Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-11-25
Legally Dead
COriginal.1

best TO avoid being entangled In anv
of the various strifes that succeeded
one another fer the possession of the
government. for tn be on the wrong
side meant death. Dona Marina. Her.
rera's eldest daughter. was courted by
SignOr Juan Bustamente. a neighbor.
ing hacienda owner who had done a
great deal to establish the government
then in power. He was more than
twice Marna's age and was especially
disagreeable to her. But she was
urged by her family to accept him on
the ground that if she declined him
he might seek revenge by impugning
ner fathers loyalty to the government.
But Dona Marina loved Philippe
Mendoza. the son Of neighboring
planter. Urged to give him up for
Bustamente. through fear she consent
ed, but not for long. She confessed to
Bustamente her love for Mendoza and
begged him to release her. He did so
at once with many expressions of grief
and wishes for her happiness. Ky this
course Marina turned what had been
feared for her father against her lover.
Bustamente, thinking that if he got
Mendoza ont of the way Marina might
yet become his wife, secretly accused
his rival of plotting with one who was
known to be fomenting a new revolu-
ton. Mendoza was arrested and taken
; no one knew where.
AS soon as the news of the arrest
reached the Herreras. not suspecting
Bustamente. Marina implored him to
use his influence with the president in
behalf of her lover He promised to do
! so and set off at once to the capital os-
tensibly for the purpose. He knew
very we'll that Mendoza would have
been executed before his arrival. for he
had so arranged with the government.
; What he wished was to conceal his
own part in the murder and gain credit
with Marina that would benefit his suit
in the future
There is law in Mexico that one
executed shall be left where he falls
till friends or relatives come and take
away the body for burial. But at Men
doza's execution there was no one to
claim the body. Bustamente had ar.
ranged that he be taken to distant
province from which the news of his
execution would be long in reaching
his friends. especially Dona Marina
Mendoza was taken out in the gray
Of the morning and was stood up be-
i fore eight soldiers who at the word of
command fred volley at him. He
, fell. The commander of the firing party
took look at the body and saw that it
had several wounds in the thorax and
two in the head. any one of which
might be expected to kill him. The SOL
diers were marched away and writ
! ten report handed in that Philippe
i Mendoza was dead.
But Mendoza was not dead Notwith.
standing his wounds after the firing
party had marched away he revived
For a time he supposed that he had
awakened in another world Yet there
above him was the same blue sky he
had lived under. and he could hear cat
tie lowing. Making an effort, he raised
himself on his elbow. looked about him
and down on his blood stained cloth
ing. Then, making another effort, he
+, got up and walked several miles to a
hospital.
He could not keep the secret that he
had been executed, and word soon
reached those who had been charged
with his execution. Fearing that they
would be blamed for neglect of duty,
they proposed to shoot him again. tst
before they could agree upon this
course the news of the strange case
reached the governor of the province
He had been on the bench, and the
only thing in the world he respected
was the law. He took the matter un-
der consideration. at last deciding that
Mendoza had been executed, had been
reported dead and was therefore dead
That is. he was dead in law. Therefore
those who had been ordered to execute
him had nothing further to do with
him. He was without legal existence
in the republic of Mexico. No further
report of the matter need be forwarded
to the government. for there was moth.
ing to be said about one who had been
reported legally dead.
One evening as SignOr Bustamente
was returning from visit to the Her
rera hacienda he heard a voice from
bushes beside the road ordering him
to halt. He stopped. and a man step
ped into the road a short distance be-
fore him. His cheeks were hollow,
his lips were thin. his eyes were wild
his face was white. Bustamente saw
his rival. or what he considered h:
rivals ghost.
"Are you of the living or the deady'
II am dead-legally dead. But that
you shall not again have me executed
am firing party to execute you"
The ghost raised rifle and shot his
enemy dead.
When Mendoza appeared at the Her.
rera hacienda no one there knew what
had become of him. He told the story
of his execution and that he had exc.
cuted the man who had brought II
about His visit was brief. and no one
except the Herreras knew that he had
hpen there. The slayer of Bustamente
was never known. Soon after all this
occurred new leader of the party on.
posed to the government arose. march.
ed to the capital. took it. executed
every member of the government and
was proclaimed president. He was
none other than Mendoza.
When it was found that the new
president was strangely given to par