Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1910-11-25
THE OLD MAN LIGHTED SEVERAL BLESSED
CANDLES.

THE OLD MAN LIGHTED SEVERAL BLESSED
CANDLES.
them they would suddenly find their
fields destroyed. their houses sacked
and themselves exposed to the danger
Of being suffocated by the flames
when their matched roofs would
spread sickening and poisonous fumes.
Gafarro, the bravest lad Of Ruzafa,
had sworn to discover the malefactors.
Every night, his gun across his arm,
he concealed himself in bunch Of
bushes or traversed the roads. One
morning some one found his corpse in
brook. his body rlddled with balls
and his head crushed In.
All the papers in Valencia reported
the facts regarding the crime and
reused the fears of the residents Of
the huerta SO that from then on every
householder closed his house with
locks and belts and forgot his neigh
bors in selfish fear The alcalde Of the
district answered in tl,undcrous tones
when the authorities. respecting his
electoral powers. entered into discus
sion of this matter. Ike declared that
he and Sisro. his faithful alguazil.
we've quite sufficient to PUT an end to
such Il calamity ard scandal.
Nevertheless Sento Gil not think of
going to the alcaldc. he was not Il
man Of vain words.
That Of which he was certain was
that some one had ordered him to
place the forty Glr,.s in the oven and
| threatened 10 burr! his little hanc if
| he failed 10 u" So. Ike loved that lit
tie house as 81 father loves a dying son.
The wallis We're If y dazzling white
! ness. the ;,iAtsh II s..u'i:rMvh straw
VIII h cuv"lr;! il. with III" l:...e crosses
ut each point In ..!r s|ir, reef. the
hi';e Shutters .ii' K, ~ a; III" door
like &, sash. where III" ::ililvM su!!!,s..ms
+. filtered tl."ougti IL" green vians: the
n!nSscs Of l'uln Pedro a""a.i,,.iiS l.ur-
! dr::s the t.t!ii> in rich banks. tall
ul.l thick. i:usi.t,s. there t,ryul.tl the
! ok! fig tree stood the uvt.n made OF
clay ani l;l.s. you:.t. and low ANA
1 sii:iHcsi li!se The a.;s' nests in Africa
| ~. This confined made his fortune
the nest which sheltered his dearest
affections. lis wi:r uu! their three
children.
How many days Of labor with his
| pick and shovel he had done in his
| four fields to earn the little handful Of
duros. How many years his ancestors
had toileu to make this little home
| what it had become. The handful Of
money he had hidden III Il small! clay
jar and buried beneath his bed. And
Row he must allow himself TO be pill
Jagged of forty .'urcs.
AS the night was falling and he had
not yet decided upon anything. he
went to his nearest neiglbor. an old
man who had lived and worked so
long that now he could do nothing more
than cut the weeds and brambles by
; the roadside. but who .was said by
those who had known him in his
youth to have enriched more than one
field.
The old man listened with his eyes
fixed upon the fat cigarette which he
rolled between his calloused and shak-
in,: fingers. His words were wise:
Ven are right not to give up your
money. Let them come out in the
road like men. face to face. risking
:heir skins am seventy years old,
but they don't dare try such foolish
ness Oh me. Let us see. Sento. You
are too much Of a coward to defend
your own"
This firm assurance penetrated the
rather sluggish brain of Sento. and he
felt capable of anything for the scks