The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-05-16

could be found in Mexico. 1t was our
joint misfortune to fall in love with the
same woman-Mercedes, the daughter
Of old Homobono Paral.
You are married. l said to him half
joking one day, and ! am not. | have
the right to my side!
But might is on mine he answered
smiling good naturally, and you know
that IN TINS country might is right
But 1t is not love" ! retQrted. i
have my right and her love. too. So
your might will not help you much in
this case'-fool that | was,
II remember the quick start that hs
gave, and his sarcastic emphasis as he
said very slowly:
'Ah, Soils, you Mercedes loverr The
suddenly changing the conversation, he
asked for certain papers, and gave me
instructions rs to what answers | should
send; then he left the room After he
had gone | sat down to write; but our
conversation had made too deep an i'm
preston. / began to fear the CONSEQUENT
ces. l wanted to tell Mercedes herself.
so l threw the papers into my desk,
saddled a horse and rode off to Parars
ranch. 1t was not a long ride, but be-
fore it was in sight suddenly my horse
was tripped. | was bound, gagged, and
that night | was carried to an outlying
prison, where | passed the next eight
months. / was not inscribed in my own
name, so it will hence be unknown Off
cially that Eraclio Soils lived behind bars
"a remote satisfaction, to be sure! 1t
was not until long after my kidnapping
that my jailer told me that | was accused
OF robbing the State Treasury and the
Governors private safe; my whereabo
were unknown, but it was supposed that
| had left the country with the. money.
Finally | was tried in secret session Of
the court. OF course, | was found quill
ty, and as | was sentenced by default,
my mothers estates were confiscated to
repaythe Governor first, and the State
afterward, out of what was left. 1t
all mattered very little to me, however,
for while l was imprisoned my poor
mother had died-of grip l was told
Mercedes had disappeared, not even
Homobono had been able to find her. |
did not give up all hope Of finding her
until a month later; but then | learned
it was all oversize had died. and insane.
''Eraclo stopped short, but his face
expressed more than any word could
have done. 1t revealed such capacity for
suffering, that i turned away; to watch
his face seemed an impertinence.
HE lighted another cigar presently,
and said:
'Senor. was alone in the world, poor,
dishonOred, without ties or obligations
Of any kind and burned to revenge my
for an eye and tooth for atooth'
There was my weakness, senior A
greater man would even then have for
gotten personal wrongs and remembered
only nobler purposes, but prison life ex-
erts the most demoralizing influence;
good man may come out OF it as good
man still, but his goodness is nOlonger
power, it is merely latent, useless
quality, not to say a weakness-even
that is the exception rather than the
rule. A strong man usually becomes
bad man, and bad man grows worse.
So it was with me-my vitality, my en-
ergy and strength were neither broken
nor impaired, but with only bad influ-
ences around me, | became a leader of
bad men. Revenge was my only thought,
my only dream. my aim and purpose in
life. In that prison | planned my sub
sequent career, and formed the nucleus
of my present band Of brigands''
You may have heard Of our escape?
1t was dynamite-horrible So bloody
that the people realized that family
of human tigers had broken loose. and
that the public afety was endangered.
Still, senior, it was sometime before /
began my work of revenge, for | did
not feel 1 could rely on my men in an
emergency-as for myself | was lack
ing in GOODNESS, nerve and the practice
of cruelty. which | knew | should need
in the future. SO, for two years, l did
no more than rob coaches, raid a ranch
or two, and fight the soldiers sent out
against us by our former chief. He was
no longer Governor when he heard of
our escape, and knowing that he had a
dangerous foe in me, he fled to the CAPT
tai. When | was ready-not so very
long since-SI raided and destroyed his
one after another, and in such
quick succession that there was no time
to prepare defenseS. | killed his men,
drove off his cattle burned his haciendas
and wrecked his mines. until on the verge
of ruin, he was obliged to come here
himself and attempt the rescue OF his
property. Then l tracked him from
place to place. Finally 1 captured him at
the Descanso. For years, Don Juan, |
had exercised all my ingenuity in plan
ming new, unheard OF, monstrous tor
lures for this man. but when we were
alone, face to face in the big hall of the
rancho house-when, after all these
years, / saw him in my power-this man
whom l hated with every fibre Of my be-
ing when it flashed over me what /
might have been but for him, what | was
because of him, by God, senior, l burst
into tearsv'
Soils paused a moment. He drew his
hand over his forehcad-he had been
talking vehemently-bis face was quiv-
almost Immediately he stood
up and said: II shot him down like cur!'
He walked away to the end OF the
porch. He stood there so long that /
turned to see whether he had gone. No;
he was apparently watching the men
who were harnessing the mules. When
he came back all traces of emotion had
disappeared, but he looked at me as if
ne expected me to say something. | did
not know what to say, and he sat down
again opposite me.