Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-07-15

sell with his sister when Garflas lad
ridden away.
"0h!" snarled Sofa. "the love OF AM
tonic! A thousand dollars would bury
It so deep that 1t would never rise
again"
yet" said her brother. not UNDER
standing women, you would be glad
to have It." Il
The deep eyes shone. She shrugged
her shoulders. Eyes, would be glad
to have Il. And I could have II for y
thousand dollars-perhaps less"
"At that cost you must be content to
go without It. What advice shall give
to Don Garfass"
"How should know? Let him see
to his own troubles, and be glad that
your sister is not SO beautiful that you
have no peace because Of her."
It was long after dark when a horse
stopped at WEARS adobe. vejar hal
been asleep. He jumped up and went
to the door. He had his finger on the
trigger Of his revolver. A man stood
under the broken.down ramada. Be-
fore he spoke, the Mexican had seen
by the moonlight that he was Gringo.
They talked together In low tones
until Sola Joined them, rubbing her
eyes and moving noiselessly with her
bare feet across the dirt floor.
This man." said her brother, ''is
an American. He says he. has ridden
all day to get into Los Angeles before
night, but his horse went lame. II is
so bad now that he can go no further,
and he wishes to stay here until morn
ing"
''Let him stay" said Sola, not too
graciously. He can have my bed. /
cannot Sleep"
Vejar grunted in much contempt.
"Mascavel does not lie awake for YOU"
he said.
Sofa made no answer. She accepted
the fact. She put the American upon
the blanket covered willow boughs
that she called her bed. Her brother
tied the horse beside his own in the
roofless adobe workhouse, and fed 1t
some day. He did nothing for Its lame
foot. The suffering Of dumb animal
is a matter of pure Indifference to u
Mexican. when 1t Is not cause for
laughter.
The American was mere youth.
Sofa saw that when the patch OF moon
light finally worked around to where
she sat upon the floor, leaning against
the wall, and went near to see II he
were breathing. 1t seemed that he
slept very lightly, for he started up.
with his left hand upon his belt and
his right hand upon his revolver.
"You were SO still I thought you
might be dead" said Sofa, in her deep,
placid voice, full of the Indian sweet
ness of sound. He took his hand from
the weapon and lay back shamefacedly.
1t was only woman, a thick-set, lazy
good-hearted Mexican. He had not
been able to see her face, and he did
not know that the comfortless pallet
was her bed. He turned on 1t and fell
asleep again. But Sola sat thinking.
Long after her brother was dreaming
In the next room she crouched, look
ing into the darkness, with her great,
wide eyes-seeing nothing. And in her
brain ran the clink of the coins as the
young Gringo had put his hand to his
belt. There was purpose In her UNI
flinching mind. That she debated 1t
therein was due only to her uncertain
ty as to how many coins had cllnked,
as to whether there were enough to
buy Antonio Mascavel. Five hundred
dollars would do it--for a time. After
that he might kill her; or he might let
her live and go away with Refugio-
which would be worse. He was gam
bier through and through, and none the
less so because of being luckless. A few
hundred dollars in actual cash would
present to him unlimited possibilities
of the wealth that 1t might win. And
there is always the poor. chance, In a
woman's mind, that the man may
learn to love as she loves. He might
forget Refugio; or she might marry
some one else.
She went slipping across the earthen
floor and CROPPED in corner behind q
string OF chiles. Her hand came out
from the shadow holding a knife that
cleaned as she moved back through
the strip Of moonlight and toward tho
willow-b ough pallet where the incau.'
tious youth lay, sleeping heavily nov,
Fifteen minutes later she went INTO
the room where her brother lay upon
A. y 49, htv,s -
her bare foot. He turned with sleepy
grunt.
Get up and come here" she said.
She was not capricious creature. "
was her way to do little, but that 10
logged earnest. So Vejar sprang up
and went with her. She stopped be-
side the bed and pointed down to the
body.
81 have killed him." she said.
a. T.