The San Francisco call., 1899-02-12

Madame Ezeta arched her heavy
Il black brows over the question.
: NO." she said, mo, it is not
Santa Maria, YOU has better be-" here
madame's English failed her, and she
filled in the blank with a characteristic
glance from her brilliant black eyes.
- The Ezeta home in Oakland Is very
modest one, filled to overfowing Win
little Ezetas, one an olive-skinneo'
brown-eyed duplicate of the other. On
the walls are pictures and photographs
. Of celebrities with autograph inscrlp-
tioris. .
" A pair of gorgeous curtains, pure
gold embroidered on a field or "nite
satin. hang in soft shining folds, their
magnifcence out Of all harmony WIN
their setting. Madame Ezeta' IN =
gown of some cotton material raIheI
the worse for wear, stood for mome1I
IN 1tba shadow of their cold magnin-
cence. all unconscious Of the contrast
to her modest gown.
"You see those" she said, pointing 20
the pictures with a slim dark nngers
s'WeIl. what l care for all that-notn-
ing!' and madame snapped her nns-
ers In disdain. a..
=: ''Those" on examination proved 70
be very poor pictures of very piotur-
esoue, low, rambling mansion.
=: ''The. Presidential palace In san SAL
vador,T explained Madame Ezeta-
: ON the opposite wall were views OF
plantations, palm trees and luxuriant
underground suggesting the tropics
=. t.Those. are 'fincas'-what you call
plantations. Once my husband own
= many, many-now all gone. But no
r care. My good God knows best.
Don't it make me sad to think
have lost all .that?. What for 1t make
me sad? No! 1 tell you I am glad.
You believe it not? Wait-I tell you.
You see this little house; you see how
one nurse for the bebitos. You give me
ali those fincas, you let me live in the
Presidential palace-I take 1t, you
think? No! say muchas gracias,
dispense me-"
;. Here Madame Ezeta laughed and
stopped long enough to rescue one OF
her young hopefuls who was balancing
himself like any little "gringo" on the
edge Of the window sill
Madame Ezeta talks fast and furious
ly, but whether you have a noddtn8
acquaintance with the Spanish Ian
guage you can understand her. The
language of the eye, the play OF feat
- ure and the intonation of the voice be-
tray the key to the Hispanio-Amert-
canus riddle.
. II tell you why I say It is better to
have quiet and happiness than to be
the Presidents wife. You see those
gray hairs" and madame pointed to
-silVe rthread or. two among her raven
q. locks, well. 1 get one for each year
that he was President. You notice
those. wrinkles-one for each month
that waited until we could leave that
country for peace. For three months
/ did not know whether my husband
was dead or alive, or whether l could
. get safely out of Salvador with my
children.
What I suffer in those three months
/ can not. tell you. You see 1 did not
know how the revolution would turn
out. / could only pray and try to
hope. Every day 1 was afraid I would
s. hear that my husband had been killed.
Then I did not even dare to leave the
house of my friend to whom I had gone
for protection, because 1 fear the peo-
pie would kill me on the streets.
'What had / done? Nothing. I was
the Presidents wife! Now you see
what It means. One day you get salu-
tations, the next day you get the ma
chete
.''The men? Well, they like it. They
no suffer like the women. They like
to fight, they like to feel power, and II
they ,Iose-well. they no can help it.
Wnen L married my nuSDdnQ, ne
was not President Of Salvador He
was commander in the army. and when
he came to Guatemala-my country
he. see me. For long time I no meet
him, no speak one word. But he come
every night and stand under my win
dow which is "a custom in our coun-
tries: Then after awhile we married
and I went to Salvador to live.
First ] like 1T very much. I could
not like Salvador as we'll as Guate-
mala. but :: I am very happy in my
home and content. Then when my
husband want to be President, every.
thing changed. Trouble, worry, all the
time revolution.
when he became President vol
think my troubles over? No! All the
time something: Some revolution
some trouble always going on. I mus
do the honors of the official life.
must think, think think all the time
and / no like it. All the time bother
and for what-death or exile.
After the revolution when NV hus
band was defeated we flew to Paris.
love Paris because there for the frs
time since my husband was Presiden
we had a peaceful time It was no
the shops and theaters that made m,
so happy. 1t was because had m,
CO eeoc 100000 @
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