The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-12-15
cenobto. hungry.ezed. dressed IN

dSdlHSl the wall ana saw MS Idte,
hanging at first upon the uertness o.
Concha's fingers, immersed at last,
an ultimate ingredient.
"You will-you will marry me if
succeed?" cried she.
"Concha," sighed he. Il swear I
would marry eve this old Indian
chief cook"
The Indian chief cook was q siren
uous, huge and bony party. who wore
a white cloth wrapped round her legs
instead of a skirt.
When the guests arrived Sonora
Ortiz floated forth to greet them.
Her lord was stricken dumb. Behold,
she wore the blue! A dread crunch
ing of teeth was distinctly heard by
the federal senator.
The dinner was served. Porfirio
Diaz' portrait had been transferred to
the dining-room. The walls were
draped with Mexican flags. The num-
bling secretary's wife was good and
quiet. like a pussy. The federal SEN
ator dashed in with his equally dash
ing lady. The governor stalked to his
chair, scanning the viands narrowly.
His wife, a little pallid woman in
white satin. seemed tired of all the
earth. At the tables head, with his
wife at his right, sat Senior Ortiz,
black, savage. He surveyed the board.
He watched the mattresses come and
go. No mole. And his Mexican stom.
a"h craved mole. He could not get
that awful blue out of his eyes. They
talked to him; he mumbled boorish
answers. They toasted Senior Ortiz,
the governor. Porfirio Diaz (familiar-
~ called Don Poririo-by the grace
of whom they lived and had their be-
ing). But Don Mariana replied. snap
pish1y. And all the while the stately
Indian. his civilized wife, wore more
dignity than three governments
wives would have needed. The eter-
nal placidity of the Aztec nation, with
its slumbering underline, looked out
upon the company.
No mole de ~guajolote. Anew-fangled
American way of cooking the peas. The
tower of blue forever battering his eyes.
Ortiz lost his appetite.
Then the moment came. Cenobio
darkly gazing round a corner from the
ante-room; the sweet Madonna coming
in, all trembling, with the Macmillan
dish. She all but tottered. The brown
seemed to have gone away from her
face. leaving only the dancing pink that
came and fled. In the mole's depths she
saw a vision of a little home. a flying
street car and a baby. She cast a wild
look on Cenobio. He answered it with
moody eye hat burned with hope. She
reached Don Mariano's side, her bosom
paipitating. She, too. saw the blue upon
her right. She perceived her masters
savage eyes upon her left. She nearly
dropped the dish.
He looked and understood the nature
of its contents. But all its background
was hat disgusting dress. A devilish
inspiration seized him. CoEcha was
lowering her masterpiece. her liquid,
frightened eyes on him. He threw up
his hand as though to take the dish. He
struck it {. mighty blow with clenched,
~spasmodic fist.
A piercing shrek from Concha. \
whirlwind of thick and unctuous liquid.
4 brown sheet of mole wrapping the
blue in fatty embrace. 4 broken Maxi
milan dish in Dona Maria's lap. y gut
tural groan.
The banquet terminated early.
Later. the tragedy of the spirit was
rehearsed in the rear court. Cenobio
strobe there like a villain in a play.
Concha. coloriess. came stumbling out.
Her eyes of terror fell upon him. Then
she moaned: NO mule car. no Cenobio.
no baby" And she fell down and
sobbed.
"Cenobio! Ven aca!" It was the sui
tan's rasping voice.
Cenobio bounded forward and dis
appeared. His master led him into that
bedroom. and the youth observed n
CLEAN in the orbs of Don Mariana.
Take it QUIT" cried the sultan, point
ing to the thing upon the floor.
Dona Maria sat bolt upright in y
chair. dressed in a petticoat and stiff
white chemise, flame in her eye. mole
in her hair. mole on her ample cheeks.
mole running down her neck. Would
that he who reads could know the stain
of that connection. its dread properties.
its diabolic alacrity, its capacity for
ruin.
Cenobio got a pole and lifted up the
thing. A little later Concha. still in
agony. beheld him approaching. a fu-
nereal figure. hard despair looking out
from his ~countenance; the tower of
blue. collapsed, a dripping abomina-
tion. hanging in front of him. Before
the sheds he cast it down. He turned
TO see the sultan trotting fast behind,
carrying a shovel.
Don Mariana. perspiring. dug a hole.
The mozo buried the blue. Sunk On the |
ground by the tile-roofed shed sat
Concha. scarce daring to look at that
The treasurer termed to
her. and she shrank.
Observation-Disclosures" said he.
wheedlingly. rubbing his hands
together: name it. Conchita."
"Oh, what" sobbed she. staring up.
Don Mariana was laughing with a
mild. continuous. endearing laugh.
Your reward" wheedied he. "Any-
anything
A flicker of understanding lit up her