The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-02-28
CEapj4 4.

valley, and Sanch0, the ranchkeeper,
could not make out whether any pas
sengers were on top or not. He had
.,ht fine binooular to bear Just SIS
es the shrill voice of Pedro, a
" little scamp of half breed,
need the dust cloud sailing over
lump of willows below the bend.
fe;lro was not the youngsters orig
inal name, and, so far as could be deter.
mined by ecclesiastical records, owing
to the omission of the customary church
ceremonies he bore none that the chap
lain at old Camp Cooke would admit to
be Christian. Itinerant prospectors and
occasional soldiers, however, had sug-
gested a change from the original-or
aboriginal-title, which was heathenish
in the last degree, to the much briefer
one of Pedro as fitting accompaniment
to that Of the illustrious head of the
establishment, and Lieutenant Blake, an
infantry sub with cavalry aspirations
which had led him to seek arduous
! duties in this arid land, had compre-
hensiyely damned the pretensions Of the
place to being q dinner ranch" by de.
olaring that q shop that held Sancho
and Pedro and didn't have game was
unworthy Of patronage.
Sancho had additional reasons for
disappearing of Blake. That fine binoc-
ular, to begin with, bore the brand Of
Uncle Sam, for which reason it was
never in evidence when an officer or sol
dier happened along. 1t had been alb
stracted from Blake's signal kit when
he was scouting the Dragon mountains
and swapped for the vilest liquor under
the sun at Sancho's, of course, and the
value of the glass, not of the whisky,
was stopped against the long lieuten
ants pay, leaving him, as he ruefully
put it, "short enough at the end of the
month.
Somebody told Blake he would find
his binocular at Sancho's, and Blake
instituted inquiries after his own pecul-
lar fashion the very next time be hap
pened along that way.
"Here, you Castilian castaway,"
said he as be alighted at Sancho's door,
II am told you have stolen property in
the shape of my signal glass; Hand it
over instanter
And Sancho, bowling with the grace of
a grandee of Spain. having assured the
senior teniente that everything within
his gates was at his service, without
money and without price. had promptly
fetched from an adjoining room bat
tered old double barreled lorgnette that
looked as though it might have been
dropped in the desert by Kearny or
Fauntleroy or some of the dragons
who made the burning march before the
Gadsden purchase of 1868 made us pos
SCISSORS of more desert sand and desolute
range than we have ever known what
to do with.
This thing came out Of the ark, ,"
said Blake, rightfully wrathful. "What
want is the signal glass that deserter
sold you for whisky last Christmas. -
Whereat sancho called on all the
saints in the Spanish calendar to bear
witness to his innocence and babe the
teniente search the premises.
"He's got it in that bedroom yonder, :"
whispered old Sergeant Feeney, land
know it, sir, and Blake, striding to the
door in response to the half challenge,
half invitation, Of the gravely courteous
cutthroat owner, stopped short at the
threshold, stared, whipped off his scout
ing hat and bowling low, said, 81 beg
your pardon, sonora, senorita; did not
know, and retired in much disorder.
why didn't you tell me your fam.
lily had come, you disreputable old rip,
demanded he two minutes later. ''or is
that, too-stolen property"
:" 1t is the wife of my brother and his
daughter. T" responded the ranchman,
with unruff1ed suavity
Nothing could equal Sancho's equa-
nimity in the presence of those he desired
his wrath when angered by those whom
he could harm without fear of reprisals.
Blake was backed by troop Of horse
and the conviction that Sancho was an
unmitigated rascal; therefore were his
palpable illusions to be accepted as
mere pleasantries or deprecated as un-
merited injustice.
Blake had blackened the character of
the ranch cuisine, even if he had been
unequal to the task of blackening that
of the owner Blake had declared San
cho's homestead to be den of thieves
and the repast rendered the stage pas
sengers Barmecide feast, the purport
OF which was duly reported to Sancho,
who ALLOWED" he would ultimately
carve his opinion of Blake on that Off
GERS elongated carcass, and until he
could find opportunity SO to do it be-
hooved him to lull the suspicious of the
prospective victim by elaborate courtesy
of manner, and of this is the Spaniard
or bis Mexican half brother consum.
mate master
Blake left without glimpse of his
glass. but not without another of 1.-The
daughter of my brother, but recently
arrived, and that peep made him desir-
Gus of third. Riding away. he waved
his hand
"Adios. Sanchol Hasta otra vista!''
be had hailed, but his gaze sought the
little window in the adobe wall where
t. pair of dark, dangerous eyes peered
out from between the parted curtains