The record-union., 1891-08-15
CARMENCIHA'S Sad STORY.
Hoffman Digs Up a Charming LIE.
gend in Old Ventura.
Thrilling Ending of Passionate Love
Affair-The Murder of AIessandro
By the Sad Sea Waves.

Especial Correspondence of RECoRD-UNIoN.l
This is the 10th day of August, in the
year of our Lord 1891, and dreamy,
| drowsy day it is also, with much en-
phasls on the last two letters of also. 1t
IS too drowsy for attention to grammar,
too droWSy for attention to business, too
droWsy for attention to anything. There
is just enough breeze coming in from the
| sea to make it extremely pleasant. There
was heavy fog swept in from the ocean
last night, and gave the corn and beans a
fresh start, and made the earth cool. It
also lowered the temperature of the
watermelons, and washed the dust from
the pepper trees.
am thoroughly enjoying this weather.
1t couldn't be more delightful it it had
been cut out for me by tailor. 1t fits me
perfectly all around, like a neglige shirt.
l have actually grown so fat that it is no
longer possible to lie down on my back
and sleep in the shadow Of my foot.
am very corpulent indeed, especially just
after taking my tri-daily constitutional
in the melon patch. Then, with my rare
old pipe filled with insect powder to keep
off the flies, and sad, tear-pumping
romance in my hand, wend my way to
the peaceful shade Of an umbrella tree
and go quietly to sleep, gloriously oblivi-
Gus of the shop, the father of the chapel,
and the sodden plunl1 of the sad sea
waves. '"This is life! This is the ideal
sort of existence," / exclaim.
And then comes the little busy mos
quito, the soft, musical, insinuating cuss
that is so Internally indigenous to every
cline, and inserts his bill into me, and
bleeds me as neatly and as thoroughly,
almost, as my landlord. But every rose
must have its thorn, and every eden must
have its snake, and everything good
must have its antethesis. But that is the
way of the world. Alas! that it should
be SO. But it is so, somehow.
Yesterday l was shown the grave Of
Carmencita. 1t is in a lonely canyon five
miles from Hopper Creek, and sur
rounded by cactus and sagebrush. A
OF flt-whlch end nobody knows-and has
dug down and made nest among the
! bones.
This grave is to Hopper Creek, Fill
more, Tory Canyon, the Buckhorn
Ranch and other places what the graves
OF Abelord and Helois are to Paris. The
story of Carmencita is very sad one.
l don't know how long ago it was that
Carmencita lived. Nobody knows that,
either. 1t may have been century, or
an age, or an con, or something of that
sort. But hang the difference. 1t was
sometime or other. / am not going to be
so particular about it. She is dead now.
and mistake as to her age of q thousand
years or so won't matter. She certainly
lived in the past or she wouldn't be dead
in the present. With this sage reflection
we will go on with her sad story.
Carmencita was pure Castilian.
Some of the real estate men in Ventura
who were personally acquainted with her
say she was only Injin, and bad Injun
at that but tradition says she was Cas-
tilian. prefer to to think she was Cas-
tilian. At any rate she is not bad
Iniun now. She is dead. would rather
believe tradition than a real estate
agent. Especially one who claims to
have been in the business a thousand
years or SO. But to proceed.
Carmencita was left an orphan at a ten
der age. Nobody knows just how old
she was when this occurred. Maybe she
was hundred. To one as old as she
was when she died century must have
felt like first birthday At any rate,
she was young. Her father and mother
were not killed. They both got full of
years and died disgracefully honorable
deaths. Where they are buried l don't
know, and I will leave them there. No
use Of disturbing old bones, anyhow.
When she had been duly and legally
orphaned by process of nature, Carmen
cita went to live with an old crone who
made her living by riding on broom
sticks and by gathering wild mint and
snakeweed, which she carried to the har-
Dor at Ventura and sold to the Spanish
sailors that came ashore there now and
then TO stretch their legs. Carmencita
was smart child. She was always
learning something, and it was not long
before she knew enough to help the old
crone gather weeds and carry them down
TO the harbor. She was very beautiful
child, and was very successful in selling
her mint.
But one day sailor, a boy not much
older than herself, begged a lock of her
hair. He cut it from her head with his
sheath knife. But the other sailors saw
it, and they all claimed the same privi-
lege. and it was not long before it got to
be fashionable for every sailor that cast
anchor in that harbor to whack off
handful of Carmencita's hair and 90
prancing around with it stuck in his belt.
This thing could not 60 on forever. Car
mencita was rapidly getting bald as a
squash. The old crone noticed it, and
when Carmencita had told her how it
came to pass that her head looked like
the great raft scene in "The World' she
bade her stay at the casa. Then she went
down to the harbor and Swore at the
sailors until theyipaid her dos reals apiece
TO stop. There and then the old crone
vowed that as soon as her hair was long
enough to cut Carmencita should be
pruned again.
There was one sailor who objected to
the cutting of Carmencita's hair. 1t was
Alessandro, the boy who had begged tor
the first lock. Alessandro had learned to
love the child.
"Some day." he said to her, 81 will re-
turn to you and you shall go with me
oIy.V flna coo TO- I 1
you shall be my wife"
And Carmencita believed him.
Poor thing.
AleSsandro's ship sailed, much to the
disgust of the old crone, who was lust
getting ready TO shear her ward. 1t was
clear loss of dos rcdLS from every sailor
on the ship. Perhaps tho loss was greater
for she had intended to charge Tor the
hair and then swear harder than ever after
it was sold. But there were other Shins
at sea, and whenever any of them came
into the harbor Carmencita was pruned
with great regularity.
1t was twelve years before Alessandro
returned in new ship, without any of the
old crew that had seen his sweetheart. He
brought back with him the little lock of
hair, tied up and strung around his neck.
He had never forgotten Carmencita, but
had saved up his reals until they had be-
come pesos, and had bought castle at Sc
WIG, Where ne had been playing cdUeiieT
SeYUeHtC to q rich old Donna with great suc-
cess. AS soon as the Donna died he struck
out tor California, after sacl1ing the
premises.
Carmencita was on the beach when the
ship came in, and Alessandro leaped out
of the boat. They recognized each other
at once, and embraced right there, before
the whole crowd.
The Captain of the ship at once fell
violently in love with the beautiful Car
mencita.
Cargo ~ he muttered. Il adore her.