Iron County register., 1904-03-03
JaCksOn'S Moral
T Scruples. ~
By Marguerite Stabler.
9o.ecsteoneee.


TT was Holy Week in Taos, where the
religion of civilization is engrafted
on the practice of barbarism-rank,
riotous barbarism. The pueblo is In
dian, but within sight is the Mexican
hamlet of Los Ranches de Taos, where
the low Truchas Mountains bend in and
shut away all outside influences so COM
plete1y it might be still under the old
Mexican dominion. The Indians, who
have become somewhat Mexicanized,
have, without losing any Of their own
tribal traits, acquired the religion and
some of the superstitions of the Mex
lean race; the result being an unwhole-
some complexity. But some of the In
dian women, who by happy chance
combine the best features of both races.
are almost beautiful in their rigid SYM
metry of outline, and it was one OF
these STRAIGHTFORWARD, dark-eyed,
brown-skinned beauties who saved
Jacksons life.
When Jackson's party had prospected
the lower ridge and turned toward the
river, Jackson, with his usual pig
headed obstinacy, had elected to re-
trace his course on lower level. So,
without much regret on either side,
they had made division of the grub
and parted at the foot of the mountain.
And it was in blasting a prospect in
this mountain that Jackson had met
with his accident. The Indians who had
passed him had no respect for man
with his leg blown half away, so, after
lying several days with scant food and
no shelter, he decided his only course
was to make an exit from so inhos,
pitable a world. Accordingly, while
his strength still served to accomplish
it, he reached for his knife and ran his
fingers caressingly along its edge. But
even as he did SO, trying to imagine
what it might be like to step out I'M
hidden into the dark, fleet-footed
young thing, win startled, fawn-like
eyes, stopped in her flight and looked
wonderingly at the man on the ground.
The man watched her, too, as she stood
looking at him, and stayed his hand.
His mind was somewhat clouded by the
fever and pain, but feeling came over
him that if those black eyes would
come back and look at him again in
that way he might not be in so great a
hurry to make his exit. After think
ing it over he decided to wait and see
If they would come back. 1t was a
thousand pities, he had felt at the time,
that man of his prowess should be
forced to sneak out of the world in this
ignoble fashion.
Then after many hours of weary
waiting, when the shadows began to
lengthen and the air to grow cool and
the pain in his foot to grow less, the
bushes parted, and sure enough the
same black eyes bent down and peered
at him till the darkness fell between
them and cut her off.
That was the beginning. The end
was foreordained. With woman's
quick eye she saw what was needed,
and the next night Jackson had double
rations and braided mat to sleep
under. The knife was put back in his
pocket, and the next time it was taken
out it was used by a pair of strong
brown hands to strip off the bark of
a tender sapling and to dig up heal
ing roots and herbs. And when his leg
was well enough to admit of his being
moved, it was Nita who found a shelter
for him, and Nita, black-eyed, strong
limbed Nita, who bore him on her
own strong shoulders and laid him on
a couch of soft branches. And again
it was Nita who brought water and pro-
visions to keep up his strength, and
charms and potions to keep the fever
out Of his leg.
Where Nita came from or to whom
she belonged Jackson never troubled
himself to ask. He accepted her devo-
ton as a natural compensation fer the
weeks of disability he was forced to
endure because of his misfortune. And
Nita the while, with the passionate
devotion of the Mexican nature and
the stolid fidelity of the Indian,
watched over him, bound his leg with
soothing herbs, and accepted his grunts
of satisfaction when she pleased him,
and his curses when, in dressing his
wound, she hurt him, with the same
dumb devotion in her black eyes.
After several weeks of careful nurs-
ing and plenty Of nourishing food,
jackson began to feel his strength re-
turning, and with it wild desire to
be up ard away. This enforced mac
ton had whetted his determination to
strike the vein they were prospecting
for, and to his delight, the leg he had
thought injured beyond hope, proved.
when the rude splints were taken off.
to be as straight and useful as ever.
AS soon as he began to feel able to
push on again and connect himself with
the world beyond the mountains, Nitas
care was no longer necessary to him.
Then he resurrected from some hither-
to unsuspected source in his nature a
moral compunction that had not dis
turbed him in the least when he lay
sick ana helpless In Nita's hands.
One evening, as he sat watching her
deft hrown fingers weaving reds and