Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1911-11-03
NHSzE2E G2z2ezZ an P12ZIG LAND ia

Bare feet are stuck in the wooden strrups He
and his steed festooned with bags. baskets
and packages, the tout ensemble suggesting an
itinerant Christmas tree. Stuck under the saddle
flap, or elsewhere beyond ready reach. is rife
or shotgun, of ancient make. probably unservice-
able, and almost certainly unloaded. Everyone
goes armed upon the road.
Occasional reminders Of less peaceful times
are seen in small wooden cross set in the
ground and surrounded by a rude rail fence, indi-
eating the spot where some unfortunate met
violent death in the commission of crime. Pan
falcon rode alongside l approached one OF
these unconsecrated burying places that obtained
two crosses With emotonless precision he told
the grizzly tale of two ccmpadres who had fallen
out and here had fought to the death with their
knives
Ccmpadres are bosom companions bound by
bond closer than that of brotherhood. Only a
break that tie. and when compadre
turns against compadre hell knows no greater
bitterness. These two hacked each other until
they fell gasping and bleeding and foaming at
the mouth still jabbing with waning strength
They we're found dead. locked in each others
Perhaps at the very last the spirit of
padreship returned to soothe their passing.
I put this reflection to Pantaleon but he de-
clared 1t more likely that they died cursng each
other and thinking OF the girl My conclu-
sion pleased me better but felt bound to defer
to my moso's superior knowledge of the charac-
teristics of his countrymen.
Presently the road entered the monte and we
rode between wooden walls reinforced by heavy
underground. At long intervals we passed small
clearngs where the settler had cut over the
ground burned the debris where 1t FELL and scat
tered his seed with a careless, confident hand
The machete is the universal agricultural nipple
ment A pillow has never been seen in the coun-
try Cultivation is neglected as unnecessary
trouble. Withal. harvests are bOunteous and re-
with the infallibe regularity of the solar sys.
tenn. I fields Of sugar that had yielded
rich crops for fifteen unbroken seasons, and
uously for half century
All over the Pacific slope of Chirqui is a top.
SOIL from to 20 feet thick, formed by the vol
ages from the mountain sides. 1t is rich as any
in the world. but not one-hundred- thousandth part
Of it has been turned to the account of man.
Outside of David. the population Is less than four
to the square mile. Apart from a score of cattle
rasers and coffee growers, no man produces more
than enough to meet his needs whilst markets at
their very doors crying aloud for the poten-
tia products of the province. Panama is paying
high prices for Jamaican fruit and Cuban sugar
and American tobacco, whilst these and many 9th
er imported commodities be grown within
her borders
The pathetic mystery of 1t Is that tens of thou
sands shaving in city sweatshops and facto-
ries or painfully wringing living from reluc-
tant soil when land unlimited lies waiting to
richly reward any man who will cast a handful OF
seed upon it.
Ten miles out from David we came to Alanje.