Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-03-30
THE DEATH SPIDER.
showing How YsmneIa. the Vnqul
Maiden, WOve n Potent Shell.

One time / was staying down at the
hacienda del Torreon, in the State of
durango. 1t belonged to my friend
and my family's friend, Mariana Condo.
lie and had been out after bercndas
lots Of antelope and deer still around
there-and we got back late Saturday
afternoon, just as the mayordomo was
calling the raya. That means what
we Americans would say by giving
them their time" He takes the list
from the bookkeepcrs figures, and com
pares 1T with the accounts kept for
themselves by the people AS they
cannot read or write they use sys-
TEN of lines and circles to denote a
day, halliday, quarter-day. a real
twelve and half cents, Il medic dol
lars, etc. II the two accounts tally,
and they generally do, for these rancho
folks are mighty honest, then they are
PAID, sometimes in money, but more
gencrally-thc most part, anyway, of
their Wagcs-in orders on the tienda.
Ihese hacienda stores make lots of
money for the haccndados. and keep
p>oPAN III uSoI JtloI ttbouI llOpt-
less as the old scheme of peonage. But
the tienda at Torreon was very fairly
managed. and the people always could
have money if they preferred it to
credits.
Ihat time. after the raya was over,
and most OF the people had gone loung-
ing away for their one rest of the week
for it is Il great mistake to think
the peoneS are loaferS-thcy really
work like bcavcrS-well. as / was say
ing, one girl walked up to the mayor
domo and said something in Il low tone.
Ely? what's that?' said Don Enrique,
thou. Ysmacla. asking for the wash
ing! Are the clouds readying to rain
honey? Since when are thou tired of
reSting?'
We could not hear what she said,
but she appeared to be insisting Don
Enrique looked Il question at Mariana.
OF course the mayordomo had the
right to distribute the work as he
thought proper. but when the amO was
actually on the spot, it was com
proniso-that is to say, Mexican ctl-
Quette-that the employee should con-
suit the master. Mariana was good
fellow, and he never did or said any
thing to hurt the feelings of those
around him. The administrator and
the mayortlomo were both of good fam
lies lots Of genie 1in:l, men who have
spent all their money, are glad enough
now to take positions that arc conSid-
cred inferior in McXicO-and Mariana
was so good-naturcd that he let them
run things about as they pleased. You
might easily have mistaken either one
of them for the master. Not that he
was careless about his affairs, for he
was a sharp, shrewd business fellow.
But he had, as the MeXicans say, so
he disapproved of their doings or want
ed to make suggestions, he always told
them about it privately, and before
folks even before the peoncS he treat
ed them very respectfully, and ap-
peared to take their advice about
everything OF course that sort of
thing is only skin deep, and you can
call it inSincerc, if you want to, but
all the same it is mighty pleasant to
be treated that way.
Well. so that was why, when Don
Enrique Vargas looked that way at
Mariana. the patron shrugged his left
shoulder and threw out his left hand
with Il gesture that meant: oh! |
leave it all to you, my dear fellow!'
But the little mink had seen the mayor
domos look, and she twirled around,
as cheeky as you please, and began to
discourse him.
YES, YES. chula! but this is an affair
for Don Enrique. He will send thee
to the accullia, if it seems to him well.
Rut why wiShest thou the wash? What
spider has bitten thee?'
At that the girl gave a quick jump.
as if something had bitten her sure
enough. and she turned about the color
of Manila paper. as she faced around
to the door and made off in no little
hurry. The last we saw Of her face,
the color had not come back to it. We
could not help talking about her and
her whim, and the queer caper OF her
leaving like that when Mariana spoke
to her. l gathered from what they
said that she had known the admins
trador rather better than was good
for her. and that her freak about the
washing was in order to get away from
tho house. so she would not have to
SEQ and worry over the way that gay
bladc was now dangling around Sim
coma. n pretty daughter of old Damasa,
the tortila maker.
that's one thing never can get used
to in these Mexican fellows. Ip turn
to look after Il woman as quick as
any other man, and l don't say that
7 care for them too heightened or
learned, either But these servant
women strappng, greasy hussles,
with every pore in their skins marked
ont in black. like the lines on "crackle"
nottcry! They are supposed to have a
bath every San Juan (st. Johns Day.
but l really think with many of them
II is only "cada Corpus San Juan
levery Corpus Christi and st. Johns
Day., and the calendar-makers say that
these two feasts fall on the same day
only once in three centuries.
Anyway. Simeona was worse than
Ysmaela; she was fatter. Ismaela had
very good figure, though she was
very slender She was pretty, too.
all but for Il wicked look in her black
eyes. I've seen the same look often
IN bolting horses. when they cock their
oors and roll their eyes back to see
if you're off your guard or ready for
thcm. I said something like that to
Mariana.