Evening star., 1921-02-13
An Unusual Story by Vicente Blasco 1banez

these feathers, doctor the other fell
| low might have killed me. But. you
| see. l got him first. | was quicker
They took his feathers and his sword
away and were going to deprive him
| of his liberty for a great number OF
years-the victim happened to be one
| of those who wore white handker-
| chief-when he escaped from Jail and
| took refuge In Paraguay. whose from
| tier was only few hours away.
| Jaramillo. who did not know what
| to do during the absence of his friend
decided TO follow him, and TO justify
! this flight and match Morales record
! he killed another white handker-
| chief before betaking himself to the
| neig boring republic.
| They applied for work in one of the
| yerbales, the plantations where mate
! is raised-.hc native tea made popular
! by the Jesuits long ago when they
| ruled the theocrdtic republic of the
, Missions. founded by them in terri
/ tory situated close to the frontiers OF
| Brazil. Paraguay and Argentina
| Anxious to return to their native
! land. Morales and Jaramillo gave up
their work several times to join revo-
| Iutionary expeditions organized by
| their party. The great leader of the
! party, Dr. Sepulveda~ lived peacefully
| in BuenoS Aires waiting for the right
! opportunity to regenerate his province.
| while his followers spared no effort to
! bring about the triumph of his ideals;
! they started revolutions by night, and
| revolutions by day, uprisngs in the
urban centerS and uprisingS in the
| country.
The people of Buenos Aires scarcely
| paid any attention to these exploits
. and revolutions in the distant prov
| belonging to Argentina. racially forms
! large, Moreover, these things TOOK
place in one of the remotest corners
of the nation. away off in the terri
tory bordering on Brazil and Para
quay, a region which. while politically
belonging TO Argentine. racially forms
a part of Paraguay. for the majority
| of it's inhabitants speak Guarani.
After the bloody failure of that
night attack. the two friends returned
| to the Paraguay plantation to gather
mate. They were the first consumers
of the tea During the rest hour they
| would sit by the river bank and. hold
ing in one hand the small gourd stun.
ed with aromatic leaves OF mate ana
filled with hot water, they would suck
| the delicious drink through small
! tube. At such times they spoke IN
the measured low tones of their native
land. Occasionally, the conversation
had to do with the elder Jaramlilo ana
his prodigious wisdom.
q have seen him cure patient,
Morales would bear witness. aWed
by the "reminiscences lin less time
than it takes to say the Creed He
would suck the aching part or he
| "OUld put MS OWN Ups tiiS
lips of the sick person and inhale
his breath. And before you could
wink he would spit oSt worm,
, stone. small snake or spider II
was the disease: he could draw 1T
out of a sick body quicker than you
could uncork bottle. Some of the
patients died. but they died because
! they got restless and called in the
doctor. That killed them.
, THE best of his secrets" Jaramillo.
%11a a6
cure the snake-bite. He revealed 1t
to me just before his death, l value
it more than an inheritance of many
bags of gold pieces" :,
Tell me the secret, brother,
Morales implored.
Jaramillo was startled.
Il can't tell you. The. secret can
: be revealed only on Good Friday. II
] tell it on some other day l lose the
| power of healing until the following
Good Friday"
DUT Morales began to bother his
- friend with childish persistence
and gave him no rest for weeks and
weeks. He remembered vividly how
on a certain occasion one of his
neighbors had returned to his ranch
with an arm swollen and black from
"a snake bite The elder Jaramillo
had applied certain strong remedies
to the poisoned limb, mumbling i'm
mediately a mysterious invocation
over the body of the snake, dubbed
to death after its felonious attack
on the ranchman.
You are not a real friend" Morales
said, with sadness. Il treat you like
a brother and yet you have secrets
| which you won't share with me-"
Jaramillo did not want to be
rendered. powerless just to satisfy the
whim of his friend.
Suppose one of those poisonous
reptiles bites you when you go bare
foot in the yerbal?' Jaramillo argued.
NO danger replied Morales, with
assurance Remember that you gave
me pair of garters made of owl
skin, and poisonous snakes flee from
my feet when they scent the skin"
gave in and sacrificed himself for his
friendship.
You insist on knowing. Well
i" - and closing his eyes. he re-
vealed the great secret All you
have TO do is TO bend over the dead
snake and say in low tones: Thou
art no snake; thou art cricket"
Immediately the poison in the body
of the victim loses its venomous
quality"
rs that all?" asked Morales, visibly
disappointed. rs that all there is
to it?"
That was all. But the magic words
must be spoken in Guarani. The
snakes. natives of Paraguay, cannot
understand Spanish. the language of
I "And now" Jaramillo said, with a
touch of sadness. g I'll have to wait
until next Good Friday"
Soon after that Jaramillo began to
make frequent trips to Asuncion. the
capital of Paraguay. His friend. in
trigued by these strange visits. forced
him to confess.
II have seen him." said Jaramillo.
mySteriouSly.
Although he. did not give the name
of the being he had seen. the tone of
his voice was sufficient to enable
Morales to guess.
It was the cabure
The two friends spoke of the bird
frequently. Ah, if they could only
get cabure feather and make them
| selves invulnerable, and. consequent
ly. the bravest men on earth, The
elder Jaramillo himself, despite his
: to capture cabure. 1t was extreme
! iy difficult to get hold of one of these
birds. That was why the younger
Jaramillo kept on repeating with
pride: Il have seen him as close as
am seeing you"
| The owner of the cabure was a
gringo who lived in Asuncion for no
, other purpose than to study the
plants and the animals of the re-
public. fat, ruddy checked fair
| haired German doctor who wore gold
| rimmed spectacles and was very fond
or JeStinS with the simple minded
| FOLK of the countryside to get all the
Information he could out of them. In
the patio of his home. large as a con-