Natchitoches populist., 1898-03-25
A new MEXICAN EPISODE,
BY CLAIRE POTTER.

The sun shone hotly on Anita ranch
which lay like o small excrescence OF
the dun-colored earth The adobe
house, the fences, the corral, all wore
the sun-baked shade of the leye
ground. The silence was not a strange
and dreamy thing, as is usual in soti.
tude; twas a hot, fierce, aggressive
silence, which seemed to challenge dis.
turbance. No bes or flying thing
buzzed in the air, and, as far as eye
could reach, no shade came between
the fiery sun and the fat gray mesa.
The wind, always defiant, blew
bravely across the sagabrush, 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 life
to the cattle On The range, to the suf-
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 1t swuag a girl
Her face was dark and small and her
little head was covered with a thick,
short crop of black Curla; her eyes
were very large and darkly gray. All
else about her was small-the tan-col-
cred 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 you?'
"Oh, yes; but only for two nights.
My brother is coming back on Satur-
Gay; 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, a 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:(
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 nc
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"
"The people!"-a pleased mockery
in the shrill American voice, "Thar
must mean US, for we are really the
only people about here. Well, Harry,
Is nice boy, but Slawson and Au-
gusta Victoria can't be called social
ornaments Then there's myself; but
+ Now, Captain Charteris," ris-
Ing in the hammock and swinging for
ward directly in front of him, will |
you tell me II am different from Eng
lish girls-very much worse, mean? |
Now please tell; want to know truly |
and honestly"
"0h, really, Miss Delaney, girls are
about all alike, you know, only Eng
ish girls are more kept In the back
ground, and that sort of thing
But, Captain Charteris, II an Eng
ish girl lost her father and mother
when she was only three, and had had
o live out here with her brother, be-
,ause he wouldn't live anywhere else,
Ind she wasn't-well, wasn't real
leadly strong herself, would she have
,een very different from me?"
There was an appealing earnestness
n the high voice and a breathless in
crest in the dark eyes. Charters
ooked at her with cool admiration, re-
lying that he would answer her ques-
ion at another time. She sank back
and humrned a soAg.
When the sun showed the first
ymptoms of descending the men
their horses and rode away.
'arringden turned in the saddle aud
allied to the girl, Well stop with the
lail on our way home"
iicw, different was the old ADOBE
ours later, when she SUN had given