The state herald., 1917-11-30

/ The man demurred sullenly, and be-
gan a refusal; Uut his wife, after a
wondering scrutiny, Interrupted him
with cry. Rushing forward. she took
the edge Of AlaIre's skirt In her hands
and kissed 1t.
"God be piaisedi A miracler she
exclaimed. "Juan. don't you sect 1t Is
the beautiful sonora for whom we pray
every night Of our lives. On your knees,
shameless one It Is she who delivered
you from the prison."
Juan stared unbelievingls, then his
face changed; his teeth flashed in a
smile, and. sweeping his hat from his
head. he. too. approached Alaire.
"U ISL Sonora, am Juan Garcia,
whom you saved. and this is Inez," he
declared. Heaven bless you and for
give me-"
"Now know you." Alaire laughed,
and slipped down from her saddle.
"This is happy meeting. Sol You
live here, and that was little Juan who
ran away as II we were going to eat
| wen, VIC ulC huhbAys Dul ubt
hungry enough to devour Juanito."
Turning to her companions. she ex-
planned the circumstances of her first
meeting with these good people. and as
she talked the Garcias broke In Joy
fully, adding their own account Of her
goodness.
"We've fallen among friends" Alaire
told Dave and Father O'Aialley. '-They
will let US rest here, am sure"
Husband and wife agreed in one
voice. In fact. they were overjoyed at
an opportunity Of serving her; and lit.
tie Juan. his suspicious partially al
layed, issued from hiding and waddled
forward to take part In the welcome.
Shamefacedly the elder Garcia ex.
planned his inhospltable reception of
the travellers. "We hear the gringos
are coming to kill us and take our
farms. Everybody is badly frightened.
We are driving our herds away and
hiding what we can. Yesterday at the
big Obispo ranch our people shot two
Americans and burned some Of their
houses. They intend to kill all the
Americans they find, SO you'd better be
careful. Just now a fellow rode up
shouting that you were coming. but Of
course didn't know"
"Yes, Of course. We're trying to
reach the border" Father O'Malley told
him. "Will you hide Us here unfli we
can go on?"
Juan curtsied respectfully to the
priest. my house IL yours. father"
"Can you take care Of our horses,
too. and-give US u place to sleepf"
Dave asked. His eyes were heavy: he
had been almost constantly In the sad
die since leaving Jonesville. and now
could hardly keep himself awake.
Trust me-" the Mexican assured
them, confidently. "If somebody comes
I'll send them away. oh, l can lie with
the best Of them"
The Garclas were not ordinary peo-
pie. and they lived in rather good cir
cumstances for country folk. There
were three rooms to their little house.
all Of which were reasonably clean.
The food that Inez set before her
guests. too, was excellent II scanty.
Juanito, taking cue from his parents,
flung himself whole e-heartedly Into the
tnsk Of entertainment, and since Alaire
met his advances halfway he began,
before long. to look upon her with par
ticular favor. Once they had thorough
ly made friends, he showered her with
the most fattering attentions. His
shyness, 1t seemed, was but pretense
lat heart he was bold and enterpris-
ing fellow-and no. US a mark Of his
admiration. he presented her with all
his personal Treasures. First he
fetched and laid "a her lap cIgar.bnx
wagon with WOV!su wheels-eyldeunly
! the handIwork q Sis father. Then he
gave her. one BY one. u highly priced
blue bottle. rusty Mexican spur. and
the ruins Of what had been n splendid
clasp.knife. There were no bades In
the knife. but no showed her how to
peep through tiny hole In the handle.
where wns concealed the picture Of a
dnshing Spanish buil.Hghtcr. Tho mp.
probation which these gifts evoked In.
toxicatcd the little man md reused him
to n very madness Of generosity. He
pattered away and returned shortly,
staggering md grunting under the
weight Of another and u still greater
Offering. II was n dog-n patient
hungry dog with very little hair. The
animal was alive with lcns-lI
} scratched absent-mindedly with ont
hind paw. even while Juanito strangied
II against his naked brcnst-bu, II wal
the nipple Of It's owners eye, and wher
tnez unfcclingly banished II from the
. house Junnito began to squnil Justify
: Nor could he be conciiiatcd until Ainir,
, took him upon her knee and told him
about another boy. Of precisely his owl
, ngc and size, who planted mugic bear
In his mothers dooryard. which grew
, up md up until II reached clear to III,
I sky, Sherc giant lived. Junnito Gar
, Gin Ind never heard the like. He wal
J spcllbound with delight; he held hi