Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-13

rowed by Santiago from the ship, at the
| head of the room. Concha laughed gayly
as Luis stormed about the sala raSpng his
| spurs on the bare floor.
"Whitewashed walls for guests from st.
Petersburg." she jeered as Luis menaced
| the flags. I'VE have little enough to offer.
Besdes-what more wise than to fiaunt
our flag in the face of the Russian bear?
Their flag, of course. is mere idle com
pliment. Let me tell you two things, LUIS
! milo: This morning 1 invited the Russians
to dance tonight and told Padre Abella
to ask all the neighbors of the miss on be-
sides and Rafaela Sal helped me to drape
every of those flags When | told her
you might tear them down she vowed that
if you did she would dance all night with
the Bostonian."
Luis lifted his shoulders and moustache
to express an attitude of contemptuous res
ignation, but his face darkened and d mo-
ment later he left the room and strolied
up the square to the grating of Rafaella
Sal
Concha well knew that the frank gray
eyes OF the Bostonian-all citizens of the
! United States were Bostonians in that part
of the world. for only Boston shippers had
the enterprise to venture far-were for
no one but herself. But his face was honey
and freCkled ard his figure less in height
and gOr than her own. He was rich and
well-born, but shy and very modest. Con-
cha Ar2uello. Ia 1avorlta of California, was
for some such dashing caballero as Don
Antonio Castro of Monterey or lgnacio Sal,
the most adventurous rider of the north.
her in secret. and Dona Rafaella Sal was
very kind and danced as we'll himself.
He never dreamed that he was being used
as a stalking horse to keep alive in the
best match III the CALIFORNIA; the jealous
desire for exclusive possession that had
animated him in 1900. when he had applied
through the viceroy of Mexico for royal
consent to his marriage with the favorita
of her year. That was six years ago, and
never word had come from Madrid. Luis
was faithful. but men were men and girls
grew older every day. SO the wise Eafaella
| was alternately Indifferent and alluring,
| the object of more admiration than maid
| could always repel, yet with wells of sentf-
ment that only one man could discover
and the American was patient, and even
| had he known. would not In the least have
minded the she made of him. He still
! could look at Concha Arguello.
William Sturgis had sailed in one of his
| fathers ships, now six years ago from
| Boston in search of health. The ship, in
| dense fog, had gone on the rocks in the
| straits between the Farallones and the bay
| of San Francisco. He alone, and after long
| hours of struggle with the wicked currents
not even knowing in what direction land
| might be, flung senseless on the shore
| below the fort. For the next month he was
| an invalid in the house of the comandante
| Fortunately, his papers and money were
! sewn in oilskin belt. and his fathers
name was well known in California. More
| over. there never was more hkabe youth
! His illness interested all the matrons and
! maids of the Preside in his fate. When
| he recovered, his good dancing and unset
| fshness gave him paramount place in the
regard of the women: while his entire abb
| sence of beauty and his ability to hold his
| own in the mess room established his posi-
| ton with the men.
| In due course word Of his plight reached
| Boston and a ship Immediately dis
patched, not only to bring the castaway
| home but with the fine wardrobe necessary
! to young gentleman of his station. But
the same ship brought word of his fathers
4 Lt theys hn6 TtlY1f nd
| as there We're brothers enamored of the
business he hated, he decided to remain in
| the country that won his heart and given
| him health For some time there was de-
| muir on the part of the authorities; Spain
| welcomed no foreigners in her colonies; but
| Sturgis swore mighty oath that he would
never dispatch a letter uninspected by the
comandante: that he would make no eXcur-
| sions into the heart of the country; that
| he would neither engage in traffic nor inter-
| fere in politics. Then, having already won
the affections of the governor, he was per-
mitted to remain. even to rent an acre of
| land from the church in the sheltered Mis-
| sion valley and build himself house. Here
| he raised fruit and vegetables for his own
| hospitable table, chickens and game cocks
i Books and other luXures came by every
| ship from Boston. until for long interval
! ships came no more. One of these days
| when the power of the priests had abated
| and the jealousy which would keep all Cal
! ifornians landess but themselves was coun-
| terbalanced by great increase In popula-
| ton, he meant to nave a rancn QOWn In the
| south where the sun shone all the year
| round and he could ride half the day with
| his vaqueros after the finest cattle In the
| country He never should marry, because
| he could not marry Concha Arguelo but
! he could think Of her. see her sometimes,
| and in land where man was neither
| frozen in winter nor grilled in summer,
| where life could he led In the open and the
| tendency was to idle and dream. domestic
happiness called in feebler note than in
! less equable chimes. In his heart he was
| desperately Jealous Of Concha's favored
cavaliers, but 1t was a jealousy without
hatred, and his kind. earnest. often humor
| Gus, eyes were always assuring his lady of
| an imperishable desire to serve her without
| reward. OF course Concha treated him with
| as little consideration as so humble swain
! deserved, but In her heart she liked him
better than either Castro or Sal, for he
| talked to her of something besides rodeos
| and balls. racing and cock-fghts; he had
| taught her English and lent her many
| books. Moreover. he neither sighed nor
languished nor ever had sung to her graf
| ing. But she regarded him merely as an
| intelligence. q well of refreshment in her
| stagnant life-never as a man.
Rosa" she said, as she caught her hair
into a high golden comb that had been