The Raymer enterprise., 1917-05-17
cHApT ER ".
At Las Palmas.

Although the lower counties Of
southwest Texas are fiat and badly
watered. they possess a rich soil. They
are favored. too by kindly climate,
enbtroplc In It's mildness. The Rio
Grande. jaundiced. erratic as an In.
valid, wrings Its saffron blood from the
clay bluffs and gravel canyons OF the
Hill country, but near Its estuary winds
quietly through low coastal plain
which the very impurities Of that blood
have richened. Here the rivers banks
are smothered In thickets Of huisache,
ebony, mesquite, oak and alamo.
Railroads are SO scarce along this
division Of the border that to travel
from Brownsville north along the in
ternational line one must, for several
hundred miles. avail oneself Of horses,
mules or motorcars, since rail transpor-
tation is almost lacking. And on his
way the traveller will traverse whole
counties where the houses are jacals,
where English Is foreign tongue, and
where poems plow their fields with
crooked sticks as did the ancient
Egyptians.
That part Of the state which lies
below the Nueces river was for time
disputed territory. and long after Tex.
ans had given their lives to drive the
eagle Of Mexico across the Rio Grande
much Of II remained forbidden land.
Even today 1t is alien. 1t is a part of
our Southland, but a South different
to any otl,er that we have. Within 1t
there are 90 blacks. and yet the whites
number bat one In twenty. The rest
are swnrthy. black-haired men who
speak the Spanish tongue and whose
citizenship Is mostly a matter Of form.
The stockmen, pushing ahead Of the
nesters and the tlllers Of the soil, were
the first TO invade the lower Rio
Grade. and among these "old Ed"
Austin was pioneer. Like the other
cattle barons, he was hungry for land
and took II where or how he could.
Those were crude old days; the pIo-
neers who pushed their herds into the
far pastures were lawless fellows, ruth
less, acquisitlve, mastered by the en-
pire-builders urge for acres and still
more acres.
As other ranches grew under the
hands Of such nnregenerate owners, so
also under "old Ed Austfns manage
ment did Las Palmas increase and
PROSPER. II Comprised an expanse Of
rich riyer-land backed by miles Of
range where BOX A" cattle lived and
bred. In his later years when the old
man handed Las Palmas TO his son,
Young Ed" as wedding gift, the
ranch was known far and wide for its
size and richness. Las Palmas had
changed greatly since Austin, senior
painfully scrawled his slantlng sigma.
ture to the deed. II was a different
ranch now to what the old man had
known; indeed, II was doubtful IL he
would have recognized II, for even the
house was new.
Alalre had some such thought In
mind as she rode up to the gate on
the afternoon following her departure
from the water hole, and she felt n
thrill Of pride at the acres of snroutlng
corn, the dense green field OF alfalfa
so nicely fitted between their fences.
They were like clean. green squares Of
mating spread for the feet of summer.
A Mrxicnn boy came running to care
for her horse, n Mexican woman greet.
ed her as she entered the wide, cool
hall and went TO her room. Dolores
fixed bath and laid out clean clothes
with n running accompaniment Of chat.
ter concerned with household afrnfrs
She was great gossip, and possessed
such a talent for gaining information
that through her husband, BenIto. the
range boss, she was able to keep her
mistress In fairly intimate touch with
ranch matters.
Alaire, as she leisurely dressed her
self, acknowledged that It was good 10
feel the physical comforts Of he. own
house. even though her homecoming
pave her no especial JOY. She made 1t
j religious practice to dress for dinner,
regardless Of Eds presence, though
sften for weeks at q time she sat In