The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-05-10

silent man from one of the Greek
islands. whom no one had ever known
to speak The business was not con-
fined alone to making weapons of de
fense. No one could temper a set of
fine amputating tools as could Pedro.
To be sure his prices were terrible;
but where else could you get set of
such Instruments? He made set for
the South's most famous ante-bellum
surgeon. DR.. Stone Of New Orleans,
and another for DR.. Brickell, the orig
inal of Cables "Dr. Sewer" At the
same time he made bowie knife
twelve inches in the blade, which some
of his Creole admirers presented to
Gov. Paul Hebert, that cost. with its
elaborate ornamentatiOn, $1,000. This
was Pedro's most expensive objet dart
and the northern papers Of forty
years ago chronicled it as an instance
of the wealth and extravaganza of the
planter barons" of the South.
Pedro was evidently becoming very
rich. He had orders two years ahead
of his ability to fill them. He adher
ed to the carefully conscientious way
that he had followed when his repu
tation was making. He would not de
part from them now. With his IN
creasiDg fame and the fortune he was
said to be accommodating, it was not
strange that Pedro began to be an OBJ
ject of interest to the .marriageable
ladies of the Spanish and Italo Greek
quarter of the city. Soft glances from
the lovliest dark eyes were cast at
him as he sat on bench in front Of
his shop, working and gossiping with
a comrade. But he was harder OF
heart than his famous steel. The
question of matrimony as affecting
him was never ventured upon but once
in his presence, and the then offender
received a lesson he never forgot. 1t
was in this wise that the trial incident
occurred:
"What [ want wiz SO mooch moneys,
me?" What do / wiz heem2" he re-
marked to a friend.
why, leave them to your wife and
children" said one speaker. The
words We're hardly in the air when the
humorlst realized his dreadful blum
der Pedro's swarthy face turned to
an ashy brown, then became as red as
Ere His eyes blazed with the fury of
a demons. He seized knife and
started toward the offender. But Pc
dro's only close friend, an old Spanish
priest, happened to be at hand. He
seized the uptaised hand, and spoke
some words in tongue that the other
person had never heard,
The would-be joker stood white,
trembling appalled,. He could not
understand how his innocent words
had provoked such a storm Of fury as
they had all beheld Get him away"
whispered the priest to the joker's
companion, ''and never let him come
here again" and the few present sill
lently went their way They had re
ceived an object lesson they were not
likely to forget, and it was borne IN
upon them that Pedro had history
not unconnected with matrimony
which evoked anything but pleasant
"reminiscences in his mind.
Though Pedro had but one friend
the priest mentioned. and would not
Z CiIlIlldbc Will llI0 CONlIlll Illtil Ill thtll
festas, he was not unpopular. The
nuns in charge Of the Refuge for
Homeless Children never left his shop
empty handed. He subscribed hand
somely to the amusements of the Span
ish colony, though he would attend
none of them. And he loved all little
children. A child instinctively knows
its friends. Any baby would leave its
black nurses arms to go to him. 1t
was wonderful to see how the rather
/ savage dark face could often soften
under baby's smile.
Pedro was superstitious, like all
/ Southern Latins he believed in lanai
occheia. the evil eye. He always car
ried an antedote in the form of a
piece of coral, in tiny branches like
horn of stag. He changed but little
as time went on in feature or figure,
but his face grew full of lines, and. at
times look came over it that was not
/ pleasant to see.
One chilly evening in November Pc