The daily tribune., 1909-02-12
An Old Don

Caves Of BelIemar are ruins OF oace
nne old country houses. They stand.
roofless and with vacant windows,
fronted by remnants OF 3reek and
Roman porticos, in ths middle Of
weed-grown gardens, Like aesscrated
tombs In deserted churchyard. They
are the stones that muteiy point the
way along which pftilees war has gone.
Inethe early morntng had climbed
the white road which skirts the cres-
cent bay. and winds above the pink
and-white cottages on its edge to the
mesa, where are the caves, and, re-
turning, had turned into this quiet
street '' "f"'-s
Ell senor Don Carlos Velero. pot
In hand. was carefully watering row
OF feeble plants in box at the end OF
his porch. doubt II "Uncle Toby"
ever put the last touches to redoubt
with more loving fingers than those
which picked OF dead leaf here or
Strengthened q bent stem there There
was SO much friendliness In his quick
glance that l ventured to salute him
IN Indifferent Spanish. to which he re-
piled in plain enough English. / must
stop-1 must rest a bit-I must have
drink of water, he said, and taken by
his kindly old face and manner. 1 was
glad to accept. / noted him closely
as he returned with tray bearing q
clay Jug and glass, and felt sure he
must be part and parcel OF the old
street.
He carried his sixty-odd years with a
slight stoop in the slender frame. His
linen clothes were. patched. and worn
from many oleanings. The soft hat he
held In his hand had once been brown.
but had turned to the red Of new ma,
hogany. When i took a closer look ut
his face, smooth-shaven except for q
white mustache. brown as an old sad
die beneath the ,close-cropped white
hair, ! saw that the clothes did not
proclaim the man-for there was not a
line nor furrow that had been traced
by any but the sentler feelings, except
those marks left by adyarsity.
He WAS indeed an old resident Of the
"Avenfda." This house. which was his
country place in an earlier time, had
been one OF the first bnilt As we sat
over coffee. later, In the big, airy din
ing room. looking out into the sunny
patio with It's stone we'll and arched
doorways. he spoke frankly and with
out bitterness of the turns his for
tunes had taken.
His fathers father. he said. had been
an admiral In the Spanish navy-he
. pointed to portrait on the wall OF q
fine looking old warrior in full uniform
|, his grandfather. on his mothers
side, a colonel in the French army. He
had once owned two plantations, he
went on. but In the 'tfirst war" they
had been swept away with everything
they contained. except the things he
had carried OF In his pockets and
hands. Nothing was left but this
empty old house. Here he had
brought his family. and from the roof
had watched the smoke rolling up
from the buildings he had been forced
to abandon.
a His wife was an American woman.
plainly OF good breeding, and late in
life the two had been made happy by
a little daughter, a bright little thing
about four years old. who led her old
father merry dance at her pleasure.
II she had demanded to be taken to
the moon, or some equally impossible
place, j believe that. from force Of
habit. absently he would have taken
his stout stick from the corner and
looked about for his hat!
In his odd, mixed accent, dropping.
French and Spanish .nterjections every
now and then. he spoke Of his favorite
books. and It was plain ne had not
cared to wander very far outside the
fields OF the older classics. He quoted
Byron and Dante at length; men
toned Sue and Hugo with profound
respect; but laughed till the tears
rolled down his cheeks at bits he re-
called from "Gn Bias" and at the
passages he read aloud in archaic
Spanish from Don Quixote"
I wish l could set down In his own
words. with the feeling which swayed
him, his simple account OF the at
tempt to bribe the keeper Of the be
trayed Maximillian wiien the latter
was held in a Mexican prison under
sentence OF death. 1t would 20 far
toward showing his creed OF life. AS
the old don concluded his tale. which
he had told with unconscious dra-
matte effect. Of how the poor soldier
had sent back the signed check which
had been put In his hand to MI in
any amount he cared to inscribe--
holding his honor above money-he
paused moment reficctively and
added. with an absent stare In his
mild eyes:
Il don't know what II ee~ dat keeps
q man from doing an injury to hse~
neighbor; dat keeps him from break.