The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-08-23

! floor and CROPPED in a corner behind a
the shadow holding a knife that cleaned
as she moved back through the strip Of
moonlight and toward the willow bough
pallet where the incautious youth lay,
sleeping heavily now
Fifteen minutes later she went into the
room where her brother lay upon a bed
like her own She reused him with her
bare foot He turned with a sleepy grunt.
"Get up and come here" she said She
was not capricious creature 1t was her
way to do little, but that in logged ear
nest. So Vejar sprang up and went with
her. She stopped beside the bed and point
ed down to the body.
81 have killed him. she said
Vejar made no answer He did not I'M
derstand
81 have killed him, " she repeated. "You
take him away and bury him y
1t flashed upon Vejar that what his sis
ter said was true. He was frightened He
dropped down beside the body and dragged
it into the streak Of moonlight.
Take care, Sofa warned him "If
there is blood on the floor, it can be seen.
I can burn the blanket that is on the bed,
and no one saw him come"
Vejar let the body fall and stood up fac
ing her. She could see the dreadful light
in his eyes, but she did not care.
"You can turn his horse loose, and it
will never be known, she said indiffcr-
emily. He had money There is $500 l
have counted it. Antonio will marry ME
for that. +"
Vejar struck her down with a blow on
the breast. She sat upon the floor as quiet
ly as if she were basking in the sun,
dreaming the eternal Mexican dreams.
eff you hit me again, l shall say that
you did it, They would believe me. ?
Vejar stood thinking with the body and
the woman at his feet. He knew that she
was right. The gringoes would believe
woman. 1t was the custom of the fools.
She held his life in her hard, broad hands,
and she would give it for the sake of the
soft eyed gambler as calmly, as relentless
ly as she had given that of the boy between
them.
He carried the body out and buried it
before dawn far from the adobe, and SO
skillfully that there were no traces of the
spot. Then he turned the lame horse
loose, and it wandered into the town.
For the sake of the 40 goldpieces that
were Sofa WEARS dowry, that she had
come by he did not ask how or care,
that conjured up visions of limitless wealth
to be won, Antonio Mascavel consented to
take her and let the ungilded beauty of
Refugio Garfias 60
Many Americans disappeared in those
days and were never accounted for. 1t
was SO with the one who had started from
the San Fernando district to Los Angeles,
foolishly carrying a large amount of gold
in his belt-some said more than 81, 900.
The sheriff and posse searched and did
not find him; that was all
Antonio lived with Sofa for a year, and
she was happy, through no fault of his
His luck turned, and he won with her
nest egg the fortune he had dreamed of.
Having done SO, he left her and went
across the border
For long time Sola mourned sullenly
and deeply; then, Vejar having been killed
at a round up by an enraged steer, she
took up her abode with Refugio and be-
came devoted and patient nurse to her
children.
For Refugio had married the rich Amer
lean and had long since forgiven the de-
lection of Mascavel and the woman who
had caused it.-Gwendolen Overton in
Argonaut.