Evening star., 1901-07-13
CHAPTER 1.
The Making of an Outlaw.

a wild beast Yet he smiled as ne olinked
into the midnoon heat under his shaggy
brows from his den beneath the great rock
of limestone that shadowed NM
Ell sarria was hunted. and there was on
his hands the blood of man-to be more
particular on his left hand For HI Sarrla
had smitten hard and eager, so soon as ne
had seen Rafael Flores-Rafael, the pretty
boy, the cousin of his young wife, between
whom and her relative there was at least
cousinly affection. So the neighbors sald'
all but Manuela, the priests housekeeper.
So Ramon snote and wiped his Man
chegan knife on his vest, in the place under
the flap at the left side, where he had often
wiped it before He used the same gesture
as when he killed sheep.
In his cave of limestone Ramon was go
ing over the scene In his own mind.
tiger does that when. after a full meal ne
moves the loose skin over MS meek t"ltcny- t
ways and yawns with oyerfed content.
And Ramon. even though hunted, did the
same.
When he married little Dolores Ramon
Garcia had not dreamed that so many
things would happen. He was rich man,
as men go: had his house, his garden, his
vines. a quintaine of olive trees, was &C
counted quite match by old Manuela, the
village go-between, the priests houSekeep-
er In whose hands were the hearts OF
many maids.
These things he Don Ramon Garcia, had
possessed the was called Don them, and
now-he had his knife and the long, we'll
balanced gun which was placed across the
rests in the dryest part of the cavern. I.
He remembered the day well. He had
been from home, down by Porta, in the
Cerdagne to buy cattle. and returning
home more swiftly than he had expected
his cattle following after in the herdsmans
care, the thought of pretty Dolores making
his horses feet go quicker, song upon his
lips. he had approached the village of Sar-
ria de la Plana, and the home that was his
own-and hers.
swift-falling Spanish twilight 1t was.
he remembered; the sky, broadly banded
of orange and rose, was seen behind the
highly piled houses. From the whiteness
of the long frontage dots and f1ecks flashed
out. Black obIongs of glassess window
space splashed the white. Here and theee
hint of vivid color flung itself out almost
defiantly-a woman's red petticoat drying
on cord. the green Stats of wellto-dO
window blind. There came to the ears of
Ramon Garcia the click of castanets from
the semi-dark of wide-arChed doors and
the soft tInk-a-tank of lightly thrum n ed
guitars. He saw a lover or two "eating
iron. his hands clasping the bars behind
which was the listening ear of his mistress.
And throughout this village were peace
and well-accustomed plesaunce Ramon
smiled 1t was his home
But not as he smiled up among the rocks
of the Montblanch the borderlands be-
l"lAl ATTdSOn anu Catalonia.
He smiled well-pleased and minded him
upon the nights not so long gone by, when
he, too, had eaten IRON and clung a-tip-
toe to the window bars of little Dolores
who lent him such a shy attention. scut-
Ting off like a mouse. at the least stirring
within the house where all her kinsfolk
slept.
There was none like her, his little d.
lores! God had given her to a rough old
fellow like him. who had endured the
trampling of the threshing floor the
oxen drove round.
Little DoIores-how all the men had been
wild to have her-but she had loved none
but Ramon Garcia alonei So said Man
uela Durio. the go-between, the priests
housekeeper, and if any did, she knew. In
deed. there was little told at confession
that she did not knew. Ramon smiled
again. wicked, knowing smile. For if
Manuela owned the legitimate fifty years
which qualified her for place in the pres
bytery of Sarria de la Plana, her eyes and
lips beied her official age. Anyway she
kept the priests cOnscience-and. what was
more important. she swOre that little DO
loreS loved Ramon Garcia and Ramon Car
cia alone.
''Caballero, Don Ramon"'
He started He had been thinking of the
woman at that very moment and there
was her voice calling him. He turned
about The broad rOSe-glow had ueepened
to the smoky ruby of Spanish gloaming
as it fingered along the western hill tops.
These last shOne, in spite of the glowing
darkness. of limpid and translucent tur-
quoise like that of the distant landscape IN
a Siennese picture.
Don Ramon, wait-I would speak with
you
1t was indeed the priests Manuela who
called him, and though his heart hasted
forward 10 Dolores, and overleaped bound
aries as dog leaps wall. still he could
not refuse ManueIa Had she not brought
them together at the first.
"Ah Manuela. you are kind-there Is good
news up at the house is there not? No III
has befallen the little one?''
What has brought you home so soon?'
cried the woman, a touch of impatient
eagerness In her tones; you will Tighten
Dolores-if you blunder in upon her all un-
shayen and travel stained like that. Have
you no more sense-when you know
Know what? l know nothing"
Ramon slurred his speech in his eager
ness. What is there to know?"
Manuela laughed-a little strained sound
as if she We're recovering shaken
equanimity, and she was not yet sure of
her ground.
-'You-so long narried-fve. six months.
Is 1t not so-and yet not to knowi But a
fool is always a fool. Don Ramon, even
if he owns vineyard and a charming
young wife ten times too good for him,'
Truth of God!' gasped Ramon, with his
favorite oath. but j did not know. / am
the father of all donkeys. But what am
j to do, tell me, Manuela? l will obey
you,''
The woman's countenance suddenly
cleared.
NO, Don Ramon We Will not call the
promised one-the blessed one a donkey
a father Yes, Don Ramon, but no father
OF burricos. No. no. There will not be
so brave a babe from Navarro to Catalonia
as yours and Lola's. But We must go
quietly, very quietly. He walks far who
begins slowly He who treads upon eggs
does not dance the bolero. You will bide
here and talk to the holy father and /
myself will go to the house of Ramon Of
the Soft Heart and the laundering Hoofs
and warn the little one warily. For know
her-yes, Manueia knows her. / am a
widow and have borne children-aye borne
them also to the grave. and who. If not l.
should know the hearts of young wives
that are not yet mothers"
She patted his arm softly as she spoke.
and the great rough-husked heart of
Ramon of Sarria, the Arragonese peas
ant. giowed softly within him. He looked
down into Manuela's black eyes that hid
emotion as stone is hidden at the bot
tom of mountain tarn. Manuela smiled
with thin flexible lips, her easy subtle
smile She saw her way now. and to do
her justice she always did her best to
earn her wages.
Lovers would be lovers. so she argued
Gcd had made ii So Who was she Man.
ueia, the housekeeper of Padre Mateo of