The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-08-23
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| THE: NUMBER l5
By Frederick r. Guernsey.
The Unlucky Number Pursued
Mexican Family to the
Bitter End.
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5lIIllIIlllIIlllIilI Observation-Disclosures
In !, country house on recent Sun
day afternoon we were talking Of su-
uerstitions. The charming Lolita, with
ewes Inherited from some Moorish sui
tana and lips which are two rubies,
guardians Of a mouth filed with pearls,
spoke Of the coming wedding of some
eirl friends: 81 would never marry on
s. Tuesday, for should be sure OF an
cyil fate"
..eYou would not marry even Antonio
on Tuesday?" asked fair Spanish
girl, fix there are enchanting blonds
even from Andalusia.
Lolita, whom everybody adores. grew
rosy red and. Struggling her sculptur
esaue shoulders. replied. 6 bit piqued
at the maliciously put question. mot
even Antonio on a Tuesday. though
whatever day you should marry him
would be for him the blacklist Of black
luck!r'
We all laughed at this sally. know
ing the .iyalry Of the two senoritas.
Uncle Leonidas, who is soldier and
diplomat, spoke up. saying: Don't
quarrel. dear girls. There Is room
enough IN the field Of love for both OF
YOU. and lucky the man who wins you
on any day Of the week. Tuesday is
our bad day in Mexico. but among the
Americans it is Friday. the day Nues-
tro Senor was cru
.But what good fortune for all OF
usp' interrupted Lolita. piously.
Dona Clotilde. the hostess. woman
OF great beauty. regally placed IN
carved chair Of colonial date. took up
the theme: 81 am. confess. superst'
tons. i would begin nothing on
Tuesday, a day on which no one
should embark, marry or undertake
anything Of Importance; but. above oil
things, shun a Tuesday when it falls
on the 18th Of the month. II you
young people will listen. l will tell
you a true story, and Leonidas will
confirm every word Of it. for feel that
/ used stestigo,' so extraordinary Is
the fate Of the family Of Vale de
Miranda
Here the servants brought In ices
and cakes, and there was an Interrupt
lion. but we soon became quiet. and
Clotilde resumed: .'ln 1880, perhaps
year later, there lived at Is Gale de
las Damas Regias an old man and his
wife called Segov;a. They owned the
place ard had lived there many years
alone with their servants. all elderly
people, there being no children. can
not say there was i'll luck attending
them
Excepting having no children" ;"
commented Leonidas, who dotes on
children and is always surrounded by
them.
Excepting having no children" con-
tinued Clotilde. "But these old people
died on the same day, as we'll RECALL,
and it was the 18th Of November, and
when the place was sold. shortly after,
the family Of Vale de Miranda bought
it and moved in. the date being the
10th Of the following February. dou-
Bile 13. you will notice. The Wales de
Miranda had always rad money, as far
as any ones recollection goes. They
were originally from Guana;uato and
were mine owners. Whatever they
touched turned to gold. My GRANDPA
ther has told me time and again Of
their iramcnse good fortune. 1t seem
ed a sin, he said, to be 30 lucky in q
world where so many people can new
er succeed. strive as they will. Each
generation Of this favored family pros
Dered. Death was reluctant. it al
most seemed. to knock ut their door.
Il the sons sought wives, they found
always beauty, good breeding and So
cial position. If the daughters mar
aied, they got handsome and adoring
husbands. 1t was like fairy tale,
dear girls. You have never read n
novel like It."
Here our hostess. who is Il bit ro-
mantle, sighed, slipped her melting Ice
and went on: Don Ignacio vallc dc
Miranda was one Of the most distn-
guished looking men have ever seen,
and Maria Inclan. his wife, was even
in middle age elegant in figure, of IT.
reproachable taste and. although the
mother Of many children. almost as
slender Of waist as Lolita here"
I'VE all, Of course. fixed our eyes on
the charming form Of the young sui
cana and then resumed our attitude o.
listeners, the good natured Clotildc
minding not our pard6nable visual ex-
<.ursion: :Such were the parents Of the
family who moved into Is Damas Re-
gias, nearly 20 years ago. There We're
six sons and the same number of
daughters, a houseful, you'll say. but
the house Of the colonial period, one in
which many yiceroys and their cour-
tiers had danced, was spacious, and the
grand sala was room running the full
length of the street front. Things went
well with the family till, two years aft
er their occupancy of the house. son
was born, the thirteenth child! Then
all that was sinister in the fatal num-