The Penn's Grove record., 1895-08-02

group Of miners who, with jssts and
leers, Ind met hsr suPphnhtiuns fo1
charity.
sect out of thisI" one shouted.
1--WE have had enough of you-"
she's so. plenty Of money" cried
smother.
"weArs diamonds il the ctr
sneered q third.
"Get outi No beggars AIlowedir
they all shouted
"Muerte q los gringosi" repeated
the woman, with e shrek which would
have chilled the blood Of mel unused
to her vicious ways. The crowd pushed
and iostled her, and laughed at hs1
m~urderous de~nunciAtion.
Manager France, of the Bull Do
mingo, heard the disturbance between
the miners and the miserable old wo-
man as he came up the gulch.
"Here, my good woman" said he,
''here are two silver dollars. You had
better not stay around here" he
added, kindly, as she took the money
and called blessings upon his generous
soul. "The men, are not used to giving
aims, and they will only treat you I'M.
Kindly"
"He'd a better be savin' them tive
dollars to help out the payroll Of thu
Bull Domingo" remarked q saloon.
keeper, who had been keeping . slsse
for nearly three months for the 90.
eommodation Of workmen on that
property.
"It's q woman as always breaks q
suckers heart" urged q miner. And
then the crowd fell to discussing the
material affairs OF a camp, and for a
time forgot the Mexican woman who
occasionally came up from Durango
on a begging expedition.
Sonora Rosalina Ortiz oncs enjoyed
Q happy homo in the City Of Mexico,
her birthplace. She had all the OPP
%portunities Of education, both in
Spanish and English, and in her early
married life had travelled much. But
misfortune came to her in the death
Of her husband and two of their three
children, after the loss of all the prop.
orty 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 undoing,
and when the Colorado mining fever
Allied the mountains with fortune
seekers OF high andlow degree, Sonora
Ortiz drifted to Durango. She had
sunk so low in vice and crime that
she was accounted we'll fitted for any
thing from begging and petty thiev-
ting, even to the cutting of . throat.
She was married to q hardened char
acter known as 'Robber Dan," an
American whose life both in and out
Of the penitentiary was q series Of
misdeeds. He had earned his title as
Ihe had earned herS They were well
mated In their criminal careers,
though the woman thus far had known
no more of prison life than is afforded
by county jails.
The i~ll-treatment she had received 81
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
silver SO kindly bestowed by John
France, Bpt. since she wa, not likely
" death to all-save her own ACE
md equally incapacitated to insure the
blessings which she had invoked,
aeithsr her curses nor her prayers
ssre needed. However, none who
knew her had any faith in Black RcsA's
possession Of good viii toward anyone
u American or European blood.
Even Robber Dsn'smale companions
h crime who formed the most no.
Lorious and daring band OF robbers in
Southern Colorado-did not escape
he vindictive spirit of Black Rosa.
But the woman was useful TO them
and. when plentifullY supplied with
drink, there was no crime. too black
Toe her wicked heart, nor scheme too
deep for her cunning brain. II she
possessed a single redeeming trait. no
sne had been able to discover it
Durango was ablaze with the glory
Of frontier life-s glory which comes
but once in the lifetime Of o new town.
But there was then little regard felt
Tor the future by the fortune-hunters
who swarmed the streets and filled up
the hotels and held high revelry in
The saloons and dance halls Of that
sew camp.
Honest men with capital, seeking to
double their investments in a fort.
pight, stood on the same level Of asso.
station with the horse thiss and tho