The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-05-12


Coils creatures. among whom he labored
often until oug past midnight As may he
supposed. as III, adopted daughter grew to
ward womanhuod, the good priest could but
ucrcclyc that be- must not leave hrr at home,
alone and unprotected Therefore, he ih
creased ui, household hy the addition OF am
aged woman, tine mother OF one Of hl, con.
frorp,, who wa, but too happy 30 encounter
such q refuge, aud lend To- EeotrH de MILAN
the projection OF her presence
The priests adopted daughter grow up n
nobl, Nomaa Not lady Of the vice regal
court could compare with her IN beauty, yet
she was modest and retiring rs any mountain
violet. rs il she had lived IN n world apart
from that city of ieycrlsh loves aud hates,
ambitions, mtrigues aud gallantries. She
was more learned than most men IN those
DAYS OF careless Ignorance, yet skilled In all
woinanly knowledge The nuns OF con
vent, whore Juan de Nava was confessor, had
taught her the cunning of their hroidorics
and all manner of handiwork and the simple
fare and the ascetc care taking Of juan de
Nava's household was all the work of the
maiden.
Wthal she was devout and pious. Her
guardian had taught her that, while good
works are of greater import than all the
forms of Observance somewhat of the daily
doing of offices is ncedful, If but for the sake
Of example Therefore, she rose betimes,
and went 10 hear early mass She had LONG
knelt AT the altar Of one Of the minor
churches near the dwelling Of her guardian;
but the suburb grew disorderly, and more
than once unseemly drunken brawls Ind
been br-wed at the very door Of the temple
Therefore, Juan de Nava babe his ward go
rather 10 San Hipolito, somewhat farther
within the city.
And there it was that Beatriz was first
seen of Domingo Sarraza, "the religious
rake, AS his viceroy called him, in converse
with the oidor Amasa. He was Of noble
birth, this calavcron this young pronigate
of the first water, and wealthy rs he was
handsome. He spent his money in torrents
on every caprice, on every extravaganza OF
luxury and Osteutation. His was the most
gorgeous paraphcrnalia Of the annual festl-
walls of FL pendon, and TO say this implies,
indeed, much On these occasions on the
18Th Of August every year, the day OF San
Hipolito, FL Pendon--the standard Of COrte2
was carried in triumph escorted by II
great cavalcade Of Spaniards, from the Pala
clio Municipal 10 the church Of san NlpolIto,
in commcmoration Of the fact that on this
date Cortnz achieved the final capture of the
Aztec city. And to shine pro-cmincnt in
these professions was the ambition of every
Young Spaniuri in Mexico, aud each tried TO
outlive all others IN the sumptuousuosS of his
appointments But, year after year, not
withstandng the efforts of his competitors,
the palm for elegance and costiucss fell 10
the shnre'of Domingo Sarrala.
But not Nil his lavish expenditure nor his
alIoctptions Of joyiaI gool-fellowship could
make the young man popular IL was not
alone that he was "a soOuudrcl OF gross vice.
That might have been overlooked, for the
tastes Of the day We're not squclmish, and q
reputation for gallautrIcs and ral,islneas was
then as now doomed a feather in the cap of
man. rather than otherwise. There was
Diego de- Fajardo, and Luis del Rio, Antonio
MrudeI Torres, and score Of others, the
idols of the city, notwithstanding perhaps,
indeed, because Of-their wild bouts and ex-
cesscs But Sarraza was not of them. There
was n malignancy in his vices that repealed
the others happy go-lucky young fellows that
they were, and they shrank from his com.
partnership He got good many disdninful
names, too, from them -"tho friarn "the
pious one" and divers such pseudonyms, In
consequence of his hypocritical zeal in church
matters In former days his blasphemies
had been so rank and blatant that it had
been threatened that he should expatiate
them in the hoguera, the burning place of
the inuuistion in front of San Diego, where
a. r,y, - al,
media. Such menace from the holy office
might well intimidate the bravest man
in those days, and Domingo Sarrt
was no hero He hastencd TO feign serious
frame of mind, TO pretend conversion and
repentance, and 10 perform all the churchly
offices to avert the realization of the sinister
prophecy. BY day and 10y night he wore
cross on his bosom, and rs regularly rs the
day rolled around, he attended mass like any
deyotee 1t was this spurious picty, perhaps,
that was most dstastCful to those who should
have been the associates of Sarrala, but 1t
was not altogether cowardice that kept him
in the path he followed, although this had
been the original impelling motive. IL was at
church that the DANES and damsels OF Mexico
assembled most freely, and in church or ON
the way thence or thithcr that they were
most easy of access for the utteranCe of an
initiative gallantry or the rendering of a
tentative missive, by no means the fewest
of Domingo SnrraZa's adventures had be
fallen since he had adopted his new mode of
life, and he grew, If such thing were posi-
BILE, daily more corrupt and evil, in view Of
the immunity he enjoyed, protected by his
cloak of pious seeming.
Thus il was that when he saw BeatriZ de
MILAN first at San llipolito, his favorite
field of prey, he lost no time in following the
beautiful girl in whose garb he recognized
tho stamp of obscurity and poverty. He
was indeed, somewhat nhashed or startled
when his quarry entered the abode of Juan
de Navu But his disinay was only momen-
tary, and lie found an extra zest in the
thought of despoiling and deiiling the hearth
of the saintliest man in Mexico. From that
day, Sarraza lived only for the conquest of
Beatriz de MILAN. 1t seemed to him, in the
first instance. that the undertaking would be
an easy one, in view of the youth of the girl,
her extreme beauty, that argued vanity and
facile inclination, beside the advanced age OF
her only protector, ami her exposed situation
in general.
But he had reasoned in ignorance of the
character Of the maiden. Good blood and
noble coursed in the veins Of Beatriz dc Mil
Ian, aud blood Will tell, prate how we will OF
the equality of man. Moreover, she had not