Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-02-03
ITO JUAN

little story. from thr FEBRUARY number of Har-
per Magazine. is ad stnuug the dssolate foot
hills of tla SIERRA Marie mountains n northern
Mexie. lt is tu" end of the big "r'und up of
the year and the uu.ro- Mexican nsrd-menI
are gathered at o. monte deal az Oio Caleute
in the EncullIas vaii-' y game is PLAYED on
a sarapt Mexican blanket spread on Inc ground,
and tine players are gathered about u IN ali their
native p.ctur-suueness of costume and attitude
suddenly ru-re appears ON the edge of the
group uuuoUc-d 10y any but Blll irwin. tine
whiiom king OF the Mexico Texan border. an
appartiou u the form of q thin, starved and
trembling boy of barely ten years old. whose on
by clothing old since skin tied about his neck
Irwin called the lad to him and with rough
kindness demanded "N bat is It, sonny"
Tito Juan. whispered the child He is dead
with great sob. The Btui' came and STAN
peded tine sueep and goats. and ! hid-and- and
and
The limit of endurance hal been reached. The
child tainted. and it as not iii near morning
that he could be enough revived to tell his story,
and then 10 broken. dtsiointed way. But u
was told with such effect that at sunup nifty well
armed men were mounted and away. under Bill
Irwin. To- avenpe tine murder of TIC Juan by the
inhumau Apachrs
OF all the dreary lives that God in his
wisdom has allotted to mortals, dull and
unchanging from day to day. on the dreari-
est wastes of this continent, the worst by
lar is that OF the Mexican sheep-herder,
whether ON the American or Spanish side
of The border. from southern Colorado to
Zacateca-. To such a life had TIC Juan
been born in such he had existed tone
can hardly say 'lved'D for sixty years.
pasturiug his master herd OF long-legged
black white. and notified sheep and many
cOlored goats, oblivOus of all save his
herd. s. human pariah toy force OF cir
Cumstauces, not from other cause: MAX
ing his little camp of brush where grass
was earliest in spring, and moving slowly
to more sheltered quarters in the fall, only
to move again the next spring. Months
might pass and he would never see "a
strange human face.
One afternoon, close to the Laguna De
los PatOs, a squad of GringO cavalry.
guided by MeXlcans, came up to him sud-
denly as he was waking from siesla. and
lie learnt that the Apaches mad been raid
ing along the border, and that a war of eX-
termination against them had been waginr
for year around him.
His son had become his helper, had died
and grandson-our little wait who broke
up the monte game at Oio Cahente-had
only been brought into the world, 'twoud
seem, to follow. in his turn. the unending
round of litciess life with the old man
among The sheep and goats on that wide
desert
lie was only little animal. herding with
the beasts lac herded. and with as little
knowledge of the outside world. Al! he
felt was the great plain below. broken in
places by the rocky hills and mesas. and
the great sky above; and the sensations
alas. TOO often realized-of heat cold.
hunger. and thirst He 0urrowed under
the scant branches OF low sage-bush to
escape the MONDAY glare; and watched,
painting, the great yellow columns OF sand
whirls towering skyward, wandering to
and trO across the desert: and PM up a
PRAYER OF thanks that the herd was living
quietly around him To LA Santsima Viz
gem OF whom he had vaguely heard as a
beautiful lady in the cathedral of Chi
huahua. Half an hour after, looking at
his nearly empty gOurd OF warm, semi
putIld water, he shook ii to see if il would
last out the day. and wondered why. awav
under the eastern sky, should appear and
disappear, yet not exist in truth. those
wide pools and iagOOns of clear water. with
animals standing among the reeds on the
banks-such lagoons as Tic Juan had told
him was the "Laguna de los Patos. " miles
10 the nortnward, whence every year. lust
before the cold season, his grandfather
brought a bundle OF reeds to weave into
rough mat FOR sparse shelter from the
cold Norther sweeping down over the plain,
and driving herder and herded shivering to
the lee side of the rocks, where all snuggled
together Tor mutual warmth.
Hunger, How well he knew i'll Twas
bad enough every day tramping weary and
often fOOt-sore behind the sheep, MUNICH
ing al intervals piece of dry tortilla; but
worse, every three months, when Tic Juan
overstaid his time drinking at Ojo Caliente
and forgot the poor boy eking out the last
OF the tortillas and frijoles and counting
each morsel as it disappeared. Tic Juan.
though, was very kind, and they had lots
10 eat for month or so when the old man
came back again.
He was almost cOmpanionless The two
shaggy, shOrt-tailed dogs, Lobo and Linda.
bearlike and wolish, did not make very
good friends.
What he did really like were the fluffy
lOng-eared white and gray iack-rabbits
with black boots, which danced queer
dances on their hind legs among the sage
brush every April
Coyotes, the only other denizens of the
waste, he hated naturally. They skunk
through the brush, one ear cooked, the
other dropped cunnlngiy, picking up the
tOads, lizards, and beetles that ought to
have served Lobo and Linda tor supper.
And ID "a lamb CHANGED to be left behind.
and neither one of the old he-goats or
the dogs scented them, they cut its throat
and drank The hot blood, and then came 10
camp at night, wailing, chuckling chatter
ing in hideous glee. They were the Bru-
JOS twitchesl OF the desert-children Tic
Juan said, OF the great "cattle devilns
who. when the yaqueros We're living asleep
10y their cattle, would creep silently up To-
a bullock, and whisper something in It's ear
that started it in sudden fright. and in a
second more the whole herd would dash
madlv over the plain in wild unreasoning
stampede, regardless of watch-hres. va
querOs, and horses trampled out of exist
ence al the cruel bidding OF the "cattlp
devil
such ana such like had been the daily
round OF life and thought OF our poor lit
tie wait from four years Old until about ten
days before our story opens, when he was
lying under a sheepskin one morning on
the open plain, and watching the figure of
Ito j uan, hall lying, half sitting, by the
IRE OF sage roots sputterIng under the gray
dawn with Lobo and Linda yawning on