The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-09-03

I
NNrK KNOW IN 49, pa vssaA ~.
III Anselma: for have - mot
talked q this ever and ever
asain9 gtill. ~ vs should
IA take lnocents 70 the city ana
let the foreign dseeos 80
WHISTLER God and the saiuts Aawe eivse MN
power 70 cure the boy
The expression Ct gentle sadness - COM
mon with the women Of Mexico sestSea
more nrmly over AnseamA's face - her
husband spoke. and she drew her nook me-
chanicai1y through, the pretty mat o. CID
chet work with which she expected 70
cover her little stand for selling hot bouttos
II the next fiesta.
Poor Estevan and poor Anseima!
Hearts are much the same the world
over. let their owners look through gray
eyes or brown. blue eyes o. black. There
are GOOD hearts ard bad everywhere: all
can ache. and the pain ID - hard - bar
IA one part Of the world - another.
Neither Of these two Mexican hearts had
felt any love for the fair OF faos. golden
haired Austrian soldiers Of AAximiltAn's
army. though they admired their large nE-
ures, we'll set ~ By Close dtting uniformA
and the nne horses they rod.
Estevan said, at times. that the great
handsome fellows we're not % hard TO night
q the smaller Trsnchmsa. who were quick
O. to 80 snd 70 move.
Above al. hs prayed 70 ~ dslivered from
Col Dupin and his nerce men from the
north OF Afrsca-mess butchero thsy-for
dtd they not consider = poor Indian plant
inx h,s little lssid IN corn with . sharp
wooden stick ~ an armed man and shoot
him where he stood. with his wife ana
babies standing by?
EAtevsa had often told Anselma he WISH
ed al those foreign soldiers would % oAck
10 their homes across the 80. for he vas
weary Of creeping down the mountains to
fght and Of dodgirg back again. He had
no lcea OF hope Of rest untu thAy we're AL
goEe-how could no ANA - Rus son OF
Nexico7
one beautiful day. when there was Ice
and snow IN many lands. but glorious sun
shine there . skifmlsh took place near tnsir
little jacal IN the hot country.
The Austrian soldiers rode away ana the
hrown-skinnsd fellows, who were nght.ng
for the freedom OF old Aixt.i slipped back
toward the mountains where Wild fruits
furnished their commissary stores and
their sturdy ponies found provendef at the
end OF q iarsat Al dusk Of tho same day
Estsyan. coming down from the hidden
camp to see his wife and Lus. their little
boy. heard q moan and found one OF the
soldiers he had been hghting = few hours
before lying with . cruel wound In his
head.
The young man was not a light weight
for one to carry. but the heavy loads Els
tevan had so often borne on his back from
bcyhood had given him strong musclea.
Anselma said not q word ~ she helped
her husband ease his burden from his
shoulder to the pctases. which served ~
Their bed. She bathed the poor face. cover
ed with blood and dust. and softly cleaned
the wound. while Estevan told how NJ
found him.
There was no doctor near. but Padre
Paiacios had been q physician with ans
practice. = happy husband and father. IN
stead Of sad-eyed priest. before the tito
carried OF his wife and three babies In ons
week The good man Eved miles away.
ana valuable time passed ere Ansslma
sent little Luis to call him. As he was nd
tnx by on his way TO hold service on the
mountain aide In . chapel whose siivefy
bells, from old Spain. called softly to the
Mexican soldiers there was still some-
thing besides war for them to think about.
Anselma watched ~ THO fever fought for
the soidier,s iife--wa,cnd and prayed-and
fed him atole made OF maaa. tiniest por-
tons at time Estevan came when he
could and Krieved to sec his gentle wife
% worn with caro-.
Al last the sick one began to gain
strength. Rine eyes were new to them.
they did not know. at drHt. the sad unsee-
tng look that met their earnest ga1e meant
there was naught of memory. naught OF
knowledge In their depths.
Already they loved an alien soldier who
had come TO heip nm alien emperor rule
their land, and their brown-saced boy.
Isxfn ~muft A. mis- 1As-a A
him, too.
Padre Palac.os was q busy man. he felt
sure the Austrian would never he ~ be-
fore the wound for was not tho thrcbhing
brain pressed by the skulir but. there was
war in the land his time was FUN minis
terinx TO those who would not see the mex,
sunrise. or lay struggling for life In hid
den places when they shouid have had
tender nurses and nourishing food.
lay de mi. compadre." old Ramon said,
looking at the strange guest In their jack
NJ. whe. he came by 10 rest and chat, on
lis way 10 marks; with . crate Of char
coal on his back. he may have been =
nne man and a brave soldier once. but ~
h ~ n child now. an inocense 1T that"
SO. for lack Of better name. they called
him EEL fnocense.'' and 1; was not harsh
name. having q sweet sound In their soft
tongue.
Time sped on until four years had passed
aimee the brave young Emperor MaximIi-
tan had asked some soldiers OF Mexico
near oueretarc to fire at his heart and
spare his face nom mutisstiea, many
since hts young wife in other lends had
basn raying for Max" 10 come to her.
More than four years had passed snce
El fnocsnte had come so tho little sacai
In the hot country ~ Mexico. A soft mus
tache h.a the iirs and beard the chin.
which might have locked weak without
them. Waving hair fell around nj. neck
70 the shoulders. AasetEna said II was "ru-
eo'' In eolor, ard 50 II was~sair and al
most reddish.
In boty ~ Eaocense was well and strong
the brain which should have te~med wstA
the knowledge ard Wisdom ~ young wan
hood. was a. nothing.
One day u was the - - Savernhrr All
Souls Day. Padre paiaStos went Sc the
pantheon. as did all tho people Tor r,sies
around. fer Was II roy the day 10 let the
dead know they were net forgotten by
prayer snd decorating their graves with
flowers. ana. away frona sae large c:siss
leaving shsugx for them, 10 eat Besides rsss.