Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1896-01-07

| tenant rode i'm advance, and when at
the end!of M hour he reached the trav-
elers fobnd them stalled in big drift
La s{nora. dressed in long riding
habit atd swathed in extra wraps, had
found il impossible to maintain her seat
a. her pony plunged and struggled in
the drift She had repeatedly fallen and
had rem nIounted with great difficulty, re-
| quiringlthe aid OF both her attendants.
After hIr last fall she had attempted to
wade through on foot but the snow and
fierce, .!sarching wind had chilled her
struggling Hmbs. and she had become
quite hilpless.
Whal the officer reached her. she gath
cred thb cape Of her cloak about her
| face 10 Ihiold herself from observation.
as she lad always done since he first
met he'll at Los Ojos Frios. With the
| assistaife Of tho soldiers he bore her to
| the sled and placed her in the blankets
and stnlw, with the warm stones dis
posed a bout her. He was gathering the
| blankctk about her shoulders when ho
heard al half suppressed sob and felt her
form tr!,Wble with emotion.
II al sorry for your disappointment,
| sonora, \ said Raymer. lyon will have
10 be my guest for little time longer,
and the b ! will myself see that you are
safely 4 ht Of the valley"
Rayi ier then ordered that the Ing
gage bclplaced ON the sled and the re-
turn to lamp begun. The wind was now
in the fIlces Of the detachment The
snowy :tteedles cut the flesh exposed TO
| them, slnd before the ride was ended the
frost hall nipped a few noses and ears.
Arrived in the parade, the lieutenant
dismou3ted and proceeded to offer as
sistance| TO the lady, but she held the
blankcu about her face and called:
AN Inio! Where is Antonio!'
The Clficer looked around for the two
MexicaJs and noticed for the first time
that the were not with him.
"Whl lre are the lady's men, Corporal
Sulliva5F' h. asked in some surprise
'ThcE did not return with us, SIR
replied he corporal They went in the
oppOsit direction.
"Wht ! did you not tell me what they
were dcl lng:"
II bCS pardon, sir, but thought the
l.eutena II saw all that saw. was the
reply
Rayp r turned TO the lady, who was
still bur I'd IN the depths Of her blankets.
''Scnl lra, " he said, II regret to tell |
you thai both your attendants have left |
the VAIL y and have taken your animals |
with thI III. You will be- Obliged 10 re-
main a. !!,no short time unless you Will |
accept tlc service of ono of the laun- |
dress daughters You shall have tho |
attendaicc Of my servant also. and l
will sen|l you TO Jemez with an escort |
the firsI pleasant day.
No rIply was made 10 this, only q
silent effort 10 rise, TO which the lieu
tenant Int his aid. and the Sonora Vie |
ia moy ld slowly and feobly into her
cabin, lld her luggage was passed in |
after heI Later i'll the day she address |
cd n!te TO ''El Senor Teniente, El |
Cuman6bnte de Los Wales Grandcs
TranslaI cd il read rs follows:
"DEAk SIR-Pardon me for not ex. |
pressing in person my thanks for the con-
tinuod i!inducsS you have shown me dur |
ing the asst few days. assure you that |
apprecl latc il and am grateful hoped |
10 have tucceedcd in leaving today and |
thus rel leyc you Of further care on my |
account accept your offer of attend |
ance, bit request that neither the laun |
dress nCb J her daughters shall visit me. |
II your!soryant will leave at my door |
food and such other articles as l may |
ueed, /! will be- all that l require. !
khould need anything more | will |
write toI you. think my attendants |
@ill reJch Jemez tomorrow, and my |
relatiyeI III Padre Gutierrez of thas |
place, Y bill come for me Immediately
There was no signature. Raylner was
puzzled by the writer's pcrsistency in |
refusing all aid except what was barely |
necessary 10 enable her to live. aud also |
at her Anxiety TO conceal her face Ali |
was so different from what he would |
have EXPECTED from an American wom-
an that 10 attributed it to Spanish edu-
cation aid home training AS she was
an old woman he thought her nnneces-
sarily sqfeamish in holding herself so
CAREFUL / secluded Writing her short
note in (which he assured her that her
wishes should bo respected, he resumed
the usual routine of duty and amuse-
ment.
The following day, the wind having
somewhat subsidized, the mules We're at
tached n the bob, and Raymer accom-
panied g be fatigued party to the forest
to show the men how to load logs Ill
lumbernlan style. Day after day for
nearly alweek he continued this super
vision, filing the woodward with dry
pitch pide logs 10 be sawed and split
into fuel in preparation for the block
ade expet tted in February and March.
During dhis time no one arrived from
Jemez ol elsewhere except the weekly
military |couriers from Santa Fe.
At thd end of the week and for sew
eral dayE succeeding Raymer noticed
whenever he returned from the forest
to his cabin that it appeared to be IN
better or|ler than usual There was a
neater arrangement Of rugs and furs,
and the articles on the mantel We're
more tastefully disposed. His center ia
BILE was IN order His letters and papers
were gathered into bundles and tied
with taIf.
1t bec1me interesting to watch these
gradual improvements, and he wondered
that his, old soldier servant had not
earlier developed this taste for order.
When Chin came in to prepare dinner
one day, Raymer said:
"You hrc improving in the care OF my
quartersl Cain. They look very neat. F."
"It's hot me, sor. that's improvin
'em. It'll the Saynyora vayher.
"Whatl"
"The build Teddy, sor. She comes In
and radls the liftinint's books ev'ry
marnin fhen he goes to the woods 7"
..Theil you have seen her face, Caln?'
"Not ! glimpse of it, sor. She comes
over aftE get through me work and
lave. Icame back onct for somethin.
but she lot sight nv me through the
windy aid wint AVA before l rached
the durel''
"Does|she come every day."
"Sinc,I foiye days back, sor. She sits
by the windy and layes whin she says
the liftiI|int returnin. !"
Raym,Ir asked few more questions,
and afte| Cain had gone took more