The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-11-08
CHAPTER l
The Cannezianos

grin, that he had brought some bad
news with him
y had a letter today" he said.
iron he Canneziano twins"
am like lot of folks who say that
they are not superstitious, who just
happen To think that il is bad luck TO
walk Under a ladder. More than likely
the Shiyery. creepy sensation ! felt.
when Sam said that, was due 10 the
cold he brought in with him. and was
not due 70 the fact that those words
OF his were the fOrerunners for all
of the grim mysteries and the trag-
edies thar made rhe Desert Moon
ranch. before the end of July, place
OF horror.
"Bow much do they want?" l cues
toned.
NO, Mary; they want TO come here
TO live. UanielIe wrote the letter.
She says they want 70 come here and
rest, indefinitely. She says she longs
for il with all her soul. or something
like that"
"DanelIe." 1 said. always was the
best of the two. You going to LET
them come. Sam?"
Anything else for NE TO do?'
Not a thing-tor you. There'd be
plenty OF others Those girls are no
kin of yours. Let me see-eigh1
years old when they were here in
1919. naSes them twenty-fOur years
old now. according TO my figures.
Thv IT ryr-inS
gregating forty-eight years, should de-
eide TO come here and rest their souls.
at your expense. is beyond me-"
Il nave plenty"
$50 has Henry Ford. Why don't
they 60 rest their souls with him?
They've GOT as much claim on him as
they nave on you. None. Leave those
girls resi- their souls right there
where they are. Sam"
Mo- don't know. Mary. | guess
I'll write them q letter and tell them
10 come along. Lots of room"
1 didn't argue any more about it,
For twenty-five years / had been
hOusek eeper of the Desert Moon
ranchhOuse. and had learned during
thar time. that there was only one
subject. concerning Sam or the place
on which | could never hope TO have
any say-sO Trying 10 argue with
Sam about anything that Tad to do.
in any way. with Margarita Ditsie.
when she was Margarita Ditsie Stan
ley, or when she was Margarita Ditsie
CanneZianO, was about as sensible
as hosting a chiffon parasoI for pro-
lection in the midst of one of our
Nevada mountain clOudbursts.
Margarita Ditsie was of French
Canadian parentage; a dark-haired.
big-eyed beauty. Her father Kept a
gambling hole in Esmeralda county in
the early days. Her mother had run
away from a convent, after she had
become a nun. to marry him. The
girl had some of the nun, some of the
runaway. and some OF the gambling
house proprietor in her. II made
queer combination
When she was eighteen years old
she came from Carson TO visit Lily
Trooper over on the Three Bars
raneh. about sixty miles from here
Sam met her there She and Sam
were marSied two weeks later. She
was a lot younger than Sam: but,
even then, he was the richest man in
the valley. with every unwedded won-
an for a hundred miles around setting
her cap for him.
Whether Margarita married him for
his wealth. or whether il was to spite
the other girls who would have liked
TO marry him. don't know All |
know is that Margarits never had 4
mite of love for HIM She stayed with
him, though. and acted decently enough
for two years, until Dan Canneziano
came to the ranch and got job on
it as a cowpuncher.
II was during those two years that
Sam huilt this ranchhOuse for her.
Sans lead and silver mine had just
come in. and there was not anything.
from Italian marble hreplaces to teak.
wood floors. that was too grand for
what Margarita called the Stanley
mansion She left ii, all the elegance
and the luxury, and she broke her
marriage vows. for love of this wop
"" bNANACA- lat. SuCSS- - tdiI
and full enough description OF Marga-
rita Canneziano.
don't blame her. l quit blaming
folks for things good many years
ago when. after firing three Chinese
cooks in six weeks, decided that. If
We were TO live healthy and whole
some, I'd have TO take over the Job
OF cooking as well as housekeeping
for the Desert Moon ranch. and SET
about it, and learned TO cook In
other words. when I became a creator
myself. got TO know creations and so
quit blaming all of them
II forget TO put the soda In the
sour milk pancakers, it isn't their
fault II they don't rise. They are as
i made them. Margarita was as the
Lord made her. He. suppose. either
had His own good reasons for turning
out such mess, or else He was tired.
or fustered. or maybe, was just expert
menting IN the road to something bet.
ter when He did It
| should explain, I suppose. wish.
ing TO be as honest as possible In smile
of the fact that ! am writing mys-
tery story, that Canneziano had q
good education: he talked poetry. and
played the violin. Margarita heard
him playing, down in the OUTFITS quar-.
tiers one day, and had Sam invite MIN
up to the house to play. She accom-
panied him on the grand piano that
Sam had bought for her.
Before long, Dan Canneziano was
spending good part OF his time at
the ranchhouse. Sam, being nobody's