The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1914-09-11
Why Came to
America
BY JOSE HERRARA

my dear 1eIloW,' Sald n Spanlaro 70
another, "is hat l might get rid OF
friends who were liable to involve me
In anarchical plots that are honeycomb-
ing the social condition Of my coun-
try. Whether those working for some
thing better than the present social
status are right or whether they are
wrong l don't pretend to say. What
i do say is that | had no mind to be
mixed up in their plans. One episode
that came very a. to me decided me
to leave Spain.
"A friend OF mine-we will call him
Manuel. for l shall not give you real
names Of persons in the story I am
about to ~tell-asked me 10 visit his
summer home in the mountains lying
directly south OF Madrid. / accepted
the invitation and found a colony OF
summer homes. l met a number Of
charming persons, but l will mention
only two, both of whom are connected
with my story. I will call one Concia
and the other Inez. Manuel, it seemed
to me, was on the verge Of forming
a union, but with whom / could not
tell. Concia was a gentle little thing
!w1th-so far as / could d~iscover-no
other desire but to love and be loved,
and II married would devote herself
to husband and children. Tnez, on the
contrary, was full Of grand theories, a
radical by nature. ! understood from
Manuel that she was a disciple Of one
who was attempting to found a new
school Of morals. I did not believe
that she was sincere. 1t seemed to me
that in everything she did she had a
sinister motive. Perhaps, I said to my
sell. she Is attracted by the novelty
OF this mans ideas and deceives her
self into the belief that it is sympathy
with humanity that moves her.
II was not long in discovering that
these two girls were Manuel's good and
evil geniuses. His heart when in a
normal condition was with Concia, but
he was Influenced by Inez's views
coming through Inez herself-that IL,
It vas rather Inez than the views that
moved him.
"Concia did not evince any concern
a. to this influence that Inez was ex-
erttng over Manuel. Not the least
jealousy did she show when she saw
the two together, but at times l
thought I could detect the glimmer Of
a hidden fire. One day / made a re-
mark to Manuel which would lead
him, II he chose to do SO, to confide to
me the situation. He told me that he
loved Concia, but that Inez, who was
intellectually very much Concia's su-
perior, inspired him to do great things
for humanity. This gave me the cue
Concia was influencing him in one
way, Inez in another.
I'VE all went back to Madrid to-
gether In the autumn, and one day
Manuel stated that be was an active
member Of an anarchical society
whose object was the elevation Of the
lower orders Of humanity. He expect
ed that in time poverty would be
eliminated. His idea In confiding in
me was to induce me to join his So
ctety. I told him that I preferred to
live in al imperfect world rather
than die to establish a perfect one. !
knew that Inez had triumphed and
Concia had been defeated.
II kept away from him after that
for I feared he would become involved
In some Of those radical measures
which thus far had been condemned
by all but a small portion Of the
worlds people, and l preferred to keep
myself 80 free from him that I would
not suffer In case he got into trouble.
It was lucky for me that I did. for
one morning, looking out through a
window, I could see excited crowds
moving in the street and. leaning out,
asked n passing what had happened.
He told me that a prominent govern
ment official had been killed by an an
archist. When a special issue of the
newspapers came out what was my
horror to see the name Of my friend
Manuel given as the assassin.
manuel was tried and executed. 1t
was not long after his execution that
Inez began to spend money in a way
that she had never spent it before.
She was also seen frequently at court,
and a general in the army became at
tentive to her. Nevertheless she was
not popular with persons Of high de-
gree with whom she was associating.
I formed my own theory with regard
to her, which was this: She had be-
trayed Manuel for money and in
duence.
IL wondered how Concia had taken
her lovers death, but I was not n
of her personal friends and did not
feel justified in calling upon her at the
time of her bereavement. 1 heard,
however, that no one knew how she
was affected by the tragedy.
Another shock besides the assassina-
ton and Manuel's death awaited me.
Taking up a newspaper one morning
while at breakfast, I saw under large
headlines a statement that Inez had
been stabbed In her carriage while
returning to her home from the opera.
She had been escorted to the carriage
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