The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-07-25
'TheAbaIOne House
b. RuIH ALLEN BENEDlcT:


S.,,--siIli.s.,liis.-- i.-sHEl ss-iiliss
joe. Win marry nee when.
~ carrnsnctta black eyes
soitened imusin and rev ppelas tsls 4
lystFing fspolished abaioli ~ bout ner
neck when thou canst build Pc z
| house ofsdobe inlaid With the aba q
Hone she'll,
Surely Carmencita but how "
queried her lover.
..The big 'dobe blocks, with one
| shell stuck in each. It will not take re
long. and coldly, az thou are not
enough ola diver. Manuel, thy broth
er, Is certainly"
The dark blood flushed Jose 8 race,
but because Of his constrainlng love-
he answered quietly enough:
..it is we'll. and ! begin our nome
tomorrow"
Day after day, through, the opalesl
\ cent waters Of Catalina Bay, the 1.-the
4 body Of Jose shot downward. With
dextrous knife he wrenchedt the huge
sea-ears from their rocky home, and
rose with his prize to the surface,
oh. what relief to draw the air once
J, more through the straining lungs.
{, the wild exultation at the sight OF
the sun, the half-sigh Of gratitude
/ for another perilous trip accomplish
ed, Every swift dart through the
\ blue-green water meant a possible
| encounter with shark, or, more to
be dreaded,a misstep into the open
laws of a huge abalone. The great
clam never relaxes his hold, and
many a luckless diver has been
drowned, or choosing heroic meas
, ure. risen to the surface minus
heel.
The little home progressed stead
!, Ily; not SO Jose's woeing. The chang
, ing lights Of the abalone she loved
, seemed to dominate Carmencita's
: character. one day she smiled on
: lose, the next drove him to despair
) nv sailing with the rich fisherman
Fernando. But at last the little two
roomed house was all but done; the
swastika was craven on the lintels;
!. all was ready save the one great shell
: needed to fill the niche above the
door. Shells of course there were,
> but none large or shimmerins
!. enough to suit the capriclous Car.
mencita. Whereupon, Jose stumbled
along the reef at low tide, looking
8 closely at every rock to discover the
4 prize shell. 1t was weary hunter
t that toiled through the oOsy sand.
e for he had spent the day in fruitless
diving, until now, night and the tide
we're fast coming on.
The thought quickened his steps.
He slipped and fell. The knife in his
: hand stabbed crevice in the rock
and snapped or. az the same mo-
ment Jose felt his foot caught in a
n vise-like grasp, which slowly tight
Il ened witha sickening pain, In vain
d he struggled to tear his foot away;
5 even the fragments Of his knife were
beyond his reach, and the one NOV
able stone was too small fortHse. He
9 sent a shrIll cry echoing over tha
i lonely beach. Spent by this useless
2 effort, he fercely pressed his
q hands over his burning eyeballsr
as il by shutting out the world he
might get Inspiration for his release
\ The tapping Of the waves athis feet
+ reused him from his frantic Plan
ming. He started to his feet, but
the pain in his ankle dragged him
down again. This. then, was to be
It his death, caught like silly fisb
}, lust when life was at its fullest
g when Carmencita-a that was
n hardest Of all to bear!
Yet as he sat there stoically, still
g shouting at intervals, not hard
It thought OF her troubled his loya.
heart, never reproach for the van
d Ity which had cost a life, only re-
9 greet that he could not find the last
y shell for her. When the water CROP
up above his waist he seized the lit
y tie Jagged piece of rock and sawed
4: madly at his foot. Seeing that =
~ was impossible to hack II Oh before
- the tide swept over him, he deslstet
20 and waited, Slowly and precisel!
: the waves crept up. calmly the!
choked his last cry, and With
suave insouciance blotted out thu
tragedy.
y When his body was brought hone
h. Carmencitas grief was beyon'
~ bounds. Five months she mourne'
in passlonately, and on the sixth mar
10 ried Manuel, his brother. To thos
who dared demonstrate with the i'm
perious beauty, she gave but one an
u swer-"She had loved Jose truly
=, Yes, but Jose was dead, Why no
y. =, then marry Manuel, his nearest 0
20 kim" But the simple fsher-folI
n shook their foreboding heads at tn
daring couple who took up thei
in abode in the new adobe house, an
Of saw clearly the visitation OF God l
at the tidal wave which crept up tn
ID bay, demollshing the gllttering littl
IN house, and drowning Manuel an
II Carmencita In their bridal bed. An
IN this day movnd of Crumblin