The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-01-01
WASHINGTON o. THURSDAY

n man, and Dona for a lady. Thus Mr..
Solomon Warner was in all Santa Cruz
known only as Don Solomon, the more so
as the word warner" in Spanish is
absolutely unpronounceable, there being
no W. in the Spanish language, and the
short slurred end syllable 'er' never oc-
ours. Whenever a Mexican attempts to
say Warner, he will inyaria bly, pronounce,
unless specially drilled, Guarna; my friend
Wooster to them was either Busta or
Gusta; the small town of Wilcox, on the
Southern Pacific Railway, they spell and
write, is not specially taught otherwise,
Guilcoques; all of which creates much
merriment and confusion in the post
offices of the. Southern frontier.
To return,'to our story. The Mexican
appeared quickly at the gate, which he
opened for us. With whip he soon dis
persed the dogs, and we rode into the
yard He introduced himself as Pedro
Ursuides. the mayordomo or general over
seer of Mr.. Warner, and said that my
uniform led him at once to suppose that
we were from the fort. Being told that
we had come on a friendly visit, he be-
came at once n fair example of personified
hospitality. He clapped his hands vio-
lently together, not, as we at first sup
posed. as an expression of glad welcome,
but as a call for the aforesaid boy, who
:
Then Pedro took us to n room with two
cots, very simply furnished, but very
clean, brought water, towels, a crystal
bottle of sparkling mescal with glasses,
plate of oranges and n box of cigars
Then he left us with the words: Gentle
men, l leave you to your repOse; you are
very welcome; this house is yours. / do
not like to awake Mr.. Warner, as he ar
rived from Yenuris only few hours ago,
t,rfH will Ia, ,.nt, Il
shall take pleasure in calling you"
Wooster and l, being both tired, did not
engage in much conversation. We ate an
orange, and took a drink; then we lay
down and soon fell asleep. Once, it SEEM
ed to me that l was awakened by Woos-
ter talking. l sat up in bed and said:
Wooster, were you talking to meF
He made no answer, so / turned over
and was about falling asleep once more
when | heard him mutter distinctly: "Eu-
lalia, Eulalia, Eulaliaw
''The devil!'' said l to myself, II begin
to see a niger in the woodpile."
1t was about 8 o'clock when a gentle
knock at the door caused us to rise from
our beds, and presently the genial features
of Mr.. Warner appeared within. He babe
us very hearty welcome in the generous,
off-hand way which endeared him to all
that ever met him. We had a hearty
laugh together upon the cold reception we
had received from the few townspeople
we had met during the early hours. Mr..
Warner was highly amused at our aston
ishment we could not help to express that
he, the foremost man in the town, was an
unknown quantity in it, even in his own
house, and we solemnly declared that he
should be henceforth Don Solomon to us
as well as to Santa Cruz. l never called
him by any other name from that day,
and when, 80 years later, he died in my
arms at Tucson, Arizona, in September,
1899, babe him good-by forever with
the words: Don Solomon, my dear old
friend, thank you for all your kindness,
for your friendship through these many
years; you are going to enjoy the we'll
earned, peaceful, eternal rest"
Ito be continued)