The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-11-29

ability to sell and over.
Down in the depths of her Aztec
blood Ouelle had superstitious faith
III the coming again Of Montezuma.
She knew that when the god returned
1t would be with the rays Of the rising
sun, and rs the blond young fellow
had lain there in the road for a few
moments In the early morning sun
light he had indeed appeared to her aa
god.
When finally he opened his ewes. she
was standing by the door watching
him, one arm half raised and resting
on the SILL her body partly turned, as II
arrested. The position showed the
beautiful lines Of her 1.-the figure lie
looked at her dreamily and tried to
raise his head, but he could not. Then
che girl moved slowly toward him, az
though fascinated by his look, and gaz-
ed into his eyes as Il little child might.
II am so sorry that my scream
frightened the senor's horse" Tho
voice was as melodlous as that OF the
cenZ0ntle the Mexican nightingale.
Catou had spraincd his ankle, 1t ap-
peared, and In the weeks that follow.
I'd Beausoleil came to see him daily.
But he never stald long. He was dis
9usted with the whole affair, he said.
His opinion, however, made little diff
florence to Claude, who was In tho
habit Of doing as he pleased. An agent
was paid for managing business af
Pairs, nothing else.
Young MontcZuma meanwhile had
won the heart Of the stout middle
aged sonora by commissioning Beau
soliel to fetch her the most gaudy dress
pattern to be found In all Guadalajara
| and he had become a great parsonage
q very great parsonage indeed-to the
| little brown faced children because lie
had hidden his agent never to forget
| to bring them dulccs. Berrendo Oajnca
| also liked him because he spoke the
| Spanish "muy galantG." But with
! Ouelle 1t was difrerent-altogcthc diff
| ferent.
| One day Berrendo was out In the
garden by the ncequia planting a mag,
nolia tree. The sonora had just reach
ed up and seized one Of number OF
| chickens pcrchcd beneath the roof Of
the jacnl. She was wrnging its neck
with n view to supper Ouelle was
| preparing the American senor some
coffee. He liked 1t often.
| The senor, for his part, lay back In
his chair, his ankle nicely bandagcd,
watching the door leading to the kitch-
en-, which from time to time Ouclle
would pass.
In some strange way he could not
! understand, and yet, which seemed per-
fectly natural to him, he longed to re-
main here, away from the fuss and
fret and fume, the noise and complexi-
ty Of things. He was tired Of white
I kid gloves and evening clothes What
\ claims had New Orleans on him,
| Claude Catou? Death. who had al
| ways been hanging around the corner
1 with pistol or n knife or sailing up
the Mississippi with cargo of yellow
| fever or cholera, had robbed him Of all
his people. AS to his business affairs
! Beausoleil could attend to them, of
| course. 1t was farcical for him even to
! attempt to meddlc in their manage.
| ment Besides
Ouclle entered the room with a cup
! Of coffee and flask OF cognac. She
| placed the tray on q table at his side
| He touched her hand. and her lips
| parted as though to speak. Her IA.
4 ther coming IN at this moment she
| turned away and sank in a huddled
| heap on the floor near the door Of the
| Kitchen.
Berrendo was in something OF an III
! humor. He had not been all this time
| planting his magnolia tree. 1t appear.
ed. He had been quarreling again
with his nelghbor, Cristino Miguel.
! Now, Berrendo and Cristino were tho
! closest Of comrades. When the defeat.
| ed Amerlcanos had invaded their couh-
try, they had fought together and SUI
qered loss Of property together. And
since those days but one dscOrd ever
had iostled upon their harmonious
friendship. This dIscord came in the
shape Of chickering's over the right te
the water which reached Berrendo's
land only after having crossed field
OF Cristino.
Usually these wrangcs were Of o
good natured sort. But today, decides
ly, Berrcndo's temper had got tho up
per hand. He tried to explain to Ca.
Sou:
"He thinks"-rcferrlng to Cristino
h1guci-"that because his people have
handed him down as treasure lot
ter addressed. al Scnor Don Miguea
Hidalgo Costilla, Parocco deltPueblo
dc Dolores'-w caramba! he thinks
chat because OF this he ought to- own
the whole OF Mexico" Berrendo tsnap-
ped his fingers with so much em-
phasis that he quite conveyed tho Nm
preston Of having stamped his foot.
He claims some sort of relationship
with the conquistadores," he began
again.
"Have some cognac" interrupted ca
eou, pushing the flask toward him.
And coffee" Then turning to Ouelle
with smile, "Will the senorita fstch
! another cup Of coffee2"
When she returned, her father met
bar, having forgotten Cristino and the
eonQuistadores, and leading her to Ca.