are,
in truth, as much a part Of womans make
up as her back hair. It was liberal educa-
ton to see Mirandy modestly drop her eye
lids when one of her admirers was touching
on dangerous ground, or to hear her say,
"Get along now, Bill, or III lam ye," and t.
note the stalwart cuff she administered to
| Bill if he attempted to steal kiss. Ad-