El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-15
The "Buena EstreHa''
A short story.


teaner "Buena EstrelIa' started on her
! voyage across the Pacific ocean
/ 1 was standing on the hurricane
/ deck. happy at the thought that every
/ revolution of the screw brought me
{ nearer to Valparaiso. where 1 was to
/ embark for France, as soon as had
I finished my business there. I 'gazed
at the beIching smoke stacks Of the
I 'Buena EstrelIa-"
| "Cuen nermosa Vista" suddenly said
7 a voice close to me- ! turned my head
The man who had addressed me was
little yellow skinned individual with
restless eyes and q hooked nose. whom
had noticed having a long conference
with the captain shortly before, and
who had evidently gained his point for
Immediately afterwards / saw him su-
perintending the loading of a number
I of crates and boxes
Why did I take such an immediate
strong dislike TO this person Per
haps because of his eyes, which never
looked straight at you and his man
ner which was at the same time OBJ
seQuIOus and impudent but at any rate,
my dislike was absolutely instructive.
i replied by a mere mOnOsyIable and
turned my back upon him to empha-
size that I did not like to enter into
Z any conversation with him.
[ The "Buena Estrella' carried more
I freight than passengers There were
ABOUT 80 Of us and the crew consisted
/ VI 20 men IN S4GA a shall BOAT II
" as, or course, difficult TO keep TO
yourself once more met the man
with the crates. His name was Az
I tonic Gonzalez and he practiced medi-
Z cine somewhere in Chile Accidentally
he was placed on my right at the ia
/ bic and / could not help passing things
to him and occasionally exchanging
some trivial remark with him ] stud
led mis- appearance more closely and
decided that he was q halfbreed where
/ upon I turned all my attention TO my
neiShbOr on the left, a charming young
woman who was returning TO Val
paraisO.
Conception Solar was certainly the
most beautiful type of a southern girl
i ever met She had dark dreamy eyes,
sensuous red lips and the most perfect
little hands and feet She was chap
erOned by her mother q viragO with
a good deal more than a suspicion of a
must ache, exceedingly stout and dressed
in the height of fashion She seemed
rather pleased with me and willingly
permitted me to take care Of her
daughter In the evening after dinner
while she spent her time playing
poker We went UP on deck and en-
JOyed the glorious night and naturally
we began to discuss love, and COncep-
LlOn soon made so strong an impression
on my heart that I began TO doubt
whether / should return TO Europe
alone
Gonzalez had also taken a liking to
the girl He sent her flaming glances
and several times tried to Join US and
interrupt our tete-a-tete, but the re-
cepuOn he received was so chilly that
/ hoped TO discourage him One morn
ing. however, I found him in the read
ing room alone with Conception. I had
TO withdraw discreetly or show my
lanQ openly Deciding that the lat
ter was impossible ] concealed myself
behind door and listened. The doc
tor was in the midst Of a proposal. he
Dragged OF his wealth and his social
position and called me a French ad-
NeulureFl devoid OF all honest luteu-
lions.
Anyone who has ever been in love
will understand how happy I felt when
conception icily declared that she re-
fused TO listen to a person who tried
TO SANDER her fiance. Gonzalez swore
q vie oath and tried TO kiss her by
force She gave a slight cry and
found my chance had come
you scOundrei. / cried and knocked
hmi down on the spot He swore as
ne got up again Other passengers
who had heard the noise interviewed.
Gonzalez was not popular with any
BODY. In the afternoon I met the
chief steward, an American with whom
/ had become very friendly.
Look out for yourself" he warned
me. the doctor IS planning some re-
Tenge. / wish the captain had left
him and his damned merchandise at
CallaO-"
What merchandise 7 asked.
Those disgusting reptiles he has /
down in the hold"
Then he told me that three Of the
large crates contained snakes, which l
Gonzalez fed every day. He said he /
used them in making some kind Of I
serum and had given the captain his /
word that they were not poisonous. /
but afterwards it had been found they I
were some OF the most dangerous ad- {
0erS and VlperS in the country.
Gonzalez remained in his cabin until I
We reached Calderas, where he went {
ashore and we saw him no more.
Inc next morning ] was awakened /
q a 1871
however. ceased abruptly and q WON
ans voice exclaimed
Santissima Virgin: Santa madre de
DiOsr
Then there was a sound Of pattering
IeeJ, OF doors being slammed and
general excitement I looked at my
watch. II was 6 o'clock Ny room mate,
a planter from Bolivia was not in his
perth What was happening? The
boat was going steadily enough as
could tell by the regular Churning of
quickly, went out into the hall and !
Knocked at the door of the state room I
occupied by Conception Solar and her /
mother They We're up already and
At a, turn of the corridor we found
a dead body lying on the floor. Its I
face was almost black and the fea-
lures conyulsed and swollen 1 reCOg-
nlZed the Bolivian planter
We shouted for help. but no one
came We went into the dining sa-
answered the bells.
Let US look into the Kitchen
said.
Conception ran ahead as light as. a
bird. We had no fOrebOding of the
danger which threatened US.
Suddenly she cried out;
Look. there is a snake and we
saw a long black and yellow body
gliding along the floor. A little dis
lance away we found the chief stew
ard lying on the floor He was not
dead yet but was moaning feebly.
Conception stopped down over him.
but suddenly jumped hack with a cry
Of horror A big yellow and black I
snake bounded at her and wound it's
coils around her body and its awful 7
head was kissing only a few inches
from her face. Quick as lightning il
struck her and 7 heard its fangs bury
ing themselves in the flesh of her
throat Then il turned towards me.
who stood as if petrified with horror.
Conception fell in n heap next to the
body OF the chief steward. OF course.
[ ought to have rushed at the reptile Z
and killed IT, but mad fear took pos
session OF me; like a mailman 1
rushed through the corridor. which |
was fun of snakes and up the stairs.