The Opelousas courier., 1898-01-29

* * In THE GARDEN OF ROMANCE.
0@@@000@@@@@@@
or ROMANCE


eyes," she murmured, with musica.
Indifference, as she wentvhftSne eel uI
the pathway and never once feeked
back. e
The man rode on 60 the hotel and
returned to real life as b e-4asked if 6
valise and q trunk hadsjome and il
there were any letters for Nelson
Cameron. There was one. After he
had had his luncheon he sat on the
hong piazza, from which the snow.
capped mountains could be seen
through the climbing roses, and read
it. But the letter was dull, and the
memory of the brown hair and eyes
that had always seemed the most beau.
tiful in the world paled beside that Of
two soft black braids and two orbs as
soft and as black. There was a vague
promise that the owners of the brown
hair and eyes might be in California,
too, ere long. Cameron was not SO
pleased as he tried to think he was.
He began to imagine the meeting OF
that night.
It came about. Old Manzelo and
his fat, black-wrapped wife did not
object to him in the least. He walked
for hours up and down the moonlit
road, with Alicia's hand in his and
went from her-a Lord Lovel on a
steed of glittering steel-at midnight.
The poison was in his blood. He
had eaten of the lotus, and he forgot
home and the past. He gave reckless
rein to the curse of young blood.
And so a fortnight passed away.
There were no more letters. They
were being sent to Santa Barbara,
where he had told the brown-eyed
girl that the first weeks in March
would find him. He had not written
to her. He had meant to. But it was
the land of POGO tempo.
In pursuance Of the romance he was
living, he one day put on the dirty
overalls and coat of old Manzelo and
went with Alicia to the San Gabriel
railway station to wash and pack
oranges. Alicia was dressed in faded
dark blue, with a yellow handkerchief
around her neck and a pink bow in
her hair. She was very pretty, and
very open in accepting the open devo-
ton of the American. It was still just
a lark for him. It was rather more
for her-a little more.
A tally-ho drove up to the station
and the driver stopped it, that his
party of tourists might watch one OF
the really picturesque scenes left to
the United States. Some of the wash
ers looked up. Cameron and Alicia
Manzelo were talking together and
did not. Both were gazing light love
into each others eyes. The boss OF
the gang came up to the tally-ho with
a handful of oranges. The finest one,
all wet and glistening with its scrub
bing, he offered to the girl on the
front seat.
"Thank you. What a splendid
one!" she pl aised. 81 am 80 thirsty
that it will taste good"
MAY I peel it for you?" he asked,
with an infection that showed him
English at once.
he had not offered to peel them for
the others, but this was a very beauti-
full woman, with brown hair and a
skin that reminded him Of the women
at home. While he prepared it, she
looked at the workers. And when he
handed it to her:
"Thank yQu," she said again, fsand
can you tell me who that man by the
girl in the blue gown is? He is evil
IDENTITY not a Mexican"
He wondered why she should care
to know, but he answered:
"No; he is an American. All I can
tell you about hin is that his name
seems to be Nelson. It is what the
girl calls him."
"The girl?"
eyes. TIE a picturesque Irritation,
/ gathered from her father. It has
been going on for some weeks, and the
old man says Nelson, or whatever his
name really is means to marry her.
IL Is, unSa1e. .
Every, I should say said the girl,
refectively.
"Trhey rarely do, these whites that
make love to pretty Mexicans," added
the .Englishman.
The pretty Mexican cast up her
dark eyes just then and took notice of
the tally-ho. She had known it was
there all along, but she had not been
interested in it.
"The lady on the front watch you,"
she murmured to her companion.
Cameron glanced up. He caught
the un~faltering look of the brown eyes,
and the scales-the rosy scales of ro-
mance-fell from his own. He
dropped the orange that he held into
the water in his tub and started to the
tally-ho. But he took only a step,
then went back. The girl on the front
seat had turned to the others.
"Can't we get out for a while? I'm
sure we are all. cramped and tired, and
I should like to watch this pretty scene
for q Bit"
The Englishman helped her down,
but she thanked him and walked away.
Her manner implied that she would
make her own investigations. She
among the boxes and the
tubs and trays, hazarding a word to
the washers here and there. Most of
them did not understand her. She
up finally beside Cameron's tub
and spoke to him. The on-lookers
fancied that she might be asking how
many oranges he had cleaned that day.
q half dozen feet away at the
end of the tray, was unconcerned. So
the Anglo-Saxon conducts his tragedy.
cit is evidently more attractive here