The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-04-27
-uan Jimenez. what if the poor fellow

Juan Jimenez. What if the poor fellow
were in bad luck, as her father groaned,
and incapacitated for further bull
fighting through wound received in
the ring? Was it not all the more OBJ
ligatory upon her to stick to Juan, no
matter whether he made money or not?
And as for the horrible coolie, what
mattered he? Rather Juan, dire pow
erty, and tortillas 20 eat, than the re-
pulsive Toy, even with his restaurant
and $4,000 thrown in. Unfortunately,
Just as women are women all the world
over, so are fathers the same. In addi-
ton to which old Carlos was the most
inveterate of gamblers, even in his own
| lottery; never a month passed which
did not leave him heavy loser; time
after time he had been on the point of
disgrace with the lottery people. The
| gambling fever had for years been in
his blood-and Toy Lung Lee had Of
fered him hundred dollars, cash down,
in good, hard silver dollars, for Chona.
There had been some wavering, for
what most abandoned of men does not
love his only daughter? But. after all,
as old Carlos reasoned, what had Juan
Jimenez? Not money enough even to
| pay for one try at the colorado y ne
gro!" Not one centavo! AS a son-in-
law he would be undesirable. While,
on the contrary, with 500 cash and
prosperous Toy Lee to call upon occa-
sionally for credit, what could not
man do?
In Mexico, the saying or mandate of
father generally goes. For which
| reason, after much eXpostulation, tears
and prayers, with even petitions to la
Virgen, Chona finally became the I'M
willing and unloving bride of Toy Lee,
as per the rites of the Romish church.
This old Carlos, drunk on tequila, re-
morse, and the jingle of the unwonted
hundred silver dollars in his pocket,
had insisted upon.
Being merely woman, Chona soon
wearied of her husbands indulgences.
What cared she, after all, for Amer
lean rockingchairs, American organ
pianos, or even American-maded dresses,
at which even the gringos laughed as
she passed by in the street? What
pleasure did these things give her?
Rather, far, her old black skirt and
mantilla, shabby as they were, with
rose at her throat and another in her
hair, as she went to meet Juan with
his guitar, and his love-lit eyes, and
rollicking tenor voice. What mattered
money and fine houses, and fine clothes
as compared with love, and music, and
words that thrilled and echoed; the
bewitching moonshine of a Mexican
night, where great stars blazed up
from southern seas and the Southern
Cross swung low overhead, the frag-
rance of heavily perfumed flowers of
tropical lands, far away from the
dusty, adobe countries that border the
Rio Grande? Better to have this for
short while only, even if after it
comes the purgatory that is melted
out to thieves and sinful wives by la
Virgen and Dios-who, after all, never
listen to the prayers of heart-broken
women.
In which frame of mind, as you will
agree, Chona, the wife of Toy Lung
Lee, was far from what her husband
could have wished. Not that he knew
or even suspected-poor little man!
Happy in the thought that his beloved
wife had all that the heart of woman
could wish for, and in the running of
his Mexican-American restaurant, Toy
Lung Lee was happier than most men
ever get to be, in this not always joy
full world. Sooner would Toy have
doubted his own senses, or the length
of his precious pig-tail, than the truth
and faith of his wife Chona. Everyone
else, of course, saw how matters were,
and one evening, just as supper was
being prepared, Jim Sing, the cousin
of Toy Lung Lee, unfolded to the lat
ter his wife's unfaithfulness or indis-
Greet behavior-as you like to call it.
Whereupon Toy Lee smote viciously
the face of his kinsman, and retired, in
a white fury, from the restaurant. 1t
would soon be time for Chona to come
home from her fathers, for she Wis
tied old Carlos every afternoon, and
then matters should be Strengthened
out with her.
Now, whether or not Juan Jiminez
was Chona's companion on her return
from old Carlos house that night, no
one knows. Certain it is that Toy Lee
impatiently awaited her somewhat de-
layed arrival, after which he proceed
ed to bestow upon her, with the aid of
bamboo cane, such beating as
Chona had never heard or dreamed of
before. (Toy's Chinese wife in Can
ton had known them, but no matter.)
For even a worm will turn, and Toy
Lee, in spite of his infatuation for his
pretty Mexican wife, was not quite
worm.
At the end of one day Chona's re-
pentance had been profound; at the
end of two days she had persuaded the
distressed Toy Lee that his charges
had been entirely unfounded; at the
end of three days she had been re-
leased from durance vile, and Toy
Lung Lee, with a rejoicing heart, was
preparing supper that would have
made to water the hearts and mouths
of both Mexican and American Gus
toners alike. For not only had Chona
sworn that she cared for no man but