Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1897-06-09
4 DESIGNING lULClNEA


Manuel Terreno sat in his Office, over
looking the plaza. in an unamiable frame
of mind His cigarette burned slowly to-
ward the enclosing fingers as he thought
bitterly of the little sign on the door,
with 'licenciadO" following his name. lie
had come to San Marco six months be-
fore, hopeful and with q little money.
His three remaining dollars ratified duly
against each other, emphasizing his lack
of clients.
The alcalde, Influenced at first by a let
ter commencing Manuel to his favorable
notice, had thrown some business IN MS
way; an invitation to dinner had followed.
Fortune seemed about to smile, When the
inevitable woman put IN an appearance.
Julia. the alcalGe's daughter, saw lit to
approve Of Manuefs personal appearance
and made up her mind, with that CELEBRITY
and thoroughness which thirty years OF
maidenhood give, that only IN him were
united those qualities necessary 10 make
her happy for life. 1t soon became ap-
parent to him, and later to others. that
he had but to say the word IN order to
obtain wife whose full tale Of years was
carefully concealed by deft use OF pow
der and good judgment in placing the
lights, but who possessed a revenue pro-
ducing hacienda in her own name.
Again, what more delightfully."- easy. way
of building up 4 legal practice could be
imagined than to become son-in law to
the chief judge of the district?
At this stage the matter might mare
been accommodated. Unfortunately, a
second woman must needs indorse Julia, S
good taste in her approval of Manuel by
falling in love with him openly and with
violence This in itself was not neceSsarl-
ly complication. The palpable error
in the affair was that Manuel reciprocal
ed her passion; nor was he less open IN
lnHO n words what
fessed by her bushes. Now, Aulta' Ia
Their was administrator Of JUDAS haclen-
da To prefer to the owner OF the place
the daughter of one whom she chose 10
consider a servant was certainty turning
the knife in the wound. Hesitation was no
part of Julias character, so she prompt
IL rode out and interviewed with terr1fy-
ing force the trembling Anita, but gained
only an avOwal Of cOnstancy to the doup-
" blessed Manuel.
ing q consultation with the alcalde. and at
sight of him her calmness was not re
stored. The fathers confidence IN his
daughters discretion had never Deen
Jared in their thirty years OF companion
ship hence he felt safe in leaving the TWO
together, in response to nod from hef.
Of what passed in the brief ten minutes
Manuel never had a clear remembrance,
but he walked down the street IN a con-
fused state of mind one idea overshadoW-
ing the rest, that of gratitude at having
escaped with his life.
To leave San Marco and worse yet,
Anita. was evidently the proper step. He
he received a letter from the alcalde,
which asked him to come to the palaclo
at his earliest convenience.
4 dozen ideas filled his mind as he
presented himself to the judge and said
he had found it convenient to answer his
20, of
smiled benignantly, and wound up Sc
ries of neat compliments by handing over
to him the defense Of a woman who had
poisoned her lover and whose trial was
set for the next day. Then the truth
dawned on him that he had been COM
missioned to defend a case which adj
mitted of no defense, solely to make has
present unpleasant position less bearable.
His curiosity had taken him to the pre-
liminary examination, and he saw no
point upon which to hang even extenuation
Of the crime. He interviewed the WOm-
an IN the jail, but could get no help from
her. She was not guilty, though she
could offer nothing in support of the
fact She loved her husband-he was her
husband though no priest had joined
them-then why should she wish him
harm? She had nothing more to live
Ter, and would gladly join her husband:
The trial next day was torture for
Manuel. He tried to get the woman to
plead guilty, but she refused. The pub
lie prosecutor brought out the stories of
the several witnesses very cOncisely and
she was sentenced 70 suffer the death
penalty. She had purchased a packet of
strychnine from the druggist, who had
put it up in a red paper tied with a blue
string. Only a small part of the amount
sold by the druggist had been used. The
remainder had disappeared. The WON
an made no denial of any part of the
story, and heard her sentence pronounced
with inattentive ears. The only clue tC
fight on that Manuel could grasp was the
one thin wisp of fact that the package
containing the poison could not be found
He set to work on this, and on the eve
Of the day of execution he not only
learned that the woman's little son had
stolen the bright colored package, but
found the package itself where the child
under the impression that it contained
sugar, had carefully tucked it away in
the kitchen between two adobes, the pa
per slightly torn and a part of the pow
der gone.
1t still lacked a couple of hours of day
light giving ample time to call on the
judge and get postponement Of the exc
cutiOn. With such evidence, he was sure
no difficulty would be encountered
Walking rapidly, his spirits rose as he
fancied himself telling the story in court
and, with true dramatic instinct, bring
ing forward the youthful criminal at the
proper time.
Arrived at the alcalde's house, he was
about to raise the heavy knocker when
he heard a well-remembered voice, "Eres
tn, Don Manuel?"
Drawing back step, he saw the calm
features of Julia in an adjoining window
Eyes it is I. l want to see your faith
eP at Once.''
A. Tc h.
pressing? 1t must be. indeed. for you to
be out at this hour of the morning.
1T is a matter of life and death. Send
for him at once"