Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1898-02-03
A NEW MEXICAN EPISODE.
BY CLAIRE POTTER.


house. the fences, the corral, all wore
the sun-baked shade of the level
ground. The silence was not strange
and dreamy thing, as is usual In so'i-
tude: twas a hot, fierce, aggressive
silence, which seemed to challenge dis
turbance. No bee or flying thing
buzzed in the air, and, as far as Eye
could reach, no shade came between
the fiery sun and the fiat gray mesa.
The wind, always defiant, blew
bravely across the sagebrush, carrying
with him the remonstrant breath OF
the sun, who protested against the per-
sisent rivalry and would not give him
full sway. Their competition gave lie
to the cattle on the range, to the SUI
fering cowboys, and to the small
group of people on the ranch-house
portel.
The sloping roof gave shelter from
the suns rays, and the wide-open
doors through the long hall caught
every Whit of the erratic wind as he,
still warning with the sun, blew here
and there. :.
A low hammock occupied the most
shaded spot, and in it swung a girl.
Her face was dark and small and her
little head was covered with a.thick,
short crop of black curls; her eyes
were very large and darkly gray. All
else about her was small-the tan-col-
ored shoes, the slender hands, the
scarlet mouth-and she took but a
speck of room in the wide hammock,
forming a piquant contrast to the two
men beside her. They were both tail
and athletically built; their skins were
of the same color as the house and
earth, with a liberal dash of added
red. One was pronouncedly dark; the
other blue of eye and yellow OF hair.
Even before they spoke they were pro-
claimed Englishmen. The darker one,
Frank Farringden, turned toward the
girl and said:
well. Jack, when did Harry say
he'd come up from Santa Fe? With
that fuss over at Ortegas, and Slaw-
son, the manager, gone, you'll be left
quite alone, won't your
"Oh, yes; but only for two nights.
My brother is coming back on Satur-
uay; there . no one to bother"
The girl put one toe to the floor and
swung forward, showing the gun"
which graced the carved Mexican belt.
This belt held together the corduroy
skirt and white duck blouse; scarlet
silk scarf was knotted around the
brown throat, and large, heavily
buckled sombrero Law on the floor be-
side her. Looking out over the mesa,
she said:
1.-THE sun seems to be standing still
out there. You should have visited
your cousin earlier, Captain Charters.
I'm afraid you'll take back lurid &C
counts of his adopted land
The Captain replied with the deep
mellow voice of his country:
"Well, really, Miss Delaney, the
country is beastly bad; but Frank
seems to find the people all right"
1.-The people!"-a pleased mockery
in the shrill American voice. THAT
must mean us, for we are really the
only people about here. Well, Harry
is a nice boy, but Slawson and Au-
gusta Victoria can't be called social
ornaments. Then there's myself; bu
I Now, Captain Charters" ris
ing in the hammock and swinging for
ward directly in front Of him, will
you tell me if am different from Eng
lish girls-very much worse, l mean
Now please tell; want to know trul,
and honestly"
ooh, really, Miss Delaney, girls arr
about all alike, you know, only Eng
lish girls are more kept in the back
ground, and that sort of thing
But, Captain Charters, If an Eng
lish girl lost her father and motheI
when she was only three, and had hat
to live out here with her brother, be
cause he wouldn't live anywhere else
and she wasn't-well, wasn't rea
deadly strong herself, would she hav
been very different from me?"
There was an appealing earnestnes
in the high voice and a breathless in
terest in the dark eyes. Charterl
looked at her with cool admiration, re
plying that he would answer her ques
ton at another time. She sank bacI
half dissatisfied and hummed song.
When the sun showed the frs
symptoms of descending the me-
mounted their horses and rode away
Farringden turned in the saddle an
called to the girl, Wen stop with tn
mail on our way home"
How different was the old adob
hours later, when the sun had give
place to his fair rival, the moon. Th
hot grayness had all gone, and tn
parched, unlovely earth looked coo
and soft in the clear light. The sage
brush and cactus plants were tempo
rarily given tint of silvery greer
and the wind, tickle fellow, SCENE
conquered by the gentle moon, II
hand in hand they searched ever
nook and corner, blessing all Twin
things as they went. The portel seen
ed another spot, as 1t lay In a floc
of milky rays; the chairs, the tabl
the dusty hammock-all seemed fresl
ly covered with shining satin. tt
girl was in the same position, but Il
corduroy gown had given place to
white one, and the scarlet kerchief hs
pale to rose. The rebellious hair hs
been smoothed until 1t lay in dusk
rings about the face which the moo
light had whitened, and the tend
rays turned to pink the two scarf
spots-were they of expectation?