Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1891-12-26

Ills lS my COuSlls CCnOld l. Clo otibo,
said Dona Zarifa. "She hopes you are
recovering If you speak French you
can answer her in that language"
Derwent dds speak French with fuency,
so he answered Sonora Peralta's inquiry,
and then, in reply to other questions,
gave circumstantial history of his
wound and all relating to it. Both ladies
listened to him attentively, and the sub
ject was hardly exhausted when Don
Maurizio came in.
"Ah, Mr.. Derwent," he said cordially,
81 am delighted to see you here. You
look better already. A little society is
a good thing; although | must warn
you that we can offer you very little
variety in that line at Mirafores.
Derwent replied very sincerely that it
was impossible to desire better society
than he found at Mirahores. But |
have heard" he said, "that most Mexi-
can proprietors of large estates do not
live on them, because of their loneli-
ness"
ut is, unfortunately, true" answered
his host 1.-The estates are generally so
large, and the distances from one to
another SO great, that wealthy Mexicans
do not, as rule, live on their haciendas,
except for few weeks in the course of
the year."
THAT is what was told when | ex-
pressed desire to see something of life
on a hacienda" said Derwent "'No-
body lives on the haciendas but the
agents, was assured. There is no life
there of the kind you fancy. Mexicans
of the higher class all live in the capital
or abroad.
ALLOWING for the exceptions" said
Don Maurizio, ''that was a correct state
ment. And the consequence is that half
the haciendas of Mexico are for sale,
destined before long to pass into the
hands of aliens. When men leave their
estates in the control of agents the re-
suit is mislnanagement in all respects.
Who knows this better than an Irish
man? Absenteeism has been the curse
of my country, and it is i'll a great de-
gree the curse of Mexico. So when | be-
came a Mexican | determined that
would not follow the prevailing fashion.
| Great estates came into my hands, and
| resolved at once to administer them
myself have done so for twenty years.
and am rather proud of the result"
"And you have not found it very irk-
some to live on a hacienda?
Il cannot understand how man can
find anything irksome which is in the
! clear line of duty and which affords
abundant occupation for his hands and
I head have found infinite pleasure as
well as infinite employment in my life.
/ An Irishman from Galway naturally
loves everything connected with free,
outdoor life, and | have taught my
| daughter to love it as well as do my
self She is an enthusiastio horsewom-
an, and we live in the saddle half our
time By the by, if you like riding l
/ can give you good mount"
Derwent's eyes frightened. am a
] southerner," he said, as if that were an
swer enough. "Half of my life | have
spent in Louisiana and half in the blue
grass region of Kentucky-my mother
belonging to the first and my father to
the last. Not even in Galway do you
think more of riding than we do"
"And in neither are there such plains
over which to ride as in Mexico, am
sure" said Dona Zarifa. "Ah, 1t is like
flying through the air to put ones horse
at his best speed and ride for miles over
| our great mesas."
! Her delicate nostrils dilated as if she
inhaled the breezes sweeping over the
wide leagues of space of which she spoke,
and Derwent, looking at her, felt quick
thrill at the thought that he might be
permitted some day to ride by her side.
"And do you really, then, spend all of
| your time here?" he asked, addressing
Don Maurizio.
Here at Mirafores? Oh, no." that
gentleman replied. 81 have another
large hacienda in the Bajio-you know
that stretch of fertile country between
Irapuato and Queretaro? | divide my
4 time between that place and this, with
month or two now and then in Mexico.
But, rich, productive and beautiful, too
as the Bajio is, both my daughter and
myself prefer this wilder country; and if
we were called upon to name our home,
think we should say Mirafores."
/ "Without doubt" said Dona Zarifa.
"There is no place in the world so dear
! % me as this"
THAT is very good for girl who is
fresh from a season in Paris, is it not?"
said Don Maurizio, as he laid his hand
caressingly on her wrist.
She placed her other hand over his,
and looked up at him with her dark eyes
melting into more liquid softness than
they had known before. "You We're
not in Paris" she said, with an enchant-
ing smile,
"No, thank heaven| he answered gay
/ ly. "What should Mexican hacien-
dado, with his heart among his tlocks
and herds, do there? But go, carina
mia, and give us some music. Let Mr..
Derwent see what he thinks Of our Mex
! lean airs"
She rose instantly and moved across
the foor-a perfect picture of grace,
Derwent thought, in her soft, simmer
ing draperies, and with her natural, un-
studied charm of step and bearing.
Sitting down to the piano, she struck a
I few chords and began to sing in con-
] . l-o