Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1893-02-25

| @OANAO e5OAiS9 w tlO SOnNCnb W
her education she had been an adept
In needlework and other feminine
craft.
AT school she amply rewarded her
masters for the care spent upon her,
and the child had made such progress
that there was not a more skillful
player upon the harp in Lima. No
voice was so pure and flexible, SO
gemlike in bella Aminta" and PAS
tor Feliz," and no feet were swifter
IN the dance, no waist more slender
and supple in the whirling measures
Of the sajuriana.
To describe beauty is impossible
pale would be the portrait which
words could make of Gertrude.
Enough if we imagine one of those
refined Ceylonese types Of spicy
sweetness which have been well de-
scribed in the couplet-
Cinnamon and sugar was
The blessed Magdalena-
Gertrude's coming to the hacienda
variously aroused the passions of its
inmates. She was the one young and
lovely thing there-could any have
resisted herr The chaplain and the
doctor were soon inspired by the like
passion; even the tough old Galicians
were q little touched, and Veronica
dotted on her. During mass or at the
vesper hour when Gertrude opened
her prayer book, when low, pleading
sounds came from her soft lips, the
acute devotions Of the doctor were
distracted, and the chaplain almost
ceased his chanting to listen.
The young doctor occupied his
thoughts 80 exclusively with Ger
trude that upon a certain occasion he
administered jalap instead Of gum
arabic, and he was in imminent peril
of dispatching himself without cere.
mony or position to the field of skulls.
Some one has said that the eyes of
a rival are like a telescope to dis
cover wandering comets in the heav-
ems of his love- However this may
be, the chaplain was not slow to dis
trust Pantaleon. He came to the
conclusion that between him and
Gertrude there existed what in poll
tics is called criminal connivance. "
He felt enraged at the supposed sue
cess Of his handsome antagonist and
determined to go to the countess with
his story.
The unconscious Veronica received
him graciously. After a short con-
versation on unimportant matters:
Gertrude is too young girl to be
trusted so constantly alone with the
slaves" said he.
"What do you mean9" inquired the
countess. II have always considered
her a model of prudence"
"Ah, true" said the chaplain; "but
when love figures upon the canvas,
the colors glow. Prudence Is but
cold pigment.
Veronica colored slightly prudence
and love she strove to make COM
panions.
"Speak more plainly" she said.
Speaking plainly may offend" I"
was the answer; ''but duty bids me
warn you that If matters remain as
they are-if two slaves indulge vice
unrebuked-it will be a great scandal
and disgrace. Among the lower
slaves it might not be noticed, but
when 1t comes to Pantaleon and Ger
trude"-
The countess bosom heaved, but
she did not speak.
1t is probable that the priest, had
he realized that Veronica had made
Of her slave something more than a
physician, would not have accused
him.
The countess had sufficient strength
of will to govern herself; to suppress
all outward emotion. She spoke
calmly to the chaplain, requested
particulars, asked his advice, thanked
him for his Christian counsel, said In
genuously that she would know how
to preserve decorum in her house
hold. The friar retiring, Veronica
flew to her room to give vent there
to the torment which expanded her
soul. She had 80 loved Pantaleon
She had descended from the pedestal
of her pride to the level of a wretch
ed slave-for lovel A thousand tor
ments distracted her when she con-
sidered the abasement of her love.
She would never forgive the man,
never pardon the slavel She hated
himl She loved himl She would
punish, she would forget-she ragged
and wept. Rising with sudden
thought, she smiled In her mirror,
her hair and adjusted her
An hour later, with affected seren-
ity of manner, Veronica walked
slowly through the garden paths,
crossed the little bridge over the ir-
rigating canal and threaded the cane
brakes. The tall canes swayed and /
rustled; her bosom rose and fell; her
heart futtered, but her fierce win,
like the condor of the Cordilleras,
was determined upon the destruction