The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1904-05-06


of Ching and Charley. who feared
neither hog, dog nor devil" and GER
tainly seemed able to deal with any
thing in the way of terrestrial or SUI
pernatural beings. ~. = - ~
In fact (for such is the inconsist-
ency of woman), I rather began to
wish that the ghosts would walk, or
otherwise make themselves known; or
that anything exciting would happen.
For, after the advent of my two Celes-
tials, my occupation was entirely gone;
no longer did I daily wrestle with the
kitchen brasero, and harangue the
fruitman and the other purveyors to
our inner needs. In other words, mat
tiers waxed deadly dull and porous, so
that complained bitterly to my other
half, who only laughed uproariously,
and gave me little sympathy. you
see, he had his work.) And said he:
my good wife. you don't know a fine
thing when you see it. Here you are
with plenty of leisure and all the
chance you want to shine in the Amer
lean colony of Pinal,' yet you let it
slip. Put on your gaudiest gown (if
you have one); all the jewelry you can
beg, borrow or steal; go and pay your
calls and I'll wager you a Virot hat
that you'll have all the diversion you
can stand"
Meekly, but without the jewelry, I
did as was told. called on many
ladies, and opened up new horizon
to myself in the way of topics of con-
versation. For in Pinal, you always
discuss your servants, and other peo-
pies servants; your own and other
peoples position in society; and the
fact that society in Mexico is not
what it is at home" To hear the wives
OF grocerymen, cheap clerks and ma
chinists discussing social position"
gave me rather a sort of "Alice-in-
Wonderland" feeling, but l held my
peace
Not many weeks passed before so
ciety and l mutually dropped each
other, and gave my husband no peace
until he decided upon and arranged
a nice, long ducking trip to the lakes,
some 40 miles from Pi1al. And, oh
me, how enjoyable it was. But when
we returned, with sunburned faces and
hands showing traces of powder and
hard work, the ladies of the American
colony shook dubious heads over me
and my probable fate. A woman who
actually went hunting with her hus-
band, could ride 80 miles in day, and
was reported to shoot as well as
man, was a paradox to them. For
their parts, they wondered why any
man wanted to marry such woman
so unfit for society.
10 tell the truth, I rather regretted
the tan and sunburn myself, when l
found upon our return invitations to
the usual yearly big bale at the
Casino. l hadn't been to dance of
any sort since our last country house
visits on Long Island. had a par
tlcular]y pretty gown, knew that the
floor would be good and slippery, the
native Mexican band fair and that
there would be plenty Of presentable
men to dance with, mostly delegations
from the outlying camps. But how
in the name OF all that was consist
ent could appear in an evening gown,
topped off by face, neck and arms
that were about the consistency of
color of burned leather? My husz
band unfeclingly suggested whitewash,
but applied lemon juice and mourned.
1t really was disappointing, you know
Three days before the dance the
partner Of my joys and sorrows was
called away to inspect the installation
of some new machinery. He left with
reluctance; for, while our big, old
house seemed absolutely safe, there
had nevertheless been some burglaries
of late, and he dreaded leaving me
alone with the servants for a couple
OF nights. But I urged him tc go,
saying that the doors were perfectly
robber-proof, the servants trustworthy
and that I would keep a shotgun
handy, so that he need have no fears
In point of fact, for once I preferred
his room to his company, having a
face-bleaching process in view, the
which I knew he would never con-
sent to, did he come to know of it. So
he departed and. feeling relieved and
sneaky by turns, set about prepara-
tions for the surreptitious whitening
of my unlucky countenance Most
schoolgirls will recognize the beauti-
fer which fastened to apply, as soon
as my light dinner had been dis
patched that night. With doors care
fully locked, and a revolver handy, in
case of burglars, experimental with
piece of chamois-skin until it amply
covered my face, concealing even the
ears. Then 1 cut very small holes for
my eyes, nose and mouth, so that I
could barely breathe comfortably.
Then, sewing on strings to hold the
contrivance in place, proceeded to
smear it literally with good, strong
Mexican leeks-and how they did
smell to high heaven!
When ready for bed I carefully ap-
piled this odorous mask, and tied it
on so that it could not by any. posi-