The Cairo bulletin., 1906-05-16
me House Ne Built Her.
ny E. L. DITHRIDGE.

but only after you nave complied Win
certain condition.
The other leaned forward eagerly
hopicg the condition would be WITHIN
his powers to perform His eyes
gloeed his lips parted his hands
clasped. and his fingers twisted anx'
lousy, during the pause that ensued
Then the condition came short torci'
BILE ald abrupt
"First build her house,"
We'll. ii was a hard requirement al
best. and almost an impossible one
let he made up his MUD al once that
he would comply with TIE condition.
/ James Burton was a young engineer
| trylry 10 make his fortune in the
! mlara Of Mexico He Tad no moaey
will. which to start Independently, so
1 he mad engaged as AN assistant in he
| employ of large company operating
nea, Mexico City. He had now been
! IN ne country six months and during
/ that period had grown 10 love he
| dan ehter OF wealthy ranch owner
| The 'ranchero" had practically no
| III gIsh education himself but had
pt yided way for tae education OF
his children in both English and span
ISL. His eldest daughter, Aurora, had
attended boarding school in phia-
Gelphia.
Aurora was ~ sensible as she vas
bright. None of he fickle fiiI.fy
caa,acter of th~ Spanish race seemed
~ hrF far
fer;y of fire in them. but there was
revrr any tuplcity back of IT,
Barton loved her. not merely he
cause she was captivating, but he
cause she corabired those sterling
qualities admired by every man OF as-
rious nature.
When he met her he knew at once
il was a case Of settle down aad
grow up with tae country" for here
vas nor only his professional WORK.
but lis hearts ideal also.
He had not yet proposed to Aurora.
He had theory thar it should not he
necessary. eAcep. as a matter Of form
ana that any man who was refused
VAS fool and ought to be, Ee
chined thar lovers should learn 70 W
decstand each other in the language
Of lole before attempting 10 make use
Of any other language.
He knew Aurors loved him, and all
he wanted was The parental sanction
New he had OBTAINED it. but with 2
difficult condition imposed
How could he build her house, Ne
Has drawing only sl20 per monta.
this Is the debased currency OF Mex !
lea; and that the things hat mus! be |
purchased with Il are all marked away |
ny 20 the standard of the EGted |
) rates currency. A man who is worth |
40 dollars 3 day in the United Stslas |
gets only two dollars in Mexico. Int |
a r,ir of shoes worth two dollars In
he United States costs eight or fen |
iol 'ars In Mexico.
How. then you say can the native |
Msdcans live on from fifty Gems 10 |
a collar a dag In Mexican money? |
TlCy wear shirt pair of overelis,
a Hlanket and pair of sandals-no |
more; and they eat pancakes and /
beans. pancakes and beans. panca 6es |
and beans. and beans
So how vas James Burton to sup
p, Ut himself on 1920 month and /
b,fld a house besides" You don't |
ku2w. and neither did he; but he de-
termined to do II just the same
Finally he got an idea He waited |
foe good opportunity and then |
preached the subject to the manf ser
OF the company Mr.. Langdon,
MI Langdon he said. IF von1l |
br'ld me lit'le three.room adobe
honse, I'll stand halt tho cost"
You been getting married."
Not yet. no But want TO as soon
~ | can get a house
Sorry. nav boy: sorry; but the rom
ptny wont allow me TO make such an
=; pendlture at this time Later on,
WIEN our drifting reaches those rich
veins that show on the surface o: the
hll and we get 10 running that rich
stun through tie mill here. there nay
be a different story 10 tell: bur just
now. cannot do e."
lie went back 10 his work in the as
%y room He thought about 1t all
lay Night came. and he crawlea into
lis bunk What could he do? There
must be SOM way Of solving This
problem, He had solved other prob
les1s, mining sroblems, many o'taem;
why couldn't he solve this2
By means OF many Inquiries be had
satisfied himself mat $3.50 Mexican
vas safe estimate of The cost Of &
th-ee-room adobe house Built so as 10
he barely comfortable A ridiculonsly
low figure. 10 be sure. But # would
take him a long time to save that
much, and II the adobBs weren't made
turing March, April and May. he'd
have TO wait another year. II still
lacked two weeks Ia the first of
March-time enough to build the
foundatiOn-and the company had
plenty OF lime and stone on hand. May
be Mr.. lsngdon woul let him have
Ilme and stone enough for the foun-
sation If he assumed The responsible
iiy Of paying the wages. There was
, mason working on a small addition
% the mill building: maybe he would
Of -. NIL I