Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-09-04
Story Of a.Western Encch Arden.


Sonora Jacksons bare little kitchen was
aglow with light and warmth. and the Sc
nora herself, baking tortillas for Joses
supper, was gay as a tropic bird in the
gorgeousness of her attire. AS for Jose,
he sat ON the doorstep in the moonlight.
hrmming love songs and enjoying the
oddor of the chile con carne, which float
ed out from the kitchen
The woman at her work chartered gay
ly with the man on the doorstep, Eer
strong, white teeth cleaning with fire.
quent laughter. A handsome woman of
buxom figure, and full, sensual lips, with
childs boundless capacity for happiness
and childs unthinlxing enjoyment of
the moment, her emotions lay upon the
surface, sounding no depths of love or
nate. She was very happy tonight, for
Jose was in good humor, which was not
an occurrence so frequent as to escape
notice. Jose had an overweening fond
ness for mescal and aguardiente and the
depth of his potations gagged the level of
Marla's happiness. Jose was a 1.-the
wiry fellow, with doubtfully handsome
tace-keen, black eyes, too near together
and thin, eager lips with a canine curl at
the corners. Maria had learned to look
for certain cruel CLINT in the eyes and a
restless twitching of the lips That was
the danger mark. Beyond it lay the NAL
Ice of fiend, inscrutable, irresponsible;
likely to find vent in anything, from the
wasp stings of bitter words to the angry
thrust of knife
But tonight he was gay, and Maria was
glad. When the tortillas were ready she
called him cheerily to come and eat Jose
sprang to his feet, and snapping<his fin
gers like castanets, tripped lightly across
the floor in graceful exaggeration of the
bolero, while Maria, standing beneath a
string of bright, red chiles, hung from
the rafters to dry, laughed until her
shadow on the whitewashed wall assumed
fantastic shapes They were very merry
over their frugal meal which they ate
with the greediness of those to whom life
is not prodigal of pleasures Jose's hand
went forth often beneath the table and
Grew out the wine jug, which grew much
lghter as the meal progressed. Jose felt
that the saints smiled upon him, and he
'laughed to himself as one who hugs a
pleasant secret to his breast. But the
laugh mad a sinister ring, as Maria noted
obviously.
And as they ate and made merry Fate.
wearing the guise of a feeble, half-naked
-'' 'Atii ioAS, uHliuy IdlF anu De3fu,
gaunt frame, and trembling limbs, was
stumbling toward them through the
greasewood and cactus, with staring, hol-
low eyes. His hot brain seethed with bit
ter thoughts of them, and his cold heart
knew no relenting. For over a year he
had been lying in Jail at Ensenada this
man-lying there without trial, in
damp, noisome cell, fighting the fever
and the rats, and he an American. The
blight of the Jail was still upon him, and
he shivered, although the night was soft
He was footsore and weary with his so
mile tramp across country; the cholla had |
torn his limbs and the "Turk' s-head'
pierced his feet |
But he held straight on with steady |
purpose and stumbling haste. His mind, |
eddyng wildly about one central thought. |
faced now the future, now the past Cod, |
what had he not Suffered!-he, Dan'l |
Jackson from the state of Maine an |
American of the Americans. He chung |
tenaciously to these facts. He felt his |
identity slipping from him, and himself |
hurled, an avenging fate, upon the OBJ |
Jects of his hatred. He thought he must |
be going mad, and stroye to hold himself |
together by mentally rehearsing the past. |
Ten years before, he had left his home |
on Passmaquaddy bay, and sought wealth |
in the placer mines of Mexico. He had
been more successful than many of his
fellows, had STRUCK it RICH" in fact, and
at last, drifting into Tia Juana in the
course of his idle wanderings, he fell in
love with the place and with Maria, the
only daughter of old Ramon Garcia, He
could have had the girl for the asking
and without the formality of wedlock, for
old Ramon's eyes glittered at the Ameri-
cans obvious wealth and the girl loved |
finery better than anything except fat
terry. But there fingered some trace of |
the old Puritan stock in Danl Jackson's |
veins, and he married the girl before |
justice; which was no marriage at all
from her Catholic point of view, but
hard and fast enough from his. They |
had been happy, too; for Jackson left no |
wish of Maria's ungratfied, and she sang
ike lark from morn till night. AS for |
jackson, he cared for the girl only, and |
made few friends among the Mexicans
70 one man, however-Jose Ruiz-he took
a superficial liking for Maria's sake. Jose
and Maria had grown up together, and
Jose had been as much a part of old Gar
cia's household as of his fathers, Just
across the arroyo. He seemed to jack
without thought beyond absorbing as
much sunshine and mescal as daylight
and his purse-or Jackson's-would admit |
Then came, close upon the honeymoon,
JacksonS trip to Ensenada, to look after
certain mining interests there, his quarrel
with an official with a pull" and-the
jail. He had laughed, little bitterly, to
be sure, when he first looked out through
the narrow, grated window of his cell
He had committed no crime and would
soon be set free. True, he knew men
who had been imprisoned in Mexico with
out trial for months, or even years. But
the letter he had written to the United
States government would set him right
Jose, too, was using his influence with
certain powerful relatives, and all would
soon be we'll For long time he was
buoyed up by these hopes, but, as the
months rolled by and release did not
come, he fell sick from anxiety and al
most succumbed to the fever. At last he
had no strength to struggle or even hope,
and would have hanged himself to his cell
bars but for love of Maria.
Then, in the thirteenth month of his i'm
prisonment, the door of his cell opened
and man was thrust ina Mexican and
q murderer, who crouched all day long in
the cell corner, smoking cigarettes. He
was little better than a brute and his
manner repealed Jackson, who said little
to the new conner. But two men can not
live together thus-they must speak to
oaI klA,, Rall L