The Worthington advance., 1900-04-06
Madre Maria's MAGIC
BY q. G. Terry.

0N the very corner of Gale de los
~ Pescaditos Blancos (street of the
Little White Fish), just where it juts
into the little Plaza de San Pablo, is
the shop of Dona Antonia. 1t is q
clean, tidy little place, and in it you
can buy the best cigarettes to be
found in all Mexico, and you can be
served at all hours of the day with
thick Spanish chocolate, hot and
pasty-for Dona Antonia is Spanish,
and therefore knows how to make de-
licious chocolate you can buy
there pins, needles, lottery tickets,
native Mexican sugar in tall brown
cones, macaroni fresh from Italy,
sardines, olives, Spanish wine and
many other things, for, while the
shop is small one, it contains what
the proprietor proudly calls IAN as
sort of the most complete and fin
ished."
Dona Antonia herself waits on her
folk in that part of the city patronize
her, and so she is kept very busy, with
hardly time enough to attend to her
yellow-headed parrot, or to keep the
"mariposa' light burning under the
picture of la Virgen which hangs on
the wall.
Things were different when Car
los the torero was there-good-lo look
ing, staggering Carlos, in his gaudy
bullfighter's shirt and tight trousers,
with his pig-tailed head surmounted
by the fiat torero hat-but Carlos has
most cruelty been banished. Not that
he ever did any work in the shop, the
gods of bullfighters forbid! But he
at least was always willing to lounge
in the door or against the counter,
thereby soaring away robbers, and
even on some occasions so far unbent
his dignity as to serve the chocolate
to customers of his own fraternity,
while Dona Antonio beamed from
afar. For she worshiped Carlos with
the alteration that only fat and
homely woman of 40 can feel for q
young and handsome man.
Ever since bulltighting had gone
out in Mexico, three years before, she
had waited on Carlos, hand and foot,
giving him cheerfully and lovingly
from her savings, and working doubly
hard in order that he might appear
gorgeous on feast days and Sundays.
His clothes were of the best that
money could buy; his pointed Mexi-
can shoes were of the finest yellow
leather; his vivid scarlet neckties
were always of satin or softest silk;
none of the bullfghters who lolled on
San Francisco street or in front of the
Cantina del Tio Pepe smoked such
long, fine, black cigars as did Carlos,
and none of them could boast the sill
yer and copper coins which always
jingled in the pockets of his braided
torero jacket. In short, Carlos was
in the greatest of luck, the very high
est of clover, and did not realize his
blessings until it was too late. For
all this magnificence and luxury was
taken away from him, through his
own fault, and that of Panchita.
Not that Carlos cared for pretty, CO.
quettish Panchita; not bit of it!
Carlos loved no one but his own lazy,
good-looking self, and nothing but
his own ease and comfort. For Dona
Antonio, who furnished him with the
good things of life which he so much
cared for and appreciated, he had q
kindly, fraternal regard; being, more
over, aware of the furious temper
which lurked beneath Dona Antonia's
good-natured exterior, he had always
been careful to avoid entanglements
with younger and handso1ner women,
or. at least, to keep such affairs from
her sharp and very suspicious ears.
In the case of Panchita, however,
It was difficult matter, for she was
either too careless or too much in
love to dissemble. She could not or
would not refrain from casting CO.
quettish glances at the bullfghter,
even when Dona Antonio was by, and
finally even took to purchasing her
thread and needles and other supplies
from Dona Antonia's shop, refusing
there to be served by anyone but Car
los himself.
Naturally this state of affairs could
rot last for long, and things came to
3 crisis one day when Dona Antonia
overheard Panchita addressing some
coquettish remarks to the torero, and,
moreover, caught him in the very act
M kissing her pretty though needle
worn hands. After which there was
. scene, and very nearly battle, muir
der and sudden death. Dona Antonia,
being = very powerful woman, and,
moreover, greatly infuriated. scrupled
not to fall upon the luckless couple,
tooth and nail. Carlos managed to
escape with his life and blackened
eye, while Panchita, at the end OF the
fray, was minus one tooth and what
seemed at first sight to be fully half