Evening star., 1903-11-07
"The Blessing Of the Animals. y
MEXICO STORIES FOR AUNT DORO-
THY.S LITTLE HELPERS.

nr1tteu toF lne EfcuinS Wal W
Merrylees.
s,een was simply out of the question that
night for Ignacio Gonzales At O'CLOCK
q flor a sumner of frijoles and tortillas, he
had wrapped himself up and curled himseii
nm like a small dog in the furthest corner
of the adobe hut. He had tried MS very
best to go to sleep, but, alas! Is such
thing not impossible when ones brain Is III
a whirl of excitement?
Ignacio Gonzales in spite OF MS sranu
name was a most humble denizen of smah
mining village in northern Mexico. He was
inst ten wears old round and brown anu
iolly with great black eyes, straish'
glossy. dark hair and teeth so white anu
even they looked like two rows OF sihaii
| nolished white pebbles His father was d
| moor neon I'D at the great silver mine anu
| his mother earned few cents week III
[ ing and selling sunfiower seeds from tie
| small garden patch behind the house his
| life so far had been precisely like that OF
| all the other small boys in his village ne
| had done nothing much beyond piayH@
| around in the brilliant sunshine and waoihs
| in the "arroyas" when, after one Oh INC
| sudden violent storms, the water rusheo
down from the mountains In a 1oamihs'
| ,eanine mass and vanished almost as quich-
lv into the sand of the thirsty, sun-paheu
| plain below. Much against his VIII ne hau
| been taken to mass In the pretty httie
| white chapel every Sunday morning MS
| unwillinyness arising chiefly from ms ue
| ctded objection to tie thoroughness y, ~.
| Tubing his good mother administered 'iie
| night before this occasion. ..os
| Yes life had held many quiet pieasuioS
| for him so far, but surely never such one
| as was to be his on the coming DAY. was
| it not the day of the feast OF the pa'Io,. .
| saint of the animals-the day when no.
| only their own good padre, but the plshop
| himself from San Jose. the great city pc
| yond the mountains. was to come to them
! for the blessing of the animals! Ii was d
| day set apart by the church entlreiy loi
| the fail..ful creatures who toiled so patient
| ly all the year. or the pets who did VIVA.
| they could to make some poor little nome
| brighter, or perhaps 1t was notnins nore
| than pig or a chicken. But were they
| not creatures of the good gods just the
same? They, too, should surely receive
| the blessing. Every one who owned any
| thing in the way of live stock. from a oird
| to the finest horse, would deck them IN all
the finest regalia of ribbons. paper roset.es
| and wonderful strings of flowers. which
| even the poorest of them had been saving
| up for these many months.
| Hitherto Ignacio had been considered too
| small and insignificant to fittingly represent
| the Gonzales family on this great occasion,
but this year, oh, Joy of joys! he was to be
| allowed to take his place in the PROCESSION.
| He tossed and turned restlessly in his
| corner, with visions of his two beautlful
little black pigs in the Sty just outside the
| window, and his heart swelled with pride
| as he thought of the beauty of the yellow
| rosettes his mother had been so busy max
| ing for their adornment. AS he lay In the
| darkness listening to the barking OF the
| dogs, which is always too prominent part
| of a Mexican night, and the soft whisper
| ing of the wind as it rustled the swaying
| grasses by the roadside, he thought he
| heard sounds of sobbing somewhere close
| by. He got quietly to his feet and stepped
| to the open doorway. At first he could see
| nothing, but presently as he looked toward
the pigSty he saw small figure crouching
| on the ground beside it. At that minute it
| moved, and he saw it was his little friend
| Marcia Josepha, the daughter of the widow
| who lived in the wretched little hut just
| across the road. They were the poorest
people in the village. and he had often
| shared his supper with the little girl. She
| gave a frightened start as Ignacio stepped
| toward her and turned to run, but he
| caught hold of her ragged dress. and, pull
! ing her back, asked what was the matter.
| This started the tears once more, and with
sobs that were quite heartrending she told
how for days past she had listened to the
! merry prattle of the children over the COM
ing fiesta-of this ones lovely pair of ring
| doves, whose cage was to be tied with blue
| ribbons; of another's white goat, whose
| horns and hoofs were to be gilded and
still another who was the proud possessor
of a fat little "burro,' for which he had
new saddle, painted red. and most Won
derful pair of red tassels to hang over it's
ears. Amid all this joy she alone was sad.
for was it not most cruelty true that she
had nothing-no, not even a kitten to take
to the great fiesta?
Ignacio was sorry, very sorry: but what
| could he do? He had not a single centavo
he could give her to buy anything with,
and, although vague thoughts of stealing
| one of his neighbors blind and NANCY pups
| crossed his mind his dread of the conse-
| quences proved too strong. Well, there
| was plainly nothing to be done. and she had
| better run home, as the first pale light OF
| the coming day was already beginning to
| steal across the land. and surely there was
| enough for small boy to do before the
| procession started. Yes, he was truly very
| sorry, but it couldn't be helped
AS soon as his breakfast was finished he
| set to work on the toilet of his pigs,
| process fraught with much trouble and
| tribulation of spirit. In order to give them
| a satisfactory scrubbing their legs had to
| be firmly tied together. and then with brush
| and soap bark, accompanied by vigorous
| rubbing and punching. the toilet proceeded.
| " hen they Shone like Jumps of coal, collars
| in blue and red were fastened around their
| necks and twelve of the lovely yellow paper
| rosettes stuck on each pig with Jumps of
| cobbler's wax. giving them very much the
| effect of two little black satin pin cushions.
| AS the crowning glory there was a wide
| band of green fastened securely around
| each fat body. with the date in bright
colored beads worked on it. Ignacio sur
| veyed his efforts with pride. There could
| be no doubt about it whatever, his two pigs
| would be by far the most delightful animals
| in the whole assembly!
/ By o'clock the sandy strip of road which
| ran through the village was filled with
| gay. noisy crowd of old and young, calling
| joyously to each other and proclaming the
| beauty of their friends animals while they
| modestly disclaimed any merits of their
own, in the polite Mexican way. Horses
stood paving the ground and impatiently
| trying to shake off the long ribbon stream
| ers hanging from their names. Patient little
| "burros'' stood with dropping heads while
| their masters decorated them with garlands
| of flowers and paper chains. They wondered
| perhaps where were the heavy loads they
| used to carry. and what all the clatter anu
| hustle meant. In one place a most digni-
/ fied-looking goat, with large bunch of red
\ and white paper roses tied to it's horns, was
| discovered just in the nick of time, calmly
| proceeding to eat a most lovely green and
| red rosette the back of a silly-Iooking
] little white dog. parrot in a very fine
| gilt cage hung with long streamers of reu,
! hl,,a Ay,y;x Il