Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1916-02-17

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| senseless cCuntermarching and in
| trigue, are to be found statesmen and
| patriots. Don Rafael Ealdevia was
| one. His great ambition was to raise
| Esperanto into peace and honest pros
perity and the respect Of the serious
| nations. So he waited for my rifles ID
| Aguas Frias. But one would think 1
| am trying to win recruit in you!
| No; it was Francis Kearny | wanted.
| And so / told him, speaking long over
| our execrable vermouth, breathing the
sitting odg from garlic and tarpau-
Inns. which, as you know. is the dis
tinctive flavor Of cafes in the lower
| slant of our city.
81 spoke of the tyrant President Cruz
and the burdens that his greed and in
solent cruelty laid upon the people.
| And at that Kearny's tears flowed.
And then dried them with a picture
Of the fat rewards that would be ours
when the oppressor should be over
thrown and the wise and generous Val
| devia in his seat Then Kearny leap
ed to his feet and wrung my hand with
| the strength Of roustabOut. He was
mine, he said, till the last miniOn of
! the hated despot was hurled from the
highest peaks of the Cordilleras into
| the sea.
Il paid the score and we went out.
Near the door Kearny's elbow over
turned an upright glass showcase
smashing it into little bits. l paid the
storekeeper the price he asked.
"'Come to my hotel for the night /
said to Kearny We sail tomorrow at
noon
HE agreed, but on the sidewalk he
| fell to cursing again in the dull. monot-
onous, glib way that he had done when
pulled him out of the coal cellar.
"'Captain.' said he. before we go
any further it's no more than fair to
! tell you that I'm known from Baffin's
! bay to TERRA del Fuego as Bad Luck
Kearny And I'm 1t. Everything | get
into goes up in the air except balloon.
! Every bet | ever made | lost except
! when l coppered it. Every boat | ever
sailed on sank except the submarines.
! Everything | was ever interested in
went to pieces except a patent bomb
shell that | invented. Everything l
ever took hold Of and tried to run
ran into the ground except when |
tried to pl0W. And that's why they
call me Bad Luck Kearny. thought
I'd tell you
bad luck said l. or what goes by
the name. may now and then tangie the
affairs Of any man. But if it persist
beyond the estimate of what we may
call the averages" there must be a
cause for it,
""There is said Kearny emphatical-
IL, and when we walk another square
/ will show it to you.
'Surprsed, | kept by his side until
we came to Canal street and out into
the middle of its great width.
"Kearny seized me by an arm and
pointed a tragic fOrefinger ut Il rather
brilliant star that shonc steadily about
thirty degrees above the horizon.
""That's Saturn. said he. the star
that presideS over bad luck and evil
and disappointment and nothing doing
and trouble. | was born under that
star Every move | make up hobs
Saturn and blocks it. He's the hoodOo
planet Of the heavens. They say he's
1900 miles in diameter and no solder
Of body than split pea soup. and he's
got as many Gisreputable and malig-
nant rings rs a big city. Now. what
kind of star is that to be born I'M
der?
Il asked Kearny where he had OBJ
tanned I'll this astonishing knowledge.
"'From Azrath. the great astrologer.
of Cleveland. o. said he. That man
looked ut Il glass ball and told me my
name before I'd taken chair He
prophcsied the date of my birth and
death before I'd said word. And
then he cast my horoscope. and the
sidereal system sockcd me in the solar
pleXus. 1t was bad luck for Francis
Kearny from \ to lizard and for his
friends that were implicated With him.
For that ] gave up $40. This .AZrat!
was sorry. bat he respected his profess
sion too mach to read the heavens
wrong for any man 1t was night
time. and he took me out on Il balcony
and gave re Il free view of the sky
And he showed me which Saturn was
and how to find it in different balco-
MES and lon@itEdcs.
But Saturn wasn't all. He was
only the man higher up, He furnishes
so much bad luck that they allow him
Il gang of deputy sparklerS to help
hand it out. They're circulating and
revolving and hanging around the main
supply all the time. each one throwing
the hoodOo on his particular district
You sec that ugly little red star
about eight inches above and TO the
right Of Saturn" Kearny asked me
We'll, that's her. That's Phoebe She's
got ne i'll charge. by the day of your
birth. says AZrath to me. your life is
subjected to the influence of Saturn
BY the hour and minute of it you musr
dwell under the sway and direct au-
thority Of Phoebe. the ninth satellite.' =