The herald., 1898-01-30
THE GHOST OF COCULA
What Befell an Old nexican Soldier From the Real
del Castillo

me tortillas and frijoles with. True, ,
could get elotes, corn In the ear, FOL
nothing, but, compadres, they do no
| fill! No, not at all.
! "A little Gringo prospector, who saw
that walking was hard on me, presented
me with burro that had a sore bach
and which was likewise broken -kneed
I took it with gratitude, porque los men,
digos no deben escoger, because beggars
mustn't be choosers!
| well, amigos mios y senores,I drifted
up into the Sierra until reached place
called Realito del Gabilan, where there
were at least ten habitations, and being
well received by the 'aldeanos,' or coun.
| try people, l made up my mind to elect
my domicile there and become the sere.
no, the nightwatchman, of the village
They gave me meat and they gave me
drink. i had my serape, and what more
did l need? l was 'muy a gusto,' very
| comfortable indeed, o! little brothers
Near the village there was the ruin
OF an old hacienda, in which there re-
mained still standing one large room
with huge fireplace in good condition
This | made up my mind to occupy
when the inclement winter weather
SohAN' AhV Pooi, SiioTdnt, SuDtTst1tlOuS
people at El Gabilan told me the place
was haunted and they would not go near
IT, even in daytime. But l. Jose Maria
Gonzalez, for forty years soldado in
the cavalry, artillery and latterly the
infantry, was l, tellme, to be frightened
by spooks or ghosts'of 'pelados' who had
died 'quien sabe cuando,' God knows
when? Truly not, O! valadores.
The alcalde tried to dissuade me from
passing the night in this ruin, but
merely laughed Asi soy yo. That's the
way l am built. And that very night |
went to the old hacienda, taking with
me enough cornmeal to make tortillas.
and small bottle of lechugilla, ordi-
nary mescal; not forgetting plenty of
tobacco and ojas de mais to make cigar
ritos.
1T must have been about half past
eleven, according to the stars. uueridos.
when 1t occurred to me that | was
hungry. and l prepared to make tortil-
las. My emberS were all right and [
patted out good chunk of dough. As
was turning my tortilla something fell
out OF the chimney right on the top of
II. Caral, 1t was human bone. |
threw the tortilla and the bone into a
cornerand proceeded to bake another one.
Sangre de Cristo, another bone, ]
threw this into the corner. too, but as
fast as l made tortillas, Just So fast came
the bones. until at last, what think you
hombres de bien. what think you, fell
upon the HEARTH"
"Quien sabe, Jesus Maria" from the
whole crowd, everybody devotedly maxi
ing the sign of the cross.
Una calavera, skull, as sure as my
name is Gonzalez; and be it known that
am first cousin of the ex-presi6ent
whose namesake ! am. Pues bien. very
well, then. l threw that in the corner.
too, and having no more dough, started
in to smoke cigarrito. Suddenly |
heard something like rattle 1 turned
around quickly, pero sin tenor. but
without fear, and there stood skeleton
grinning at me as if he were ENJOYING the
'Quien vive.' says I, thinking of my
soldiers days, when l was on sentry 60.
Don Federico de Almaviva's specter,'
answers the esqueleto. "A sus ordenes.
caballero.' l bawled, for was somewhat
excited. Don Jose Maria, says the
ghost, sitting down near the fire. may
trouble you for a cigarrito? 1t is just
one hundred and five years. three
months and seventeen days since have
had a smoke-at least of this kind.
We'll, respectable srs, we smoked.
and then the esqueleto ordered me to fol-
ow him. He struck the ground and il
opened disclosing some stairs. We de-
scended. Along a narrow, tortuous pas
sage we went until we reached an iron
ioor that the ghost opened by mere
gesture. We We're now in a little cham
Der in which We're two boxes The lids
were up and 1 saw that they contained
he one gold bullion, the other silver
)ars Then spoke the ghost of Don Fed
erico de Almaviva: Mira, See thou:
his gold must go to Barcelona, in Spain, |
% the address that lieth here written
lpon parchment. Until that is done | /,
'annot enjoy rest. Do this for me and
he silver in the other chest is thine !
Fail me and within one year thou shalt |
lie. Obey me faithfully and thou may
est enjoy peace and plenty for twenty !
years to come
Il promised faithfully to do the esuue-
eto's bidding and he left me. When |
morning came l hid the entrance to the |
ave. Soon / had made my arrange |
nents to carry the gold to Tucson, where |
shipped it by an express company. |
Then | came back, obtained my plata. !
md, con la Gracia de Dios, will until ! |
lie. Ahora, la ultima, y buenas nOches." |
FRANK OAKLEY.