Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1905-05-17
The Humanity of 1T
foriginal.l

| family ON little or nothing or to be
| tied to one who Is VIGOROUSLY un:
worthy. Nevertheless considerable
proportion of the other half go right
on making the same plumbers.
Frank Rivard chose sheep raising for
bis vocation, and his father established
and stocked for him ranch In Mon
tana. One would suppose that Frank
under the circumstances would take
pride and pleasure in attending strictly
to his ranch and his flocks and let other
things alone But there WIS great
deal of time that hung heavy on his
hands, and we all know that Satan
finds work for idle hands to do. An
old Mexican named Nunez Fustado
lived near. who supported very large
family partly by cultivating q small
vegetable garden and partly by keep
Ing a tavern. The oldest daughter,
Blanca, possessed certain elements Of
Spanish beauty. Rivard first saw her
six months after he had parted with
Julia Woodbury.. young lady Of his
own station, and to whom he would
have made q proposal of marriage just
before his departure had he not lacked
opportunity.
The Spanish black eyes Of Blanca,
the red tint set In an olive cheek, not
withstanding that her hair was frowzy
and her apparel dirty, were very beau
tifnl to Rivard-much more So he
thought, than the girl he had left be-
hind him. But only one who has seen
no women for six months can realize
how beautiful they are. Frank met
Blanca and made love to her, Of course.
That he should not do so was not to
be expected under the circumstances.
Few people commit great blunder all
at once; there are usually successive
steps. One morning after having been
with Blanca the night before in moon
light he woke up conscious that he was
betrothed. He was Mortified at first
and kept away from the girl for two
days, at the end of which time they
were sitting again in the moonlight
wrapped in each others arms and both
perfectly happy. From that time for
ward the lover considered the Mexican
girl necessary to his happiness.
Rivard was not the only fool Of the
two The girl had everything her own
way In q matrimonial point of view.
She would probably not be very happy
under such an unequal marriage, but
this she did not realize. Il was plain
to her that~sbes would get the best of
the bargain. Nevertheless she threw
away the opportunity. She was consid
cred pretty in that region and could |
have all the attention she desired. A
cowboy came along and made love to |
her in such desperate fashion that she |
rather enjoyed it. Instead Of telling |
him that she was engaged she tempo |
rized with him until he came to consid- |
er that she belonged to him. Then |
when the damage was done she was
afraid to tell him that she was engag- |
ed to Frank Rivard for fear the cow
boy would kill him, so she dismissed |
him without any good and sufficient
reason.
The affair ended as such affairs Occa-
sionally do-in a tragedy. The cowboy
sought her out so often and so fiercely
that she began to fear Rivard would
hear of his attention. One day the |
puncher told her that If she didn't
marry him he would kill her. She look
ed In his eye and saw that he meant
what he said and tried to escape. She
was too late. A pistol ball solved the
problem for her, and another prevented
trouble between her slayer and Rivard.
The cowboy sent it into his own foolish
brain.
When the catastrophe was broken TO
Rivard he was crazed. He spent
week trying to get over his loss, then
decided to try change of scene. Leav-
ing his flocks in the care of others. he
went home. The gradual approach to
civilization Interested him and crowd
ed out his sOrrow There is nothing
better to alleviate grief than travel.
BY the time Ire reached home he had
so far recovered that he began to real
lie the inequality of his intended union.
At any rate, he would say nothing
about it,
The first woman Rivard met after his
return was Julia Woodbury.. He was
sitting ON the piazza in the spring sun
shine when she enthusiastically TO
see his sister Mary. When she came
up the steps and saw him her face
broke into smile of pleasure. Some
low cont .ast between her ladylike
appearance and the slouchy Blanca
came up before his eyes and he could
lot get rid of It, though the contrast
annoyed him. The image of Blanca did
inally die away. leaving real image
If Miss Woodbury. which was very
pleasant to look upon.
A week later a telegram came for
Frank RivaSd stating that his presence .
vas needed OH the ranch at once. He
lad seen great deal in a short time
# Miss Woodbury.. and by mutual con-
tent of all parties they were left alone ,
ogether on the evening before his in
ended departure. 1t was moonlight,
nut Frank forgot that such was the
,ase on the night he proposed to
Blanca. AT any rate, he proposed to
lula and was accepted.
The next morning another telegram
anne. saying that the danger had pass I
d, and Frank decided to remain long
nough to take his bride back with {
lim G
Frank" said his father on the day
4 his wedding. your mother was :
Ifraid the loneliness out there might ,
cad you to do something stupid matrl-
nonially, but knew you had more
ense." ,
Whether Frank had more or less ,
ense than most men, he had the same ,
human nature. ,
AUSTIN A. KINGSLEY.