The Washington times., 1925-12-14
By Blasco Ibanez
Powerful Drama Among
the Beautiful Orange
Groves on the Banks
Of the TOrrential
JuCar

its prestige rose higher ana
higher. The sacks Of money filled
By the old man VI the cost Of %
much roguery were shaken empty
over an the district; nor were
several assaults upon the munich
pal treasury sufficient to bring
them back to normal roundness.
Don Ramon contemplated this
squandering impassively, proud
that people should be talking of
his generosity IS much as q his
power.
The patio Of the Brull mansion
was the throne of his aOvereiSnty.
His partisans would in ! him
there, pacing up and down among
the green boxes Of pIantain trees.
his hands clasped behind his
broad, strong, but now soHnsyvnat
STOPPING backa majestic pack
Wlthal, capable Of supporting
hosts and hosts Of friends.
There he administered Justice
decided the. fate Of families
settled the affairs q toWrsAii
in few off hand but short ana
decisive words.
all hearing, froWning EraveAy
meanwhile, his chin on his bosom
and oIle hand on the head Of
little Rafael at his eidea pose
copied from chrome Of the Kaiser
petting the Crown Prince.
When party exigencies forced
Don Ramon to be out Of town, Il
was his wife, the energetic Dona
Rernar6Ia. who attended to the cor
sIIIfatfons. issuing statements on
party policy, as wise ana apt as
those of .stl1e chief hfmsalf.
This collaboration IN me up
build and the upholding " the
family influence was the single
bond 81 union between husband
and wife. Don Andres had often /
said as much himself!
This Don Andres was her nus
hands most intimate friend, one
ar those who are born re be-
second everywhere and y. every
thing
Don Andres had no relatives.
and spent almost all his time at
the Brull,s. He Was like piece !
Of furniture that seems always 70
be getting In the way at first
but when AL were once fcclls-
toned to him, he became an in
dispensable fixture in the family
He attended to the chiefs
correspondence, and was tutor
and playmate to the little Rafael
{ taking the boy on long walks
through the orchard country To
Dona Bernardo he was confideIl
tiaI adviser.
Rafael was q quiet, Ynorose little
boy, whose gentleness Of dispo
sitfon seemed to irTitate the hard
hearted Dona Bernardo. He Was
always hanging on to her skirts.
Every time she raised her eyes
she would find the little fellows
gaze fixed upon her.
Don Andres alone was aticcess-
full in amusing the child with his
tales and his strolls through the
orchards, picking flowers for him,
making whistles for him out Of
reeds. 1t was Don Andres who
took him to school, also, ind whp
advertised the boys fondnesS for
study everywhere.
If Don Rafael we're 4 serious.
melancholy lad. that defect was
chargeable to his interest IN
books, and at the Casino, the
'sParty's'' Club, he would say to
his fellow.worshippers:
you'll see something doing
when Rafaelito grows up. That
kid Is going to be another
Canovas.''
And before all those rustic
minds the vision Of q BrQll st
the head Of the government would
suddenly flash, filing the first
page Of the newspapers with
speeches six columns long, and
ITO Be Continueds at the end;
and they could see themselves
rolling in money and running all
Spain, just as they now ran their
district, to their own sweet wills.
A Little Prince
Never did Prince OF Wales
grow up amid the respect and the
adulation heaped upon little
Brull. At school. the children re-
igarded him as a superior being
who had condescended to come
down among them for his educa-
ton. A well-scribbled shset,
lesson nuently repeated. were
enough for the teacher, who be-
longed to ''the Party Gust to
collect his wages on time and
without trouble), to declare in
prophetic tones:
Go on working like that, Senior
de Brull. You are destined to
great things"
At the tertulias his mother at
tended evenings in his company,
it was enough for him to recite
a fable Or get off some piece CT
learning characteristic of a stu
dious child eager, to bring his
ton, for the women to rush upon
him and smother him with kisses,
"But how much that child
knows! How brilliant Ne
ISIS
And aome old woman would
add sententiously:
Bernardo, take good care of
the child; don't let him use his
See how peaked he looks!
When Rafael, escorted by his
mother and half dozen women
who had witnessed the exercises.
would come home, cleaning with
medals and his arms SilU Of di-
plomas, he would sroop and kiss
his fathers hard, bristly hand;
and that claw would caress the
boys head and abSens-lninnetily
sink into the old mans vest
vaocIxof--feI, Tnn Ramon AxDected