The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-04-21
EsPERITA.

/ the DdCk ranges Communicated by the
Cubans. Esperita's mother died long ago
One San Juan's day. on the dread Zebra
amarillo, when the blue-eyed baby first
began TO play in the shade Of the ba-
nanas- The baby did not remember the
young mother, or how her father stagger-
ca when the gate of the cemetery on the
hill creaked its dismal welcome TO the
white, blossom covered coffin Ragged
and bare Of limb she trotted about the
town. fiaxen haired outcast. There
wasn't man in the regiment who did
not love that little head OF shining hair.
Aercia came from a. river town in Mis-
slssippi, in the pine timber country, and
her father built bridges in Cuba for the
army. Mercia talked Spanish glibly.
| There was no one in all ManzanilIo that
she loved as she did Per.ta, as she called
/ ner-not even her mother. who neglected
her for q group of officers who spent
half their time drinking lemonade in the
brick court Of Mercia's home. AIercia
wore pretty clothes, and her pony cart
struck Perita dumb al first but she was
never shy after that drive on the sugar
mill road.
There was no school during that long
golden summer. Perita and Mercia were
/ known to every inhabitant of the lost,
little village.
Perita lived among the half-starved re-
/ concentrates in the bahia" quarters,
| with an old negress. whom her father
had hired TO give the child bed of palm
branches in the attic of her hut
Mercla spent many day ar
the hut with Perita, because it
/ was so cool under the grove when the
| breeze came over the Iowlands from
Cape Cruz. Sometimes Mercia did not
| think OF going home until the sun had
set in the sea behind the coral islands.
When San Salvador's day arrived the
two watched the sham bullfght The
toro was a painted creature carried on a
mans shoulders. Masked toreadors.
brilliant in reds and blues, cracked pigs
bladders over the heads OF fleeing specta-
tors When the store lights came out
the girls put sheets about themselves,
! ana wore face cloths, which hid all but
! the light Of their nischievOus eyes All
| the town masquerade in the blare of
| street pianos and ringing of bells. Across
from the deserted Spanish club the girls
! peeked through the barred windows Of
/ The theater, where soldiers and wildly
| dressed women were swaying and smiling
| happily. Like butterflies at play in trop-
/ zeal woods the little American girl and
her biue-eyed mate fitted through the
| sidewalk cafes, butting into old men,
calling shrilly their ''adios."
Summer passed and September came.
! one day the schooner captain returned
from Philadelphia with more ribbons for
his sweethearts, but ne found a great
change Some one told him that AIercia' S
father had lost his place, and would
build no more bridges for the army.
Two costly bridges had been carried
away by the June rains. He had saved
no money, because he was so sure OF
the colonefs favor. They said at The
club that the old engineer had only 800
LETT, and there We're more bills TO be
paid. His friends deserted him, which
was scandalous, and the sergeant cruelty
refused him army rations Gradually the
little furniture the family had brought
was sold, and the pony cart, with its
pretty red cushions and shiny sides, was
bought by another officer. Mercia was
stunned with her loss, and it is hard TO
say who cried the harder-the gentle
American girl or her little Spanish sis
ter. After the house was closed Mercia
often slept in the matched cabin with
Perita. No one knew where her mother
was. Her father had drank himself into
the barracks hospital and the surgeons
were afraid of fever. Quinine only made
his pulse beat faster, and all he could
eat was the guava jelly Perita brought
him, with cream bananas, plucked in the
cool Of the morning. Every evening ne
grew worse, until one day the surgeon
said he must leave Cuba and its teDid
dollhouse air. The Gulf pines of his home
alone could cure him, the doctors said.
Every one knew that the sick engineer
could not stand the railroad journey from
Cienfuegos to Havana, and there was
a sigh of relief when the schooner's cap
tain told the nurses that he had re-
ceived a cable order to sail in ballast
to Mobile at once, and would take the
invalid with him. That night Mercia
and her father slept aboard and waited
for the morning land breeze to take them
out beyond the cape light station and
home Poor little Mercial How she
cried throughout that long, hot, August
night, sobbing for her mother, who had
not come. Where was Perita?7 she
asked her father. without noticing the
stained features of the sick man.
"Perita! she called aloud, and sat up
right in her bed, watching, hour after
hour. through the portfolio for the COM
ing of the one who was more than mother
to her
Perita had missed Mercla, who had not
come to the bahia" as usual TO talk and
watch with her for the cloud-faces in
the smoldering sky fires. The cape
breeze cooled the brow OF the hill, and
the town lights glimmered. Perita cried
softly to herself. for II was the first
time in many weeks that Mercia had not
come
Down the hill she sped, looking for
Mercia, fearful lest harm had befallen
her. No one knew what had become Of
the little americana. 1t was growing
late and Perita was crying bitterly. Dark
ness came on, and the flaming plaza trees
lost their color in the night shadows The
cathedral bells climed 10 when she met
the chaplain and heard of Mercia' going
aboard the ship with her sick father, new
er to return again TO Manzanillo
Hardly understanding what the good
man said, half dazed with the p0ignancy
of her grief, the girl sprang, white-faced.
past the gaudy columns of the doorway
AZ IL 49, n
bay. Down the road where Mercia used
TO live. past the corral she ran The
calzed ridge Of the road cut her feet and
she stumbled in the ruts, where heavy
artillery wagons had torn up the pas
sageway. always calling for Mercia to
answer her.
tiny light penciled the bay and IN
der that light she knew was Mercia-
The beach was deserted and there was
no boat. The Waterman at the end of
the sagging pier was drinking IN some
sleepy cafe. ard her voice did not carry
to the schooner.
No one heard her last tremuIous call
as she dashed TO the edge OF the rotten
wharf and plunged into the warm waters
Of the bay Agile and 1.-THE as a kitten
she stroked through the breathing
waves. guided by the light shaft from
the lantern on the vessel Like al the
children Of the village. she vas sturdy
liubed. and q strong and supple swim
ner. She rnarvel@d at the tran of phos-
ph0rescence which followed 81 her wake.
and dinIy & passed over her conscious +
ness that II was dangerous IL the deep
waters about the ships b. night She
had heard vague stories of men lost ~
proving scaveugers of the sea, that lie
fathoms down hy day. but foate5 with
ravenous stou1achs under ships keeis
when night shadows thictlen- She speed f.
ed along, swiftly and surely. her face
Frightening as she saw the windows
eummerlng with the lamp her friend was