The Opelousas courier., 1895-02-23
TWO PIECES OF v
no" They Saved the Life =
Mine Manager.

AbOuTdk NGN ~ thai
n "re possible Trembling IN every
= 1--we, she glared v~iciously, and shoot
long' oony finger in the faces Of tba
s.oup OF miners who with tests and
charity. ''ion Tor
uet out OF this, you black dev,,r,
of you" e"ousn
.n She's got plenty of money" cried
Wears diamonds in the city,
sneered 4 third. WY
Get out! No beegars allowed" thew
all shouted. 'ney
Muerte a los gringos," repeated the
woman, with a shrek which wou1s
nave chilled the blood OF men ,nusaa
20 her vicious ways.
manager France, of the Bull Domin.
CO. a the disturbance between the
miners and the miserable old wo,o.n
as ne came up the gulch
Here, my good woman" said he
mere are two silver dollars. You had
oetter not stay around here" he added.
Sinaly, as she took the none and
called the blessings Of the saints unon
MS generous soul. THE men are not
Used to giving aims, and thew will only
treat you unkindly."
He'd better be savin' them two dol
lars to help out the payroll of the Bnl1
Dom'ngo who has been keeping a slate
Tor nearly three months for the ac.
commodation of workmen on that
property
Tvs woman as always breaks a
suckers heart" urged a miner. And
then the crowd fell to discussing the
material affairs of the camp, and for a
time forgot the Mexican woman who
occasionally came up from Durango on
q begging expedition.
Sonora Rosalina Ortiz onde enioyed a
happy horns In the City of Mexico, her
birthplace. She had all the %opportu-
mites of education, both In Spanish
and English, and in her early married
life had travelled much. But nistor-
tune came to her In the death of her
husband and two Of their three chill
dren, after the loss of all the property
they possessed. They had for several
years made their home in the United
States, where Senior Ortiz had died,
leaving his widow penniless. Poverty
and sin were her undeinE, and when
the Colorado mining fever filed the
mountains with fortune seekers of
high and low degree Sonora Ortiz
drifted to Durango. She had sunk SO
low in vice and crime that she was ae-
counted well fitted for anything from
begging to petty thieving, even to the
cutting of q throat
She vas living as his mistress with a
hardened character known as "Robber
Dan" an American, whose life both in
and out of the p~enitentiary was a
series of misdeeds. He had earned his
title as she had earned hers. They
We're well matched in their criminal ca
reers, although the woman had thus far
known NJ more of prison life than Il
afforded by county jails.f Her only
child, a boy of twelve yeas, had, like
his mother, became q professional beg
CUR and thief.
The i'll treatment she had received
at the hands and tongues of the
miners at Rico had burned into her
soul like q hot iron, though the wound
was largely healed by the soft words
and the silver SO kindly bestowed by
John France. But, since she vas not
likely ever to be able to carry out her
threat of death to all saw her own
race and. equally incapacitated to in
sure the blessings of the saints which
she had Invoked, neither her curses
nor her prayers were needed. How
ever, none who knew her had any
faith In Black Rosa's possession of
goodwill toward any one of American
or European blood.
Even Robber Dan and his male com
panions In crime-who formed the
most notorious and daring band Of
robbers In southern Colorado-did not
escape the vindietive spirit OF Black
Rosa. But the woman was useful to
them, and when plentifully supplied
with drink there was no crime too
black for her wicked heart nor scheme
too deep for her cunning brain. II
she possessed q single redeeming trait
no one had been able to discover 1t.
Durango had been ablaze with the
glory of frontier life-a glory which
comes but once in the lifetime of a
new town. But there was then little
regard felt for the future by the for
tune hunters who swarmed the streets
and filled up the hotels and held high
reyelry in the saloons and dance halls
Of that camp.
Honest men with capital, seeking to
double their investments in q fort
night. stood on the same level OF Is
sociation with the horse thief and
the road agent. Mine promoters and
drank owe the same bar.
The crack of the stage drivers whip
was but the echo Of the pistol shot.
conversations and ribald
songs, laughter and curses Inter-
mingled In q wild hurrah chorus.
John France stood leaning with his
back against the end OF the bar In the
attached to the leading hotel
Of the town. His hands were thrust
into the side pockets of his sack coat,
while his face bore q puzzled look.
John frances handkerchief was miss
That was mere incident, yet he
to look puzzled.
"Goina back to the mine in the morn
[nr?" asked the clerk OF the. hotel Q
later, ss France approached
desk and asked for writing ma
terial.
Eyes, surels
ttStaRe leaves at two o'clock
aWeIl, call me q half hour earlier,
- acn,t far v0nr head. let me miss