Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-12-18

some poor woman who Is wandering IN ,
her mind
Bonita Yes. she will die, fear"
And am going to try and sketch the
canada. Will you come. padre milo. and
see my failure?'
81 will come for little while and see
your success" the padre answered, "tor
| do not think that You are likely to at
tempt anything in which you would
fail
ii should not wish to attempt what l
knew to be beyond my powers, certain
ly But a man cannot always tell be-
forehand whether he will succeed in an
effort, even when he thinks he may"
''If he has gagged his powers correctly
he can generally tell, at least, in some
degree You, Senior Derwent, know
pretty accurately, ! think, what you can
do"
II wish didI said Derwent devoutly.
But am, hke other men. misled by van
ity; sometimes essay tasks beyond my
strength and fail shall probably fail
in making this sketch, but | mean to try.
Fortunately | have sketching materials
with me, for thought would do some
thing of the kind in Mexico This will
| be my first attempt"
A few minutes later, with portfolio
under his arm and accompanied by the
padre, he was on his way to the ravine,
where he had spent many delightful
hours since the day when he was first
| introduced to it. They tried various
| points of view. and it was finally de-
| cided that the sketch should be made
| from the pavilion. So Derwent settled
| L. h. &c,
cause he had a support on the railing for
his book and roof overhead to keep
away the intrusive rays of the sun. Pa
Dire Francisco fingered, talking pleasant
ly, until he was finally at work; and
then, saying that his own work awaited
him, he took his departure, with many
| wishes for the success of the picture.
| AS his slender, cassocked figure went
down the glen Derwent watched it with
smile, saying to himself that if his
| picture was success that figure should
enter into it. "Dona Zarifa will like
that" he thought, for he knew how dear
| the gentle priest was to every one at
Miraf1ores. He had heard from Don
Maurizio that he belonged to one Of the
prescribed religious orders, which,
robbed, exiled and defrauded by the gov
eminent, are yet quietly doing the work
| of God in poverty and obscurity all over
| Mexico.
The young man was thinking of that
figure, and of all the long line of such
figures which had Christianized and
civilized a savage people. as he worked
with a facility that surprised himself
Perhaps the stimulus was the desire to
crafty Dona Zarifa-for love can do
wonderful things and develop powers
almost undreamed of-or perhaps he
possessed more talent than he had hither-
to imagined AT all events his sketch
was growing in the most satisfactory
manner, and he was SO absorbed in its
progress that he had almost forgotten to
wonder if bona Zarifa would appear &C
cording to her promise, when suddenly,
in such quick succession as to be almost
simultaneous, two shots rang sharply on
the air, the Iast-a rife ball-just graz
ing his ear and then flattening itself on
the stone column beside which he sat.
The book dropped from his hand and
the sheet of paper on which he was sketch
ing was borne by current Of air over
the railing and futtered unheeded into
the current below, as with violent start
he looked up to see Dona Zarifa stand
ing on the path below, with still smok'
ing pistol in her uplifted hand.
In an instant he was by her side, fol-
instinct told him that the shot had moi
been fred idly For Gods sake, what
is it?'' he cried, gazing with establishment
at the pale, set face. the shining eyes and
the uplifted hand pointing so steadily
without a tremor in the direction of the
pavilion.
There is a man, an assassin, behind
yonder rock" she answered, in a clear
vibrant tone, pointing to a low, Ions
bowlder that crowned the hill which rose
Immediately in the rear of the pavilion
81 saw him about to shoot you, and
fired just as he had his finger on the trig
ger. His aim swerved and he fell. | thinl
| killed him."
Il will see," said Derwent, turning
quickly; but she stopped him by mo
ton and extended the pistol HE may
be merely wounded" she said "B'
; cautious"
With no recollection of his weakness
> he sprang forward and fastened up thu
steep ascent. Eighteen or twenty yard
brought him to the bowlder, and Their
on the ground behind it was the assassin
his rifle where it had fallen beside him
At the first glance Derwent thought b.
: was dead, but on examination discovered
, that, though insensible, he was still
=, breathing Throwing open his loos
white upper garment, the young mai
q saw that the pistol ball had entered hi
chest some little distance below tn
7 heart A stream of dark blood wa
y flowing from it, and Derwent's first &C
: was to place his thumb on the bullet
hole. The next moment he heard ster
q and turning his head saw Zarifa stand
!. ing beside him, looking down at tn
= mans face with an expression Of in
tense pain, But she asked in a hushe
" tone:
=, lis he dead?"
i mo; and | am not sure that tn
a wound need be fatal if we can &c
speedy help. Can you go for itr'
=, "Yes, certainly" she answered, star