Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1893-05-06
CHAPTER |.

1t was at Governor Alvarado's house
in Monterey that Chonita first knew Of
Diego Estenega. l had told him much
of her, but had never cared to mention
the name of Estenega in the presence Of
an Iturbi y Moncada.
Chonita came to Monterey to stand
godmother to the child Of Alvarado and
of her friend, Dona Martina, his wife
She arrived the morning before the
christening, and no one thought to tel
her that Estenegl was to be godfather
The house was full Of girls. relatives Of
the young mother. gathered for the cere
mony and subsequent week OF festivities
Benicia. my little one was IT the rancho
with Ysabel Herrera. and was staying
with the Alyarados So many were the
guests that chonita and [ slept together
We had not seen each other for year
and had SO much to say that we Gid not
sleep At all
She was ten years younger tlan /. buy
we were Cs close friends a. she With h.r
alternate frauauas5 and reserve WouiI
permit. Put he'd spent several months
OF each year since CAstsauud ii Ter
home il &eala E,rtrr. and ] knew her
better than ere Eae" hers Il WHEN.
later Tread ! tcT jugrTal found Z 'e
/ IN 1t tofa-- sae mc. huturch to fIGHl
cover with s. fgrl tle skeleton OF
the story Nsch passed % s'ratar p,. 4;
1 before Mv eyes.
We were lIs,rssin., Che frivolous w-s
teries of Gr rs. II rameu . arl l.
whpa she Ilil hr hand on MY mouth
suddenly
Gushr' ea3 faia
A cabciarp g-raHgs3ca his lady q, mid
night n Monterey
The tinGiIug OF aF7,itar tire liaglirg
Of spurs. fal among the sirens pcues ei
q man voice.
CAouita had been rcrnaded until she
had fed to the mountains for sleep, INIT
she cropt 70 the foot Of the bed m@
kuelt there. her hand IT her throat a
door opened. ana ONE ly cue, ont OF TIE
black beyond. five Waite rohed tormS
fitted INTO the room: they looked ike
puts Of smo1e from burning moon.
The heavy wooden shutters We're oTen
and the room was flled with cold hight.
The grs wal.1sd on the bare floor,
grouped themselves in mock dramatic
posturos; then, overcome 10y the strange
magnetism Of the SINGER. fell intolo-
tionless attitudes, listening iutantly
How wen / remember tE@t picture, u
though have almost forgotten tie
names Of the glrls.
In the middle Of the room two slender
figures embraced each other. their black
hair falling loosely over their white
gowns. On the window step hnelta tall
girl her head pensively supported by her
hand, black shawl draped gracefully
about her, at her feet sat girl with head
bowed to her knees. Between the two
groups was a solitary figure, kneeling
with hand pressed to the wall and face
uplifted
When the voice ceased / struck a
match, and five plirs Of little hands ap-
plauded enthusiastically Hesang them
another song, then galloped away.
"It is Don Diego Estenega," said one
Of the girls. He rarely sings, but
have heard him before"
IAN Estenegar exclaimed Chonita.
'Yes, of the north, thou knowest. His
excellency thinks there is no man in the
CALIFORNIA; like him-so bold and so
smart Thou rememberest the books that
were burned by the priests when the gov
ernor was Il boy, because he had dared to
read them MOI Well, when Diego Es-
tenega heard of that-he is the same age
with the governor-he made his father
ao,,J L.. nna4,, ,pJ Mayign fpt. fbpga
books and many more, and took them up
to his redwood forests in the north, far
away from the priests And they say he
had read other books before, although
such lad His father had brought them
from Spain and never cared much for
the priests. And he has been to Mexico
and America and Europel God of my
soul, it is said that he knows more than
his excellency himself-that his mind
works faster Aye. but there was time
when he was wild--when the moscal
burned his throat like hornets and the
aguardiente was like scorpions IN his
brain; but that was long ago--before he
was twenty; now he is thirty-two He
nmuses himself sometimes with the girls
-valgame Dies, he has made hot tears
fiow-but suppose we do not know
enough for him. for he marries none,
Aye, but he has a charmF
Like what does he look? A beautiful
cabellero, suppose with eyes that melt
and mouth that trembles like woman
in the palsy
AYE, no, my Chonita; thou art wrong.
He is not beautiful at all lie is rather
haggard and wears no mustache, and he
has the profile OF the great man, fine and
aquiline 0al severe, excepting when he
smiles. and then sometimes he looks kind
and sometimes he looks like devil He