Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-05
MARCIA'S FIND.
PART 2.
nv Florence Belle Merrylees.

by Florence belle merryteeS.
The objects which had attracted Marcia's
attention were several small stones of
bright. clear blue, showing plainly among
| the brownish yellow of the sand and peb-
bles In which they lay. What could they
be? she wondered, as she slowly turned
them over and over In her small brown
| hand; these stones Of the very blue of the
sky above her? Where had she seen
| some like them? She was sure this was
| not the first time she had looked at some
Of the same kind. and yet where could it
| have been? Certainly no one among her
friends in the village had any and in the
| two or three tiny shops there were none
| among the strings of bright beads and gilt
| ornaments.
| Still thinking deeply she turned to go
| home, determined to find her friend Jose
| and consult him on the subject at once
| The sun had just gone down behind the
great mountain at >the end OF the valley,
| leaving the whole western sky mass OF
| crimson glory: in the deepening twilight one
| by one the large, calm stars began to show
and the moon, that majestic silver lamp
which shines with such a wonderful white
| radiance in this Mexican land. made the
shadows very pits Of blackness In COM
AS Marcia stopped to enter the hut the
CHEEKY voice of Jose called 'bonos
noches," a goodnight to you, and. full Of
her curious find, she ran across the road TO
| burro. Almost before she had ended her
| story he cried excitedly:
! 'Dios gracias." ! know the little blue
stones ST. 81; they are the same as those the
Senorita Florencici, the senior mine own
| er's daughter has on the ring her mother
| gave her at Christmas! Don't you remem-
| Der, Marcia, how she showed 1t to US all
| the day Of the grand tree the senior gave
us? Yes, yes: know not the name, but
| they are very surely the same! This very
| night I will take them and show them 10
/ the senior. and then if they really are the
stones of the ring, who knows perhaps he
| will buy them; he is very rich"
| Marcia who had the most perfect faith in
| her friends superior wisdom and knowl-
| edge was filled with a most delightful
sense of pleasure and hope. Oh, if it were
| indeed as he thought, how good 1t would
! be. There would be an end at once to her
| worry over her old dress for the coming
! should have the finest "reboso" in all Quad
alcazar, and Jose should go with her and
| choose whatever he wanted most.
| It had been arranged that as soon as
| Jose got back from the mines he would
| come at once to her and tell her the result
| Of his trip. When. just as the day was
breaking. she heard some one whistling La
| Paloma," which was Jose's particular ia
| vorite in the way of tunes, she leaned far
| out of the one window Of the hut and
| waved her hand at the approaching figure
'It is we'll. Marcia. milo" he cried; here
are ten silver pesos for thee, the good
/ saints be thanked.
.sThe senior said the little blue stones
4 were as said those of the ring, 'tur-
quoise he called them, and he bought them
at once for another ring to be given to the
| senoria, his wife. He told me he thought
| that in the last big storm, the one when
| the man was drowned in that arroyo. you
| remember, the little stones must have been
| washed down from somewhere many, many
| miles away, far up in the mountains, off
| there where one never goes. He had heard
| of such things from some of the old poems
| who live on the slope of the Terra Leon, in
| the little Aqua Blanca village"
| 'Oh. thank you thousand times Jose
as you have had some sleep and my good
| mother Is ready we three will go to the
| shop Of Don Enrique to choose whatever
you like best. Mother shall get her 'reboso
| and my dress for the bale"
| When the great evening arrived and the
| guests began to assemble in most unusual
| numbers for that small settlement there
was no one among the gay throng Of
| ture as Marcia. Her luxuriant hair, waving
| in dark curls around her face, was tied
| with broad scarlet ribbon, the new dress
| Of soft deep cream-colored muslin was so
befrilled one wondered whether she would
ever dare to sit down and risk crushing it.
and as g. finishing touch to this wonderful
| toilet she had pair Of vivid scarlet stock
| ings and black shoes of the usual remark
| lean shoes seem to be. However, as they
were the object OF many admiring chances
| from her girl friends l suppose they must
have been quite the correct thing, and it
was only to my unaccuStOmed eyes they
looked as though there was absolutely no
| place in them for her toes Around her
slender neck hung q string OF beautiful red
| beads, such as she had never dreamed Of
owning. but. quite unknown to her. Jose
| had been saving up for months past every
centavo he possibly could, and the very day
of the bale, after due consultation with
| his friend, Don Enrique. he had bought
them and given them to her just as they
were starting for the dance.
What a delightful 'baile" that was! How
| the band squeaked and scraped In its cor
ner behind the big poinsetta tree.
The solemn thin youth with the enormous
nose and little round eyes, shook his queer
musical instrument until his arms ached.
I suppose musical Is hardly the correct
| term for a large tin fish. quite hollow and
| filled with fine gravel, but, anyway. 1t made
splendid amount of noise. which was
what was required, as he shook 1t in time
| to the music much as one uses a tam
BOURNE. The fat one-eyed man with the
sweet and cheerful SMILE broke two
sticks on the old drum, and as for the
two fiddlers, the man with the flute and
his brother. who was vigorously blowing
a trombone twice as big as himself, their
efforts exhausted them so they had to
stop for refreshments about every fifteen
minutes. Jose. in a very smart suit, was
| enjoying himself tremendously, and 1
should be positively ashamed to say how
many of the Chinese cooks little iced
cakes disappeared shortly after our
young friend neared the table on which
the refreshments were spread! The man
who played the big fiddle assured me
with a mournful shake of his head that
X was twenty, but then, one cannot al
ways believe all one hears. Jose had
chosen as his gift from Marcia most