Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1899-10-21

My pipe and my punch bowl, the
warm slippers, The blazing logs and
the old armchair, these may tell you
are some of the consultations OF GER
! tain traveller who is dreaming away
the evening Of a life that has been
| busy, romantic and strange. Like the
rest Of creation. | stand in the middle
of the ages, with the past behind me
| and the future ahead.
] look forward.
| consult the wisdom of the doctors,
| the conundrums of the philosophers,
and the religions of the pious. / say
to them one and all. "Watchmat, what
of the night that is coming onP Tell
me, has death future2'
The answer is d chaos OF wratgling
and dispute. IT is like witches cali
| dron into which they all pour their
| drugs, their simples and their charms,
and for satisfaction and result they
| get vapor.
But this vapor clears away once In
while and then poor fools like my
| self can look once more upon the mon
ter with the virgins face, the old ia.
| miliar Sphinx, seated on the sands OF
| Egypt, busilS counting the centuries
as they pass, but making no sign and
| giving up no secrets TO the clamor ana
petition Of the children of men.
SO for many such reasons | say TO
myself, Let the future bury its dead,
but not the past; for the past has some
pictures that | cannot, for very love or
| them, turn 10 the wall. and some
| strange happenings which have
never been able TO explain. Let me
| tell YOU story about some of them.
| Santos is the name of city in Bra
| I'll. When in the course of our wan
derings in South America Jack Clipper
and / paid il a visit, ii was a place OF
some importance and we thought its
only railroad was quite a remarkable
| one.
A few hours ride over swamps and
through dense thickets brings you to
| the foot OF the Sierras. These noun
| tains rise abruptly TO height OF four
0r five thousand feet and the coaches
t~are hauled up the faces Of them by
stationary engines, located on pla'
tcaus at regular intervals. The coun-
| try through which this road passes is
| Of the widest and weirdcstmature inn
| aginable, and at that time very little
was known about the few Indians or
| wild men who passed their lives in the
jungle or wandered through the vir-
| gin forests Of the Sierras.
| But the authorities on these sub
iects. the old razilian planters and hall
| breeds, told strange stories about the
| aborigincs, stories of marvellous cures,
of rescues from the jaws of death, as
we'll as tales of devination and for
| tune telling surprising the widest
! dream of the modern spirituaIist OF
| clairvoyant.
Clipper was very much interested in
| the place; in fact, he said the prompt
ings OF the crimson magnet would not
allow him TO leave the neighborhood.
So we simply remained in the city and
awaited developments.
One evening was sitting at dinner
in the Hotel Europa, which was the
best i'm the city, but we thought 1t the
| worst in creation. ! remember II you
| didn't like stewed monkey you could
fall back on fried lizards, and If these
went against your grain, great horrld
| rats would sometimes jump onto the
| table and scamper off with the reject
ed delcacics right under your nose
What ! did manage TO eat on this
occasion | was trying to forget over
bottle Of wine and cigar, when Clip
ucr came into the room. He had been
| away for week, didn't know where
He looked strangely flushed and
tired. He begged me to come to his
| room. lie wished to tell me some
thing, an adventure, must come al
once. So we made ourselves comfofta'
bile for the evening, and this Is Wha'
| Jack said 10 me:
g Hans, old fellow" he commenced
81 am in great distress and if you had
told me week ago that an old dried
up Indian hag could perpleX and be.
wilder Jack Clippec in this way,
| should have taken you somewhere toi
| treatment. Bnt now | honestly be-
| lievc il il were not for the plans we
have made and the shame of the thing
| should defy fate and witchcraft, re-
| main i'm Brazil and marry the old hag's
| granddaughter. think You have seer
| Little Pinta. You may call her
| gypsy girl if YOU like, but | tell You
She is princess and heroine to boot
"You always thought | was fool tc
| get up at five in the morning and tc
| go wandering round the wharves ant
| the markets, hunting high and low FOL
Little Pinta, simply for the sake o.
taking a rose from my button-hol'
and weaving it into her shaggy blacl
hair. At first she wondered ant
looked frightened when | did so, bu
| one morning, to my surprise, sh'
| looked pleased, called me Masuka,
| .ook hold Of my hand and kissed it Sc
gently and modestly that ] knew i
was my turn to blush and to wonder
"She speaks Portuguese ebout al
well as ! do.
| "What is Masuka" said |.
1.-The good one she replied.
"Who told you that | am good?'
"'rhe grandmother
"What is the GRANDMOTHER"
"'Oh, she is hoop. She lives in
hole in the ground, up in the noun
tains yonder.'
"IIow can she possibly know that
am good?'
"She knows everything. She i
very old; she tells fortunes. She ha
the eye
"What eye, my child?'
THE Indian Eye
~ don't quite understands; but you
Pinta, you believe it. you trust me
"Oh, yes you are Masuka. That il
! all | care to know
so you see, Hans, after that | uset
TO watch for her and follow her rounC
the markets in the dim light of thu
| early morning. After while i begal
to give her little presents of money
Every time | did SO she kissed m.
hand passionately, and soon began t.
wonder where she went and what sh
| did with the little bundles which sh
carried so gracefully on the top of he