The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1937-10-05

course. OOSS AAdO oA
ing with Ell Pelon-the hairless
one-as bald Carlos is called.
Every time Jose uShered a
group of peso-proud sightseerS to
Carlos stand the old one gave a
pretty fortune free to Margherita,
the girl who sold papayas-those
tiny oblong melons which the
poorest peon can afford for feast
days but which sell at banker S
prices in the States.
Carlos business is a Mexican
version of organ and monkey,
with little fortune-telllng
thrown in. He has a tame canary
in a dirty little wooden cage.
Fortunes" printed on pin k
and blue papers folded neatly into
half.inch squares, lie on the cop
per tray before the bird prison.
When the buyer-m oSt fire.
ouently a lady American in white
shoes too small for her bunlonS,
or a Mexican child with dirty,
bare feet and bad teeth-putS two
pesetas into one Of Carlos
scrawny hands, the one old I'M
latcheS the cage.
The bird-whose name is Luis
oooe oy,to tho &roV
SMART BIRD
Now If the buyer is of feminine
gender. Luis, minding the inflec-
ton in his masters voice, picks up
a pink paper fortune. A maScu-
line buyer sees the bird snap up
a blue paper with his beak.
None of the native buyers and
sellers in San Martin know how
Carlos taught Luis to distinguish
color-but all of them know that
a yellow paper upon the copper
tray holds a fortune which Carlos
himself has written and which he
means shall go to some particular
person.
The pink and blue ones come
from Mexico City at the cost of a
peso at thousand. The yellow ones
come from Carlos patio at a cost
Of hours of laboriouS thought and
pencil gnaWing.
The ones from Mexico City are
innocuous enough. They read,
Long Life" Good Fortune" "
Health" Many Lovers" The last
always makes Americans giggle.
The yellow ones have more
personal meaning. Ell Pelon has
always been an inveterate med
dler.
If a woman of the market place
loses her baby to the grave, Carlos
makes an early morning trip to he1
stall, chirps to Luis, and grins
happily and toothlessly while the
bird picks up a yellow slip which
reads, God is sending you another
little one"
If the crops fail on a tenant
farmers plot the hapless one, on
the day he arrives at market with
his meager wares, will be pre-
sented, without solicitation, with a
slip:
Good fortune and many pesos
will soon be yours"
A woman whose life is made nit
cradle by her husbands penchant
for meSQuale will learn via the
yellow slip:
Your husband will prove his
worth"
A long time ago friends remon.
strated with Ell Pelon.
When these things are prom
ised and do not happen-what
them"
WISE ANSWER
mo harm can ever come from
giving hope" the old man an
sWered with Sagacity which belied
his appearance but affirmed his
years.
The law of averages over dec
ade or so made Carlos right &C.
casionally. Sometimes a bereaved
mother did soon find herself with
child. Husbands did turn prohibi-
tionistS.
Landlords helped stricken ten
ants. Not often, to be sure-but
once in while. Often enough to
give Carlos his reputation as a
seer.
There was a time when Jose and
Margherita, who are young folks
part of modern Mexico-didn' t
hold with their elders that Ell Pc
lon could fortell the future. To
them he was just kindly old
busybody.
Thus it was when Jose came,
red-eared, to tell Margherita and
her parents that his sudden love
for an American girl tourist had
forced him to change all his plans,
the heart-broken Mexican girl
would have none of Carlos and
Luis.
But he may tell you some
thing" her mother argued with
more vehemence than hope.
Jose has told me more now
than I wished to hear" the girl
Sobbed.
For five years she and Jose had
planned marriage. When he first
came back to his native San Mar.
tin from two years at the univer.
Sity. he saw her.
For a time he waited beneath
her window for stolen glimpses OF
her limpid brown eyes, her shin
ing black braidS half hidden BY
her shawl her flashing smile he,