Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1920-11-26
7-I7 0I
CHAPTER w.

Day was dawning in Buenaventura,
republic of Sobrante, as invariably II
dawns In the tropics without extend
ed preliminary symptoms. The soft,
silvery light of full moon that had
stayed out seandaIously late had
merged imperceptibly into gray; the
gray was swiftly yielding place to q
faint crimson that was spreading and
deepening upward athwart the east.
In the patio of Mother jerks estab-
lishment i'm the Gale de Concordia.
No. 1s. the first shafts OF morning |
light were altering obliquely through |
the orange trees and creeping in I'M
der the deep, Gothic-arched veranda
thanking the western side Of the pa
Ito. Presently, through the silent
reaches of the Gale de Concordia, the
sound OF a prodigious knocking and
humping echoed, as of some fretful
| Individual seeking admission at the
street door Of El Buen Amigo, by
which euphonious designation Mother
jerks caravansary was known to the
public OF Buenaventura. In the sec
ond story, front, d window slid back
Il
huskiness that speaks so accusingly
OF cigarettes and alcohol, demanded:
"Quien EST Who is It? Que quiere
usted7 Wot do yer wantf
Eye might dispinse wit that para
queet conversation whin addhressin'
the likes av me-" voice replied. '"Tis
me-Cafferty. I have a cablegram
Leber give me to deliver"
/ "Gawd's truth Would yer wake
the ole 'ouse with yer ammering?"
"AlI right. I'll not say another
word r.
Without the portal stood Don Juan
Cafetero Of whom a word or two be-
fore proceeding
To begin, Don Juan Cafetero was
not his real name, but rather a free
Spanish translation Of the Gaelic
John Cafferty. Mr.. Cafferty was an.
exile OF Erin with a horrible thirst.
He had first arrived in Sobrante some
Ave years before, as section boss In
the employ Of the little foreign-owned
narrow-gauge railway which ran from
Buenaventura on the Caribbean coast
to San Miguel de Padua, up-country
where the nitrate beds were located.
Prior TO his advent the railroad peo-
pie had tried many breeds OF section
boss without visible results, until a
Chicago man, who had come to So
brante to install an inter-communicat-
ing telephone system In the govern
Inent buildings, suggested to tlae su-
perintendent of the road, who was a
German, that the men made for bosses
come from Erin's isle; wherefore Mr..
Cafferty had been imported at a price
OF SIS d day gold. Result marked
Improvement in the road bed and con-
seqnently the train schedules, and the
ultimate loss of the Cafferty soul.
Something i'm the climate of Sobran-
te must have appealed to a touch OF
. laissez faire In Don Juan's amiable
nature. for In the course of time he
had taken unto himself, without bell
or book, after the fashion of the pro
letariat OF Sobrante, the daughter Of
one Esteban Manuel Enrique Jose Ma
> ria Pasqual MIramOntes. an estima
BILE peon who was singularly glad t.
have his daughter off his hands and ne
questions asked. Following the fash
ion of the country. however. EstebaI
had forthwith moved the remainder Of
his numerous progeny under the man
: tie of Don Juan Cafetero's philan
thropy, and resigned a position which
, for many years he had not enjoyed
e --to-wit: sailing and packing greer
hides at local abattoir. This fool
2 hardy economic move had SO incense,
q Don Juan that in fit of pique h
p spurned his father-in-law 1--WE mus
le call Esteban something and so VIII,
split hairs?) under the tails Of hi
E camIsa, with such vigOr as to seve
y forever the friendly relations hithei
y to existing between the families Mr.:
N Cafferty (again we transgress, bu
what of itO subsequently passed ava
Y. IN child birth, and no sooner had sh
&c been decently buried than Don Jua
! took a week off to drown his sorrows
In this condition he had encouI
tered Esteban Manuel Enrique Jos
IL Maria Pasqual Miramontes an
IT. called him oHt of his name. In tn
r. alteration that ensued Esteban. full
n convinced that he had received tn
IT nub end of the transaction from star
Ie- to finish, cut Don Juan severely; Do
&c Juan had thereupon slain Esteba
ad with q .44-caliber revolver and upO
emerging from the railroad hospital
m month later had been tried by a s
er brantean magistrate and fined the su
IT, OF $4,000. legal tender OF the republ
to OF Sobrante. OF courOa> he had pa.
nd 1t of within six months from
wages as section boss, but the meE
ed DRY Of the injustice always rankls
he him, and gradually he moved aown Il
he scale Of society from section boss
day laborer, day laborer to tropic
ne trans. and tronIcal tramn "a haae