The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-04-03

volcano, pouring sizzling streams Of
lnyective upon his victims head.
Jose had no fancy for trial of
their strength. no" ne persisted
imperturbably; >"you know Pm not
that, and you ere very much mistak-
en- it you think that's what am"
Pablo menaced, threatened, tam
taiized, thrusting his clinched fist
into Jose's face, Offering every liz.
dignity c man viii not take to make
him strike out, but he would not.
Tor Jose, considering. the disparity
OF their size, was thoroughly con-
vinced that fighting was un-Chris-
tian.
Baf1ed and exhausted, Pablo
stamped and swore like madman.
"Stay there, then," he fairly shrek
ed. "Stay there in your seat till you
stick to it! Sit under your accursed
vines till you die and rot, and may
everything yom touch die and rot,
you and the woman you have stolen
from me, You thieving, lying half
breed mongrel! May she bring
curse to whomsoever touches her,
and may her children grow up to
c..cso their father and bring dis
graceupon their own heads! You off
securing, you plague spot, you low
flung. underhanded sneak thief,
you-you"-
Bteathlcss and exhausted, words
failed him.. But as he disappeared
around the corner, shaken with his
i wrath. he still muttered execrations
between his teeth. In the blindness
of his rage he did not notice the eff
feet his words had had. Under the
TRADE of his curse Jose had changed
color and gone from pasty yellow to
streaked blue Now he arose stiffly
and backed through the doorway,
his eyes still turned in the direction
Pablo had taken, as if expecting
to see his curse descend in visible
form.
All his self satisfaction, all his
smirking complacency, was suddenly
gone. Pablo's tremendous rage and
terrible earnestness as LIE stood over
him and glowered, red eyed and fu-
rious, into his face 30 terrified the
little man that he was like to faint.
He turned his ashen face toward
the window and would not have
been surprised to see Pablo's form,
with clovene hoofs and fiery breath,
riding through the air, while his
upwrought fancy supplied the hiss
ing tone, sMay she bring a curse to
whomsoever touches her; may she,
may you"-
Madre de Dios, he was a ruined
/ man, for this was Good Friday and
| the change Of the moon! Many were
the curses he had known to have
bcen called down in this way, leav-
! ing a train of desolation and de-
struction in their wake. Old Juan
Tienda Vas now crawling about on
crntches because the Palli brothers
! pronounced a curse apon the feet
/ that had carried their sheep away,
and he well remembered the time
his fathers horses had all died of
CHAMBERS because there was curse
/, upon them. Jose had never pene-
t.v-ated beyond the confines OF his
ittlo valley, and the local traditions
/ and superstitions Of the Santa Ynez
bounded his mental horizon.
Until the shsdows grew long and
cold he sat anu covered in his cor
ner, his mind circling around those
awful words and the blight that
would surely follow. Turn which
way lie might, his doom confronted
him, and there was no escape. He
felt himself powerless in Pablo's
hands, and the scathing words, that
had burned themselves into the core
of. his soul, rang the changes on
eeMay she bring curse!" till the
perspiration stood out on his fore
head and the goosefesh on his body
as he waited, not knowing when the
curse might descend.
But with the coming of the morn
ing there came a sudden flash Of
illumination. A quick light leeped
into his eyes, for the words "may
whomsoever" took on new mean
ing to him. In tho attitude of mind
/ that says teYou're another!". Jose
bounded to his feet with definite
plan. Hc began to see the possibili-
ty of outwitting Pablo by shifting
this deep crimson curse to his Pa-
bios) own head. To see him blight
ed by his own curse, withered by his
own words. starving, begging from
door to door, dying like dog in the
streets, accursed by his own flesh
and blood, would be worth any price.
It was still early when Jose, puff
ing from the briskness Of his walk,
found his way to the home Of the
lovely Luisita. His presence at SO
carly an hour took the household
by surprise. He found the trim an
kies guiltless Of any disguise and