The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-02-08
The Emancipation.

Don Nicolas, of the City of Mexico,
leaned with both his elbows on the
broad counter OF his prosperous and IA
nous grocery and looked cut into the
Gale from between q huge Gruyere
cheese warranted Swiss, and an open tub
Of Spanish saTdtnes as salt as the Dead
Sea Inside, there was a minglement Of
smells; OF spices, OF Yankee hams, q
bacalao, and Of butter Outside, the
tropical sun, high and white in the
heavens, flashed down on q busy street,
! for the public way was fun of life
And while Don Nicolas was apparently
regarding all this passing show, his eyes
were fixed, and intrcsp ecuYely he saw
! himself again in north country valley
In his native Spain, q. land Of pleasant
wales. Of sparkling rills and great apple
( orchards. The o6or OF vlolets around
him; a charming Young girl dressed ali
/ in white and with great broad belt
with a ASKING buckle stood for moment
before one Of the SHOP doors. She car
RED a great bunch Of the purple flowers
of the season. Tall. with q certain haugh-
tiness, una altivez espanOla, she might
have been a daughter Of the proud Don
Rodrigo. the charelaine Of real castle
in Spain
''Vayal But she's a beauty" exclaim-
ed Don Nicholas softly, his gaze intently
fixed on the lovely girl That she was
/ Of true Spanish blood the grocer had no
/ doubt and he began to whistle TO him
! self. A whole train Of thoughts, or
rather Of vague half-thoughts, which had
been passink through the chambers Of
his brain for days. began to take def
mite shape. Why shdIld he, Don Nicolas
/ VillaIonga. a man of substance and of
/ recognized position in the commercial
world Of the city, 60 on forever in
routine Of dollar accumulation. There
! ceries and investments of profits. He
had, his private account-book told him,
/ $3.50 COO in good securities, half of it ma
! tional bank stock. part street railway,
and some mining shares that never fail
/ ed to pay q dividend. Then there was
! the tienda de abarrotes, worth at least
with stock and good viii. $4,000. Men
had for at least fifteen years taken OF
their hats TO him and called him Don
! Nicolas" in that tone of respect which
comes with the general knowledge Of
mans wealth.
! Don Nicolas locked again at the girl
/ in white; she was crossing to the other
side, stepping as proudly as an Andalu-
sian barb.
IN do II" said Don Nicolas. and
| turning to Joaquin, his chief clerk the
! grocer said, 4 shall not be back this
afternoon"
Before the, usual Paseo procession be
/ gan that afternoon you might have seen
our Don Nicolas grandly seated in an
| electric victoria bowling over the road
10 Chapultepec; he wore a tall hat and
! frOck coat. and there was flower in
the lapel. He had the air of a diplomat
taking his ease; care sat not on his
shoulders; the emancipation had be-
gun.
I 50 -, ~
spaces among the giant expresses of the
park which forms the setting of the his
toric castle; there was no smell of
cheeses and sardines there; only that Of
fresh grass and the good, wholesome
Odor Of pines and shrubbery.
1T seems to me that for at least five
years you have been a big fool. Don
Nicolas" this correctly dressed man was
saying to himself, you, with q fair
| enough fortune, without wife or child.
and the big world all so interesting out
side the shoD!
The good man got out after a while
and sat down on a rustic seat ana con-
tinued to inhale the balmy air with salts
faction.
A carriage went by, and. looking down
1 on Don Nicolas, was the young woman
who had uncOnsciousIy begun his eman-
cipation. She was dressed In a delicate
9 NNA~AA
parasol Her eyes were big and dark.
but kindly, and she seemed transiently
interested IN this strong and pleasant
faced man who was so plainly at peace
with himself and the world
The amorous chase began but it was
most prudently managed. Enough to say
that when dusk came 1t was Don Nico-
/ las good fortune to have discovered that
the young lady lived in the Gale de Reloj
% fer To-
For days Don Nicolas pursued his inves-
legations; he was a business man above
ALL and he first desired TO know If the
young woman was married, or. if single,
still heart-free, who were her parents or
guardians and what possible chance he
| had Of obtaining her hand. Being now
thoroughly emancipated, Don Nicolas left
the grocery TO Joaquin, whose salary
was doubled and q promise of becoming
the active partner whispered in his de-
lighted ears.
The young woman Of his heart was the
niece Of a prosperous Spaniard with an
hacienda IN Aguascalientes and his city
home IN one of the Gales del Reloj She
had come over from Madrid two years
before. her parents having died Now
she was the light and life Of the big.
square house Of her uncle long settled in
this country.
An old lawyer Of the capital had
brought the uncle and Don Nicolas to-
gether. Always a man Of business. our
good friend had gone straight 10 the
point; he was, he said, wei to DO, and
Of good habits. and he invited scrutiny
into MS affairs and life. The young wo-
man had captivated him and her hand
was the most desirable thing IN all the
world This directness pleased the uncle,
he soon verified DON Nicolas statements
and invited him 10 dinner. alleging 70 his
wife and niece that he had business with
the new acquaintance Thus D0na Inez.
who was not wholly deceived with The
business pretext, came 10 know the
emancipated grocer more intimately
Every dependents in the big grocery
received a new 500 bill the day OF the
wedding and the afternoon before Joa-
Quin. now promoted to Don Joaquin
was admitted 70 partnership. and win
manage the shop. His smile is almost
equatorial The happy pair are n Ha-
vana for a fortnight and viii then 60
70 spain. Dona Inez being Gesirous 70
show her opulent and agreeable husband
70 her friends ia Madrid-Don Bromisfa.
in the Mexican Herald.
Natural