St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-01-27
MEXICAN JoE:s WIFE.
She Found the Terrible Courage - KIN
Her H0sbond.

She Found the Terrible Courage - KIN
Her Husband.
Mexican Joe was the most notorious
! cattlc-stealer in the whole valley and
the wonder was that his handsome
brown neck had escaped the halter.
/ But times had changed in Texas since
/ the days when justice was administered
i summarily and to the point-usually .
ropes point So about the little cabin
! across the creek, where Joe and Ninita
kept house, there was always hanging
strings of meat for the sun to dry.
But Joe had always ready . way Of
explaining his possession of the meat
strings and the hides and tallow which
kept him in whisky and tobacco. and
the droves that he depleted by his care.
full depredations were SO far away that
there was no means of tracing his
| roguery.
But, Of course, . day of reckoning
did come for Joe, as it comes for us all
sooner or later, though it was not hii
cattle-stealing that brought it about
One day during the summer . mar
had been found murdered on the other
side of Flat Top, and the most earnest
effort resulted in the discovery of no
clew to the gui ty party. The district
! attorney was new man, tall young
fe low, who set his wide-brimmed hat
little jauntily atop of his over-lons
locks, but the evil-doers knew him fos
q hustler" nevertheless Nobody
was surprised therefore when, the fol
lowing winter. the murdered mans
watch and knife were found in pawn
ut the secondhand store ON the corner,
and Mexican Joe was arrested.
The trial created a great stir in quiet
little Lampasas. and the courthouse
was crowded with spectators. There
was some difficulty in impaneling .
jury. and the case began to draw itself
out, but the interest did not waver.
The only listless figure in tho whole
crowd was Ninita- Never once, rs the
case dragged. and witness after wit
ness rose for testimony. did she turn
her big, beautiful eyes toward the
prisoners box. With the shawl still
pinned up about her pretty brown
skinned face, she sat not moving, save
now and then to dispense the little
shucls-rolls from her basket to the hum.
cry people about her, slipping tho
nickels carefully into her bosom. When
adjournment came she would swing
her basket over her arm, and, moving
| with the crowd, call ont "Hot tamales!"
with sweet-voiced indifference.
But finally the last day came. The
district attorney made . strong case.
telling off string of Joe's evil deeds.
which were, as he said, "too numerous
to mention" The attorney for the de-
fense, o young fellow whom the court
had appointed, did the best he could
with the material in hand. At the end
of his lowery speech he made an ap-
peal in behalf of Ninita, pointing to
her with mighty flourish of his long
arm. and calling her q poor, heart
broken wife"
But she, the poor, heartbroken
wife," sat dry-eyed and stolid through
it all. and the solemn-looking jury filed
out to return almost immediately with
a verdict of guilty.
Then, and not till then, Ninita looked
at Joe, and a glance that puzzled those
who saw it, flashed back at her from
his great dark eyes It might have
been a challenge; it might have been =
question:; was it . command, or was il
. farewell? -
ping out through the crowd. but
fingered in the square without till the
! sheriff came leading the prisoner to the
little stone Jail across the way, whence
he was to he taken next day to Austin.
In little while Joc's face was seen be-
hind the bars in one of the upper win
dows, but Ninita seemed scarce TO
notice him. Without speaking she
pulled her shawl close around her and
passed quickly down the street and
across the bridge.
That night q typesetter going home
late from the Office saw = woman dit
by him in the moonlight and crouch
,, down in the shadows of the PRISONS
wall. He, too, crossed over and waited,
, hidden by the darkness
BY and by the crouching figure arose,
q pebble ratified against the window
: overhead, and Joe's face appeared be-
hind the bars, all lit mp in the moon.
light
us it you, Ninita?" he said
.It is !. my Jose, she answered soft.
ly. in her sweet-voiced Spanish rs
there no other way?'
mo other way, he said, quietly. 81
am ready"
Holy mother of God intercede for
thee and me-" she prayed, kneeling and
crossing herself.
"Amcn," came Joe's deep-voiced re.
sponse.
Pull yourself up by the bars, my
Jose, that may not touch your beau
tiful face, and close your beautiful lids
that l may not look into your dear
eyes"
He did ~ she had hidden him, hold.
ing on to tho stout bars lam ready"
he said.
"Adios. my jose"
.Adios, my Ninita."
She put her hand to her bosom. there
was little CLEAN of steel in the moon.
light, pistol shot rang out clear and
sharp on the night air, and the woman
turned and fed into the darkness
The released hands loosed hold Of
the bars above, there was . heavy fall
upon the floor within and Mexican Joe
| was free Times
Amoxoolon WO0oo.
The Sudees are . band of African
women who have gone TO India in great
numbers, and have found employment
as stokers and sailors on the steam r.
plying locally in the East Indian
waters. They are noted for their
strength and also for their turbulence,
but they do with apparent ease work
that often is too much for the hardest