The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-01-13
CHAPTER ~.

Day was dawning In -Buenaventura,
republic u Sohrante. as Invariably II
dawu> 'n me tropics-without extend.
90 preliminary symptoms. The soft
s~ilvevy Light 81 q full moon tina, had
stsyet or; scartaIously late had
merged 'm~prrrtp,fn.y into gray: the
gray was swiftly yielding place to a
faint crimson that VAS spreading n
deepening upward athwart the east
IL the patio Of Mother jerks estab-
lshCeIt in the Gale de Concordia.
No -. the first shafts OF morning
lght were altering obliQuely through
the orange trees and creeping in I'M
de- the deep, Gothic-arched veranda
fanking the western side OF the pa
to Presently, through the silent
reaches az the Gale de Concordia, the
sound OF a prodigious knocking and
humping echoed, as OF some fretful
individual seeking admission al the
street door Of e Buen Amigo, by
which ~euphonioPs designation Mother
hN-hC f&A~4A was hAfHA ~ tAlN
public o. Blenaventura. In the sec
oDd story, front. g window slid back
and q woInan's voice. husky with that
huskinesS that speaks so acCuSingly
OF cigarettes and alcohol. demanded
-Quien esf Who is III Que quiere
listed; Wot DO yer wantf'
"Ne might dispinse wiz that para
qUeet conversation whin ~addhresSin'
the likes az me-" a voice replied. Ills
me-CaTerry. l 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
worrdr"
Without the portal stood Don Juan
Cafetero. Of whom a word or two be-
fore proceeding.
To begin, Don Juan Cafetero was
not bis real name. but rather a free
Spanish translation OF the Gaelic,
John CaFerty. Mr.. CaTerty was an
exile Of Erin with a horrible thirst.
he had first arrived In SObrante some
five years before. as section boss II
the employ Of the little foreign-owned
narrow-gauge railway which ran from
Buenaventura Cd the Caribbean coast
70 San Miguel de Padua, ~up-country
where the nitrate beds were located.
Prior 10 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 10 install an inter-communicat-
Ing telephone system in the govern
ment buildings, suggested TO the SUI
perintendent NJ 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 IS a day gold. Result marked
Improvement in the road bed and con
s~equently the train schedules, and the
ultimate loss Of the Cafferty soul.
Something In 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 S%obrante, the daughter Of
one Esteban Manuel Enrique Jose Ma
ria Pasqual y Miramontes, an estima-
bic peon who IA singularly glad to
have his daughter Off his hands and no
questions asked. Following the fash
ion of the country, however, Esteban
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
-to-wit: sailing and packing green
hides ut a local abattoir. This fool
hardy economic move Lad so ~incensed
Don Juan that In a fit OF pique he
spurned his father-in-law 1--WE must
call Esteban something and so why
split hairs?) under the tails Of his
camisa, with such vigor as to sever
forever the friendly relations hither
to existing between the families. Mrs
Cafferty (again WI transgress. but
what of it?) subsequently passed away
IN child birth, and no sooner had she
been decently buried than Don Juan
took a week or to drown his sorrows'
In this condition he had enconn.
tered Esteban Manuel Enrique Jose
Marin Pasqual y Miramontes and
called him out Of his name. In the
altercation that ensued Esteban, fully
that he had received the
NIB end Of the transaction from start
3 finish, cut Don Juan severely; DON