The Washington times., 1937-11-18

dead.
They adhere to that belief in
spite of the fact that Pedro and
Maria, laughing and joking with
each other as any happily married
couple should, come into the vii
lage from their farm on the slopes
each market day to buy and sell
and barter.
1T is not their real selves-it
Is their spirits" the Huastecans
whisper. He died in an auto
crash in some place called Texas.
She died in her house on wheels
while she waited for him. 1t was
too bad-they never should have
gone"
Pedro and Maria wink at each
other and let the SuperstitiouS
ones believe as they will. The
belief helps rather than hinders
business, for many wish to buy
from "the dead pair"
There was great rejoicing among
relatives and friends when Pedro
and Maria married in Linares,
city ITO the north. Pedro was a
dreamer. Maria was just the wife
for him.
CLEVER WIFE
She was clever and careful,
quick to make two pesos where
one had been before, wise to see
every business opportunity before
it got too close to blind her.
It was she who had urged Pedro
to buy the plot Of cheap sloping
land near Tancanhuitz and farm
the mountainside. Pedro had i'm
plicit faith in her judgment.
Implicit, that it, until the Amer
ican who climbed from the High
way to Tancanhuitz on market
day sold Maria his trailer parked
below with the suggestion that
she pile it full of their Mexican
handiwork, buy a car, and head
for the Pan American Exposition
in some place called Dallas, Tex,
where they could most certainly
make a fortune.
NO" Pedro protested. 'It would
be well to travel, but to go on
UHS411SoO-44O! VIC CdA4 w NuSAAACtoO
here"
But Maria had been business
manager too long. Almost before
Pedro knew it they had bought a
car, driven out Of Mexico and onto
the long flat roads of Texas that
led to Dallas.
Pedro was secretly pleased-aye,
inwardly jubilant-when Maria
found they could get neither space
nor selling permit at the Exposi-
ton for their wares.
Disappointed, but undaunted,
she directed him to drive her to
some roadside where they could
wait until the morrow. Then they
would see
That night Pedro lay beside his
Maria. He slipped his arm about
her. He whispered:
Forget the business. We are
here. Let us travel-have pleasure
see this country just as the
Americans travel, have pleasure,
and see ours"
There was no answering caresS.
Maria sat bolt upright in bed. Her
usually gentle voice was rasping.
Pedro Mantillos, you are lazy
good-for-nothing fool. All these
months of our married life I have
had to manage for us both. We
are not going to travel.
Tomorrow we will go to the
outskirts of the city, catch the
tourists entering the town, and
stay there until we sell every last
thing we have bought"
Money! Money! For the love
Of God, Maria, is that all you
think off" the husband answered
sharply. "I say we shall travel. ="
HARSH WORDS
"And I say we shall not. You
are lazy fool" And so the battle
was on. Finally, woman like,
Maria cried herself to sleep.
There was no rest for Pedro.
Lazy? Good-for-nothing? It was
the first time he had ever been
spoken to harshly. He would show
his wife.
Before the dawn lightened
through the trailer windows Pedro
had slipped from his bed. Maria,
sound asleep, did not hear him
start the motor of the car. And
long before she woke Pedro and
the car were chugging toward
Houston.
IF she wants to stay there-let
her." Pedro muttered as if in tenn
porary vindication of himself and
his plan.
Upon awakening and finding
her husband absent Maria was
impatient, then downright angry
and then afraid-So afraid her
fear was like a riptide pulling
her into a sea Of deSolation from
which there was no rescue.
Pedro had left her-Pedro had
left her-and, according to the
code of her people, she was dis
graced forever.
For in Maria'S circle of relatives
and friends a woman deserted by
her husband was woman dis
graced. If a man left his wife it
was a sign she was no good. No
man would leave good wife.
Maria's panic swept from her
every atom of common sense. She
could think of nothing-she didn't
even notice that Pedro had taken
many of the wares they had
brought to Texas.
Scarce thinking of the trailer
she abandoned at the roadside,
she started the long journey back