The state herald., 1917-08-17

Las Palmas," she murmured, uncom-
fortably.
II know. know great deal"
at would scarcely be safe for you
to call; the country Is full Of Candle
leristas-"
"Cattlei" said the officer, with n
careless shrug. "Did not that great
poet Byron swim across an ocean to
see lovely lady? Well, /, too, am a
poet. have beautiful fancies-songs
Of love run through my mind. Those
Englishmen know nothing Of passion.
Your American men are cold. Only a
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
hypnotlcally upon the speaker; she pre-
sented much the appearance of n rab-
bit charmed by serpent. But to Lon
goriO she did not exist; she was n chat
tel, servant, and therefore devoid Of
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 1t no more
than q talisman loaned her for the time
being. But 1t was task to make Lon
gorio accept It. He was shocked. of
Tended, hurt; he declared the ring to
be Of no value; 1t was no more than
a trifiing evidence Of his esteem. But
Alaire was firm.
1t was an odd, unreal ride. through
the blazing heat Of the long afternoon.
Longorio cast of 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 trt.in arrived at
Its destination, his victim was we'll
nigh exhausted from the struggle.
After good nights rest, however, she
was able to smile at yesterdays adven-
ture. Longorio did not bdlk 30 large
now; even these few hours had greatly
diminished his importance, so that he
appeared merely a. an impulsive for
eigner who had allowed q woman to
turn his head.
Once back across the river she dis
covered that there were obstacles to
prompt adjustment Of her claim. The
red tape Of her own government was
- nothing to that Of Mexico. There
were . thousand formalities, a myriad
Of maddening details to be observed,
and they called for the services Of an
advocate. q notary. = jefe politico, q
5efe do armas-oflicials without end.
All Of these WORTHLESS were patient and
polite, but they displayed q malarial
indifference to delay. and respond
bility seemed to rest nowhere. During
the day Alaire became bewildered, al.
most lost in the maxes 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 splen.
did progress, and he was delighted
with her grasp Of detail and her knowl-
edge Of business essentials. At his
word all Nuevo 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. It IL
delicious comfort to know that you
trust me. that you do not dislike me,
And you do not dislike me. ehf"
"why, Of course not. have a great
deal for which to thank you."
General Longorio fingered his wine
glass and stared Into II. II am not
like other men. ! am man Of iron
yes, an invincible soldier-yet have
q heart, and q woman could rule me. I"
"You say you have q heart" Alaire
studied her vis.a.vis curiously as he
met her eyes with his mournful gaze.
"How In II that I hear such strange
stories about you. generalr'
Lies, all Of them" Lonsorio %.
serted.
For instance. they tell me that you
shoot your prisonersr
"0f coursei" Then. at her shocked
exclamation. he explained: 1T IL a
necessity Of war. Listen. senorni 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 n chaos. black an.
archy. indescribable outrnges nrninst
life and property. There Ia but ono
way to pacify such pcople-cxtermI.
nate thcml Mexico In q civilized nm.
ton; there is no greater in the world !;
but she must be ruled with I'M iron
hand. We shall drive all the trnitors
into the sen. and Mexico shnli have
peace. But l nm not u bloodthirsty
man. No. 1 am q poet and n lover At
heart. Az great Il patriot as I am,
l could be fnithless to my country for