, 1889-09-04

convent gate. By the bright moonlight
she saw the young priest in the garden
catch in his arms the novice as she
sprang from her window. She saw him,
with his bur1en in his arms, hurry to
the gate and place the girl on a saddled
horse, jump up behind her, and then she
saw the horse gaIlop swiftly up the road.
Then the sister superior rushed back into
the convent, and % the great bell was
tolling. This sound at such an hour soon
brought all Las Casas to the convent
door. Manuel was among the first there.
He had not been to bed, and staggered
~unsteadily from the aguadiente he had
taken at the tavern. To him the startled
nun shrieked her story, and he cursed
his sister and the renegade priest. Soon
h Others understood the reason of the
turmoil, and a rush was made for horses.
In short order they were in pursuit of
the couple, headed by the drunken Man
uel. But the priest had secured a fair
start, and the pursuers never caught
sight of him until they reached the Rio
Grande. The river, swollen by floods,
seemed well nigh impossible, but the
case was desperate, and in he plunged
his doubly burdened horse. The tired
animal passed in safety, and was houn-
dering up the steep bank on the Ameri-
can side when the pursuers reached the
river. Manuel pulled his Winchester and
fired at the laundering horse. Then it
was that that half moon was cut in the
top of the ear of Padre Teodoro.
"Seeing that they had not stopped
them, Manuel and his party also plunged
their horses into the flood. They passed
in safety and continued the pursuit. As
they approached some houses the animal
that Manuel bestrode reared back. A
foundered horse lay in the road. The
Mexican uttered a shout of triumph. He
knew that tho fugitives could not be far
away. The p%ursuers rushed on until
they came to the buildings. a solitary
cowboy stood in the road.
"'Have you seen a dog of a French
priest with a grip shouted Manuel.
Seems to me some people like hat
got on the ~Solomonville stage hyar a
little while back, stranger, answered the
calm cowboy. 'Ef you hurry you'd
orter to catch it,
Manuel and his companions chased
after the stage, and the cowboy went into
one of the ranch buildings. There Padre
Teodoro and Carmelita were eating.
They had asked for shelter there and had
told the boss herder their story. The
cowboy told of his conversation with the
girls brother.
"'He won't catch the stage in half an
hour said he, and it'll take as much
lpnuar for him 10 rot hnnlr barat
THE dow going stage reached the
door just then, and the ex-priest and the
ex-novice babe a hasty good-by to the
cowboys, who had been SO kind to them,
and boarded the stage. They went MS
far north as Tombstone, where Rouville
had a friend and countryman in the per-
son of a storekeeper. He gave him a
place in theStore, and the clever young
Frenchman soon adapted himself to his
new sphere. He and Carmelita were
married by an American justice of the
peace, for, of course, no clergyman
would have anything to do with such a
marriage.
"Rouville did well as a clerk, and some
years later returned to Las Casas, where
he opened a little store. For some time
the Mexicans were doubtful of Rouville,
but he developed a lot of business sense,
put down prices and kept good goods,
and before long no store there could
boast a better trade than the 'Tiende dc
Padre Teodoro,' as his place is still called.
He and his wife and children are, of
course, outside the pale of the church,
but the feeling against them has entirely
disappeared in La Casas. Rouville has
hnnnn,n 49, 30 fl,n s,1;l .;t;,.,,, - Al.
little town, and has opened stores in sur
rounding towns-one of which, by the
way, is under the charge of Manuel Viii
~laflores, who has found that an ex-priest
does not make the worst sort of n brother
in-law after all."-San Francisco Ex-
aminef.