The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times., 1917-05-17

I'VE entertain very few guests n,
Las Palmas," she murmured, uncom
fortnbly.
II know. I know great deal"
1T would scarcely be safe for YOU
TO call; the country Is full Of Cande.
leristas-"
"Cattle" said the officer, with n
careless shrug. "Did not that grea,
poet Byron swim across an ocenn "a
see lovely lady2 Well, I. too. am II
poet. / have beautiful fancIes-songs
OF love run through my mind. Those
Englishmen know nothing of passion.
four American men are cold. Only Il
Mexican can love. We have fire In
our veins, senora."
To these perfervid protestations Do.
lores listened with growing fright: her
eyes were wide, and they were fixed
hypnoticdlly upon the speaker; she pre-.
sented much the Appearance Of rab-
bit charmed by serpent. But to Lon
gorio she did not exist she was a chat
tel, a servant, and therefore devoid of
soul or intelligence or use beyond that
of serving her mistress.
| Thinking to put an end to these
Establishments, Alaire undertook to re.
turn the generals ring. with the pre-
tense that she considered IL no more
than n tallsmnn loaned her for the time
being. But IL was task to make Lon
gorio accept II. He was shocked, Of
| fnnIaI hn 81.
be of no value; II was no more than
trifiing evidence OF his esteem. But
Alare was firm.
| IL was an odd, unreal ride, through
the blazing heat Of the long afternoon.
Longorlo cast off all pretense and open.
ly laid siege to the red-haired woman's
heart-all without Offering her the
smallest chance to rebuff him, the
slightest ground for open resentment,
so respectful and guarded were his
| advances. When the train arrived at
Its destination, his victim was we'll
| nigh exhausted from the struggle.
| After good nights rest. however, she
was able to smile ut yesterdays adven-
ture. LongoriO did not bulk so large
now; even these few hours had greatly
diminished his Importance so that he
| appeared merely as an impulsve for
| elgner who had allowed a woman to
turn his head.
Once back across the river she dis
covered that there were obstacles TO
u prompt adjustment of her claim, The
red tape of her own government was
as nothing to that of Mexico, There
were thousand fOrmulities, a myriad
or maddening details to be observed,
and they called for the services Of an
advocate, n notary, n jefe politico, n
Jefe de armas-oiiicials without end.
All or these worthless were patient and
polite. but they displayed malarIal
indifference to delay. and RESPONSE
bility seemed to rest nowhere. During
the day Alaire became bewildered al
most lost In the mazes of official pro-
cedure. and was half minded to tele-
graph to Judge Ellsworth.
Longorio by no means shared her
disappointment. On the contrary. he
assured her they were making Splep-
did progress, and he was delighted
with her grasp of detail and her knowl.
edge or business essentials. At his
word all Nucvo Pueblo bowed and
scraped to her; he arranged for her
an elaborate luncheon In his quarters.
you can never know what these two
days have been for me-" the general
said as he and Alaire fingered over
their meal. "They will afford me some.
thing to think about all my life. II Is
delicious comfort to know that YOU
trust me, that you do not dislike me.
And you do not dislike me. eh?"
why. of course not. have great
deal for which to thank you"
General Longorlo fingered his wine
glass and stared into It. 'T am not
Ike other men. l am man of IRON
yes, an invinclble soldler-yet / have
heart, and II woman could rule me-"
You say you have heart" AlaIre
studied her Yis.,. Wis curlously ms he
met her eyes with his mournful gaze.
How Is IL that | hear such strange
stories about you, generalT
Lies, all Of them!" Longorlo as.
serted.
For instance, they tell me that YOU
shoot your prisoaersT
"Of course" Then, at her shocked
exclamation, he explained: ut is a
necessity Of war. Listen, senora, We
have twelve million Indians In Mexico.
and few selfish men who incite them
to revolt. To permit the lower classes
to rise would result In chaos, black an.
archy, indescribable ou,rages against
HE and property. There is but one
way to pacify such people-exterml.
nate them Mexico IL a civilized nm.
ton; there is no greater In the world
but she must be ruled with an iron
hand. We shall drive all the traitors
into the sen. and Mexico shall have
peace. But ! am not a bloodthirsty
man. No, am poet and lover at |
heart. As great a patriot as I am.
l could be faithless to my country for |