The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-03-04
BY Mary Edith GriswoId.
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JdSSeu PEAKS VI luS oiSlidS. oFSi
all the blue sky and burning sun of
Arizona.
Something was the matter with the
engine. The train crept up to the
next station and stopped. Jane Mac
kenzie got down to take the air. 9th
er passengers were walking up and
down within ear of the conductors
signal.
A small Indian girl a out of an
adobe house across the way and
waved her little arms in beckon to
them. Jane went toward her. The
child fed into the house, but Jane
went right on, past the hut, past the
other huts, straight toward the noun
tains. The swift breeze brought her
a message.
AS she walked on the tired look,
the sadness in her eyes, the droop in
the shoulders vanished. Her soul
was awakening. The scream Of the
locomotive sounded from the moving
train. She turned and watched the
cars recede across the face of the
desert.
Goodbye, old life; goodbye, am
bition; goodbye, Malcolm" At this
name the exultant note in her voice
changed to infinite tenderness. A
tear slid out of the corner of her eye
and sparkled a minute on her cheek.
Then it fell on her hand. She
brushed it away.
81 didn't think I could ever say
that and really mean it. But I do"
With this declaration the last fetter
of gloom vanished. She threw her
arms up toward heaven and shouted:
II am free! free! free!"
Presently Jane found herself fol-
lowing a trail. 1t led up through a
dry arroyo to a little mesa where a
small adobe house basked in'the sun
An old Indian woman was sitting in
the shade. Jane went up to her and
held out her hand. "Buenos dias,
madre," she said, smiling.
The old woman returned the salu-
tation, took the proffered hand and
pressed it.
II am lost to my world" began the
girl; won't you take me in and let
me become a part of yours?"
The old Indian woman did not un-
derstand the full meaning Of the
academic Spanish spoken by her
guest, but she understood the appeal
In the voice. you are welcome,
senorita," she said, center"
ut is pleasant here" said Jane.
aLet us sit outside where we can
watch the world"
"Bueno."
The two women sat down on a
bench in front Of the house. A long
silence followed. The shadows grew
into long purple lines across the gray
Of the sagebrush. Finally the girl
spoke: II am very hungry; have we
anything to eat?"
There is corn in the tin and w-.er
In the ola. We shall eat," said old
Guadalupe.
1T is well, madre; I will grind the
corn while you make the fire."
Jane had been reared in a Cali
fornia town with a Spanish past and
understood the manufacture of the
tortilla. She found the metate and
was soon busy grinding the hulled
corn into meal on the stone mortar.
Guadalupe watched, her eyes lit
with curiosity and Indian caution.
Her life up to this day had been a
succession of days as like each other
as blades of grass. ThiN was her
first real experience since her Apache
husband had taken her to wife.
In the days of her youth the dance
had made her heart beat quick, but
those were years agone. Her man
had long been serving as a section
hand on the railroad; nothing ever
stirred him up except the periodical
prosecutions of his section boss. But
even his sullen hatred of the Amer
lean boss had grown to be an old
story. Away off, very far in Apache
land, the braves did sometimes ever
yet dance the war dance, make medi-
cine, n ride on the warpath, but
Guadalupe and her man, Juan, only
heard faint rumors Of such delight
full doings long after they had hap
pened. Juan had been a paciico ever
since his love for her had made him
a soft heart" and the tribe never
sent him word to join their raids.
r,olo1o,r1 I;l M - 49, 1oa.4
understand how a young American
lady wearing such fine clothes should
stray so far from her city home, nor
why she should wish to stay with two
old Indians in the desert, but the
love she bore for her man illumined
the dark recesses of her mind and
made her full of sympathy for the
stranger. Guadalupe had worked for
the American station agents wife and
knew that her household utensils
were meagre, but the stranger didn't
seem to mind. She was so pretty, so
gay, so joyously hungry that Guada-
loupe did not think too deeply Of
these things. What pleased her best
was that so fair a creature should
call her mother.
The short Arizona twilight was al
most gone when old Juan came home.
The surprise he must have felt at
finding a strange young lady in his
house vas carefully concealed. He
shook the girls hand gravely and
went inside to eat his evening meal.
Guadalupe went with him.
Jane was left alone in the gloam-
ing. From afar off over the desert