Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-07-18
SOFT BLACK EYES.

ped out for himself, may mako or mar ii !!
learned all this and moro one Sultry May
day in Mexico five years ago.
had been sent To Mexico as chief Of q
surveying corps to establish the boundaries
of the Santa Anita grant, which lay along
the Rio Caro- just outside the city Of Chi
huahua 1t was u responsible position for
young man, and held my head high.
1t was tho day OF La Fiesta dc San Qua
dalupc Tho saint himself had been dead,
l understood, several hundred years, but
in Mexico that doesn't make any differ
ence The longer folks are dead there tho
moro they seem to be Thought ot and the
bigger u birthday party they have. Almost
every other week contains the feast day"
of some dead saint or saintcSS. and trade
and commerce are suspended to do the oc-
caSion Justice, The natives of Mexico arc
the most pcrcnnially pious people ON earth.
Why, | have known thcm--mon in my own
employ-to be ST cnthuscd over the pos.
thumouS birthday of Sumr long dead saint
that they would get up in the gray dawn
To 60 about celebrating IT, This morning,
the morning of Guadalupc's feast day, the
whole force of poems under mo had struck
No chainmcn, no tiagmcn, no aNlncn were
American assistants, Staid behind When
began abusing them for the customs of
Mexico, they said while they did not care
even rcrAtcly for tho saint to whom 1t
was dedicated, still they were glad II was
up stream and fish awhile. They We're
only Indifferent laymcn, without any re
ligious feeling
When was left alone III camp l spent
short time on my field notes, when II
came over me that | was wasting tho day.
just outside the chaparral the river was
laughing and murmuring in the open. IL
seemed to ask mo To walk beside It, The
adobe huts along its banks were tenant
less their inmates had gone to the feast
But, strange sight, there Mt the bond OF
the river where the waters were the mcr-
ricst was solitary worker, and whatever
it was she WAS doing, she was doing II
with vim. a dark eyed dark haired,
dark shawlcd daughter of Spain she
seemed to be, and yet She was working
and working hard--on feast day a
fit of curiosity seized mo to know what she
was doing and why she was doing II.
approached her with the question on my
lips Mt what did she work, and por kay Il
spell it as | said iD, Softly She raised IA
pair Of melting orhS and swcctly and clio.
qucntly She answered me- From her reply,
in the most musical language in the world,
gathered that she would be at the fcast,
but that she must cleanse the SOilcd linen
that lay around her ON the sand, for the
owner Of it. "A gentleman who was staying
at the United States hotel, wanted 1t by
noon, and tomorrow would not do (shc
said this plaintivrly) IL ii were not done
by noon, She finished most pnthrtcaliy
she would get no diners, and that She
needed in the supcrlatiNC degree. Dinrru'
All, the next most potent thing In Mexico
10 saints days is money!
AS her red lips told me this, her great
black eyes wandered from the soilrd
clothes at her feet to the spires of the "a
thcdral in the distance and the waving
foliage of the plaza where the fcastng and
mcrrymaking were going on, There was
u look of sadness and longing in them aS
she gazcd Being II tender hearted man,
asked her If there was aught could do for
her In wonderful mixture of Anglo
Spanish. which invented while in Mex
leo, and which no one could ever master
but myself | assured her was nj her srrv.
ice If she SO desired and asked how could
assist her
The black eyes flashed gratitude ere tho
scarlet mouth said, in silycry sweet tones,
"Would you sit on n rock beside me and rub
the shirts Of the gentleman on "A large rock
with very smnll rock"
Looking back now in the Eight Of ma
turcr wisdom, can see that should have
declined that job on the grounds that it
Ih.,ti, Ilttt n Ia -,
the contrary, accepted ii cifusivcIy.
There was touch Of romance about It
that appealed to mc-the day itself began
to appeal to me for the first time began
to feel something Of the enthusiasm for
feast days that hnd taken my men out be
fore daybrcak ] would not be so hard ON
them again, thought Truly 1t was n
very pretty custom, and began to sympa
thize with it and to understand it better
II San Guadalupe had not been so long in
TERED, in the Rladncss of my heart would
have sent him "a bouquet. All this ! tried
to conflde to Lucia II touched her. it
sounded, she said, like stories She had read
in the convent.
Her name was "A poem In itsclf-LuCia
Eulalia Gracia Y valdez. And miney After
that poem il seemed common to say that I
was plain Jack Biggs But she anticipat-
ed me. She pointed to ono Of my business
cards that had escaped my vest pocket
when threw II on the sand "Mccstcr
Beegs que nos" She lisped, and 1t did not
sound At all badly from her lips
II was pleasant 10 know she did not dis.
like my name This was one way Of say
ing, as everybody knows that It's owner
was not disagrecablc to her
As We talked we washed. and long be
fore noon the gentleman shirts were all
floating in the breeze from the low chapar,
raj along the river bank
Lucia Eualia glanced gratefully and al
ternatcly nt the snowy linen and at me My
natural thoughtfulncss led me TO suggest
that W. might ~ well do the family wash
ing while we were about IT, Her brother
Antonio the sheep hcrder, whom she had
mthtiJn- with sisterly afection-did not
his things have need Of water There
is no time like the present said 1T
may set in tomorrow and rain for months
Who kngwsY
Lucia Eulalia looked at the contradict.
ing blue Of the skies and laughed Mt my
weather prophcsies, but she ran 10 her
adObe dwelling q few rods away and
brought from IL bundle Of Antonios
Hthtnus - They had aUuarpnfty baen