The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1895-01-05

mounted had plainly been ridden fast
and far. He was covered with sweat
and dust; his nostrils worked convul-
siyely with his short, fierce breathing
and showed he was near the limit OF
his endurance. But the pair on his
back drew off our attention at once
from the animal Although was
acquainted with the Mexicans up and
down tho river from the ranch for
miles, they were both of them
strangers to me. The man was a
sinewy, good-looking, olive-colored
young fellow. with bold eyes and
slight black down just appearing on
his lip. He wore the customary enor-
nous high-crowned hat, the short en-
broidered leather jacket and the skim
tight. pantaloons with broad stripes
running down them, into which the
youthful Mexican, when he desires to
look particularly spruce, manages by
some inscrutable process to insert his
limbs. The woman, or rather the girl,
for she could not have been more than
fourteen or fifteen years of age, was
riding in front of him. She was de-
cidedly a pretty creature, and was
rather In state of deshabille com
pared with the smartcostume of her
companion. e
Her thick, black hair was flying
loose about her face and shoulders and
a bright-colored COTTON gown, but
toned in two or three places across her
bosom, bali revealed and half con-
cealed that she was a woman in form
If she was but q child En- years. One
knee was crooked over the horn of the
saddle and her scanty dress, drawn up
by her position, afforded us liberal
view of a pleasing foot and ankle,
quite innocent of the conventional
shoe and stocking.
The young fellow refined in his horse
| in front of us, and, taking off his great
hat, said, politely, in the. Spanish
tongue, after giving us the usual
greeting: 81
"Senores. do you wish to DO ms the
favor of giving the sonora little OF
water to drink"
Edgeworth handed the young w oman
| u
stood in the shade of the porch and
she drank it off seemingly quite un-
abashed at the simplicity of her attire.
] The youth declined any water, saying
that they were in great haste and,
with .muchas gracias, adios, senores,' =
drove spurs into his jaded pony and
went off to the south as fast as he had
come. e iiasF
Billings took his pipe from his
mouth and watched the couple vanish
in the dust and mesquite brush.
'I'll bet" he said, that's runaway
ma, oh"
Th;. seemed plausible hypothesis,
.nd we cell to wondering where they
ha;,ed fro ~. Edgeworth, who knew
the country better than any of US,
Id bs had lever seen the man be-
fore, ).
.somehow seems, familiar to me- Let
me seer be conti med. RESPECTIVELY, ad
Dressing his query to nobody in par
t;cnIsr, .'doesn't she belong to old Dor
Mauric;vs hacienda, mp tnere 'ns
other side 81 the arroyo San 1uanI =
she is a daughver Of tie Ola aon nm
self. / am pot Surprised at the hurry
that the chap seef:ss 70 b. (, H.
recollected Don MAJ IA
place was twenty miles mp the river
He was a wealthy old fellow IS Mex
cans go, owned large tract o. lan'
and fiocks and herds, and ruied I've
his medieros and pastures in "a. ~
patriarchal fashion. We had paie
him q Visit the year previous on some
stock business. but had no reeotiec'
ton of seeing this girl at that time.
Edgeworth's memory or has power o.
observation was better.
While we were talking abont our Wis
itors, we had brought the heysss IRON
the corral and saddled up. Tonnf
Hensley decided to go with Us, ana W.
left Billings behind Ito hold down. tns
ranch" in frontier phrase, until OF
return. The road we took was the
same by which the runaways had gone.
We had presently forgot the romantic
apparition of the morning and hao
drifted into the usual staple of stock
mems talk--the drought, the low price
of beef cattle and the exorbitant rail
way charges, and, warming with the
congenial theme, were pronouncing
general anathema upon the big buy
ers, when we heard the sounds OF fast
ridden horses behind MS. The tramp
ing OF our own animals and the lout
chatting of our leather leggings agains
the saddles had prevented us from
hearing the approach of the riders be
hind us until they were close upon us
and as we turned in our saddles to SCI
. who they were Edgeworth had hardl.
time to 'exclaim: Don Mauricio, as
livep' before they had overtaken us.
/, There were two of them. One wa
/ evidently shepherd or vaquero of tn
, ordinary type; the other, as Edge
worth had guessed, was the old Do
| himself t sl.ii.s 4s.t