Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-16
l he Americana at Cerdos Short Story.

it had been distilled in an old kerosene
can an was strong enough to raise the
hair off'n a full-grOwn elephant. Ye see.
the trouble was that the last local savior
of his country had ditched Cerdos for fair,
an they amt no wreckin' trains in them
parts.
Yes. I'm a-comin' at the trouble now.
if you'll jes gimme time. It all started
with pay day-pay day an Bendito de la
Trinidad. or SOM sech fool name.
called him Benny fer short an he surely
was thorn In my afflicted side. He had
only one eye an no morals t all. an his
genius fer soldierin work. runnin' amuck
on frewater an breedin discomfort in
vi'lent forms was Nape-oleonic. So I
like dumfool Americana, carlated I'd
get even. wherefore 1 locked him thirty
perros chicos on his pay at the end O. the
job. give him a good cussin' in all the
mestizO / cd sling an warned him off n
the line fer keeps, under penalty Of my
shotgun.
That's where 7 fell down good and
plenty. Mex day the line all of a sud
den. quit business. an not a dot ner a
dash would she shove. I sot round the
hull tarnation mornin' jisgerin' with
things to try an find. out the rea son. but
twa'n't no use-the line had gone dryer
n a creek in hytime. so piked out after
the sun had got low enough to let me
with my repair kit. Sure 'nough half
a mile from camp I foun section of
wire gone tween two poles. an by the
clean-cut ends I located both who twas
that done it an whar miSsin pair q
nippers was that I'd been lookn' every
whar fer. 1t took me bout twenty min
utes to splice the break an some cuss in
the meskeet SHIPPED at me quite a bit as
l set up thar top o the poles. He c'd-a
dropped me. too. If he hadn't-a been a
rotten bad shot. but all he done was hole
my sombrero an clip lovelock
''Well. T got 'er spliced at last. sent a
hurry call ia Santo Domingo fer the tug,
as 1 seen trouble loomin' nigh, an then
lit out hot-foot fer the pweblo Of Cerdos
Prospectin round. mister. I'm vummed if
l didn't find more'n half my missin wire
strung in Benny's brothers patio, with his
mujer Chats what them idjits call
woman, yessir. a mujerD hangin' out the
hereditary 1892 family rags onta it, all
drippin' salt water out-a the bay. Take
m oath. I never done nothin' much
quicker in all my life than l jerked that
wife Off'n them mud walls and scattered
the salty rags on terra Gotta. as the poet
says. Then me an the wire went back
ia camp.
Bout the time 1 got thar a reg 'iar
anti-foreign demonstrashun was II full
blast. Thirty forty leadin' citizens IN par
Ilal paJdn1lnleS come Out-d-tOWn an pro-
ceeded along the beach eng massf wavin'
sticks am things an disappearing the
American hawg. Some had rifles. san
couple bullets went "Zing-g-g-ggY agin
my metal walls. Bang! Bang! Chapter
one was finished fore it had got, rightly
started. Back O. the clearing smoke 1
seen scatter o ragged nighties an twas
all over. That vitriol's pizen stuff-awfui.
betcha some o them dons felt where the
Jumps hit for quite a smart spell. Laugh?
Well, some
THE alcaldy-that's the mayor-come
out then with a white flag. to parley.
Ell Senior Americana no shoot" yells
he, afar off.
Come along. venga. dd gingerbread,