Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-01-04
THE MUGGL

Querterac, guard1ngth Ia entranCotO a val
ley. On the right and left the noun
tains, broken for o space, resume their
monotonous, intending chain. Querterac
"a q small old fashioned town that was
once fortified II is difficult Of access
and has aDout G., 600 inhabitants
On the neiighcoring mountains, re-
garded as neutral, has gathered a popu-
lation as doubtful IN morality as In ma
tionality-a confused mixture Of Gas
-coas, Basques end C~atalonians, whose
chief occupations are highway robbery
and smuggling.
About the middle Of the present CEN
fury cholera was devastating Spain, It
ally and France.
In the country and in the towns thoro
was a cessation from the activities Of
life. The inhabitants barricaded them
selves in vain against the invisible enc
my, which glided treacherously through
half opened doors, locks and unsuspect-
ed openings In roofs and walls. In
Quertorac, q victim from the first day,
nothing could DO seen but deserted
streets and houses closed from top to
bottom. Those who fell in the public
squares had no assistance, for pity was
dead through fear. The civil authori-
ties were disobeyed and despised as use
less and powerless, no regard being paid
70 tho official notices that were placard-
ed ON the doors and wallis
If fear was great and sel1shness hard
in the city, the country was even more
distracted and cruel If a beggar show
cd himself at the door Of some lonely
farmhouse, he was received with stones
md bullets The dogs were SCI ca him,
and he was maltreated. Perfectly abb
surd stories were circulated among the
country people. They said that cholera
was not SO bad as it was reported to be-
Many people who had seemingly died
Of cholera had really been poisoned by
some enemy, who had drugged the
water or kneaded arsenic into the bread.
In short the people in the valley were
eternally in dread of some hostile ac-
ton on the part Of those ~rascals up
above, " as they called the mixed ace
that dwelt ia the caves and recesses Of
the mountains
The opportunity was a good n for
these mountaineers to plumber the hocks
and property Of those below, but those
rascals up above" never stirred from
their holes. WhyS
Well they also were dying. They
seemed to die in more astonishing pro
portions than elsewhere, and n never
could have believed that there We're 30
many people In those mountains
At Querterao there was considerable
astonishment, for after a fow days the
epidemic began to decrease, but the
m~ouutaineers insisted ON dying. The
townspeople did not understand il, but
they could not help admiring the piety
OF those people above. Every evening
three or four jolting vehicles loaded
with collins and followed by men and
women In mourning descended slowly
through the ravine, entered the village
and passed silently toward the cemetery.
The shadows Of the mournful cortege
In the light Of the glowing fires cast
dark, fantastic pictures ON the walls
The passersby fed at the sight, setzed
with fresh alarm. 1t was over a lonely
route that the procession passed to reach
the cemetery, and those poor wrotches,
those heather, followed their dead TO
their last resting place, when it would
have been so easy to throw the bodies
into the ravines and rivers or to leave
them 70 the wolves and eagles; but no,
those wanderers, those aliens scrupu-
lousy regarded the rites of burial.
The charge Of the custom house at
Quertcrac Is one Of great Importance
and generally falls to q competent Off
Ger. From this point inspectors, going
70 and fro, carefully watch the narrow
valley which Is the only easy entrance
from Spain. During the epidemic death
interrupted the routine Of duty, for on
some days 30 men fell victims TO the
disease, AID the survivors, distracted by
tho panic, neglected their work.
orc man only kept his post, the old
man Valgenod. He always sounded the
final d He was a born custom house
oficor. He belonged to that race. He
could smell q smuggler three hours be-
fore he saw him, and six miles Of a
bale Of tobecco wodld make him meeze.
Night and day he kept ON his rounds,
declaring that it would be an absurdity
for an old custom man 10 die Of the col
Ia as he called the cholera The guards
were increased and Vaigenod went ihe
rounds Of those who did not answer to
their names at roll call. Hewas always
watching the mountain, the lair Of tie
monsters He knew them every ono
those smugglers on whom be had hred
60 often when he had found them proyyl-
ing around tho town ON some dark night
ftAh, said Yalgonod, mot a Of them
shavoa Yes, one perhapG Those follows
20 against my stomach
There was a old man, Father Meri-
tas, q gray bearded gypsy, with whom
ValpeDod had frequently como into con-
TACT md each had q high opinion Of the
elovernoaB Of Che other.
'fValcenodl' said Meritaa "Tbe