New-York tribune., 1895-08-18
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Absolutely Pure.
Absolutely Pure

Then there was profound silence.
The position was delicate one Tor all parties.
The fingers of my right hand rested upon the hit
of my revolver. and my eyes were liked with
great steadfasness upon the centre button OF the
foremost cowboys coat. 1t was. therefore. pat
ent that I meant business On the other hand,
7 had two men against me more heavily armed
than myself probably better shots. and excited
with whskey so that was not happy or conf
dent at all and not in the least inclined to begin.
At last the man nearest to me observed in an
off hand but sober voice:
Located here. capan?'
Yes"
FOR the nisht?'
Yes"
Taken your own quarters"
mo. Come by invitation
Alone"
so? Well, well, then guess TIL get down.
En- Jos?'
He made a movement toward slipping from
his horse. but his eye never swerved from my
right hand which now tfembled visbly
bent forward slightly. and drawing, my re-
volver a few inches from its sheath, laid my
left hand upon the handle OF my knife.
There's very decent camping place two
miles further on" said slowly.
The cowboy hesitated. and turned to his COM
panion. A few words passed between them.
which could not hear; then my friend re-
marked in mild and patronizing tone, with
out dismounting:
"Are YOU buster young man.
mot as rule. But there's not room for
more than one white man in the Ponil to-
night"
1--WE guess there is. though"
"Then t'll he your own luncfal'
Another pause. | began to find breathing a
Ia ahorious business and made the unpleasant
discovery that both rv hands qulverlng
In peculiar ana distressing why.
longsd for the struggle 10 begin if II was
to come bt ali. yet knew that my only chance
lay on keeping strictly on the defensive.
Again The cowboy turned to hs compa MON.
ana some communication pn nEEed between them
which could not hear, Then he settled him
rn "a
his borse win tranquil good night paced
away followed by his ffirnd, hh chfclehHly M "
such had been his intention from the begihning'
The moment that The departure ~ the cow
boys became an established fact, ! WAS sur
rounded by Mexicans all iabt"ring ri once,
and wrngng my hands until my arms were
In danger Of dislocation
1t was in vain that | laughed and tried to
explain that If had done less than help them
10 defend the homestead ! should have been
the most despicable coward a'ive. Their en-
thusiasm was boundcss. and presently ! saw
the big door open wide, and sonora and her
family coming toward me. This made me
desperate, and | begged fervently to be al
lowed To go 10 rest. procession Of all the
men and boys in the place was then formed
and | was conducted with prodigious state to
a little cabin. higher up the HILL where a
spacious and comfortable bed had been pre-
pared for ms"
/ soon fell asleep for a mattress stuffed with
wool is softer than sheo pskins. Of which my
bed generally consisted but the excitement Of
the evening caused me to sleep more lightly
a
scrapng sound outside the door awakened me
fully. | cooked my revolver. and creeping
stealthily to the door. opened IL smartly. A
dark object was lying at my feet across the
threshold 1t moved. and became a Mexican
rolled in a blanket. The man smiled when he
me. and sat up.
"All well. senior Pistoa wanted. now
Ne by door Sancho under window pointing
TO another dark object close by-"you quite
safe. Bueno nochc senior Sleep well,'
He lay down again. and rearranged his
n nlot cd luf a and W. uf
back TO bed Miguel was right. No man In
America was safer than that night.
l did not wake again until dawn. when
arose from my bed with the appetite of a
shark. What should get for breakfast? :?
Perhaps they had given us short commons the
night before so that we should the more APP
precate substantial meal in the morning
/ was received with beaming smiles at the
casa That was very nice | felt vaguely that
had my knowledge OF Spanish been more ex
tensive. ] might have enjoyed very pleasant
conversation with the sehorid. AS II was. I
could only murmur inaudibly in answer 10 a
pretty speech she made me- and grin in rather
ghastly manner. II was relief when she
trpped away, and began to lay the table MY
heart beat with excitement FIRST came cup
OF coffee; that was good. The coffee had been
excellent the evening before Then came
plate. very much cracked In the middle with
nothing on II; then piece of bread. borne in
the senorta's fair fingers: then She
looked at me and smiled. What did this mean :?
Good Heavens, it meant that breakfast was
laid and that the very small cup OF coffee and
moderate slice Of very nasty bread all
that | should get. I did not speak. but
looked at the sehorta so severely that the
tears sprang to her eyes. and she ran away.
Then | sat down. and gloomily munched the
slice of bread and drank the coffee. Jose APP
parently. took his breakfast with his family
that morning ] did not him. My break
fast-if it can be called breakfast-hnished'
| went outside to look for my mare. She
was close by the door. hold by Mexican boy
and ready saddleG. From the way her neck
judged that she had Jared decidedly better than
her master. discovery which made me relent a
little. ! mounted quickly. and turned 10 look for
Jose. He had followed me from the inner room
where he had beer with his family during
breakfast time. ard now, gripping my hand
said. with downcast eyes and in husky tone
which made me heartily ashamed OF myself:
"Adios. sefor We so sad to feel you eat
80 little; we are very very poor. and have no
more than bread to give to-day But another
time will have plenty, and you can never
come too often 10 La Ponil. or stay too long. Do
not forget 1 speak for all We wish you we'll
most well Goodby."-(Arthur Peterson in