The Argosy, November 1908 — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

BY BULLET There were hills on the left, the foot- hills of the Sierra de Los Cucaras. -The few people we passed gazed at us with some curiosity, but the sight of armed men, even Indians, riding to- gether, was not an unusual one in Lower California. Nevertheless, I did not consider it ‘ wise to take my little band of Moquis into Vallecita without knowing some- thing about the situation there. I had been to Vallecita, and knew the way, so did old Billy Barefoot. I found a deep gully with a running stream at the bottom, into which we could ride from the beginning of the descent. I sent the Moquis down into this, where they would be screened by the outreaching trees which lined the sides, and I rede on alone to Vallecita. It was not a difficult job to learn where the hacienda of Senor Bonilla was located, and having been well di- rected, I rode out of Vallecita to the eastward, I found the place before nightfall. It was a large white house, surround- ed by well-tilled fields and cattle ranges. I rode to the doer, where a swarthy Mexican met me. ‘What does the sever wish?” he asked. I could speak and understand the language, as could almost everybody who lived near the border. ‘““T desire to see Senor Bonilla,” plied. ‘Senor Bonilla is not at home.” “Then, perhaps, the se#ora? ” “Ah, yes! The setora is at home. What name shall I tell the seviora?” “Tell her that Sefor Denny would like to speak to her.” He disappeared inside the mansion, and soon was at the door again. “The seftora will be pleased to see the sevor. I will have the se#or's horse cared for. The woman will guide the senor to the seilera.” I looked for the woman. She was an old Mexican dame, wrinkled, leathery, but_with eyes that were as keen as they were black. “The sefor will follow me,” she said. She led me to a large and luxuriously furnished drawing-room. ‘“T am pleased to meet you, My daughter has told me all.” I re- ” Senor, PERSUASION, 595 | The woman who greeted me was tall and handsome. She was gowned in American style and held out her hand cordially. “Then I am talking to Senora Bo- nilla.”’ ‘Mrs. Bonilla would be more Ameri- can, wouldn’t it?” | ‘“T suppose it would,” I said with a laugh. ‘Now, Mrs. Bonilla, did your daughter tell you that she was my wife?” .) “She told me that a ceremony was begun and not finished.” ‘But did she tell you that it was her own desire as well as mine that the cere- mony should be performed?” ‘Yes, and it remains her desire now.” ‘Ts she here?” “No. I knew you would come. And I knew, and know now, that there will be trouble. Hernandez and my _ hus- band knew you would come. MHernan- dez says that you are a devil in a fight.” “Then, if she is not here, where is she? Have they sent her away?” ‘They have not sent her away. They have taken her. Hernandez was not as weak as he pretended. He wished to make you believe that he was helpless, and while you were at work he intended to find Consuelo. But you outwitted him by compelling him to come back with my husband. He is wounded, of course, but he is not so weak as you thought. Now, if you will have some refreshments, I will ‘explain just what the situation is.’ She called the Mexican woman. “Bring some wine, some cakes, and some sandwiches,” she said. ‘The situation,” she went on, as she resumed the easy position in her large wicker chair, “is this: My husband, while occupying a position of some prom- inence and importance in this part of Mexico, is not rich. He owes considera- ble money, and, although his creditors are not pressing him, he feels uneasy about his debts. “Hernandez, on the other hand, is wealthy, but has practically no high posi- tion at all. His manner of life is not such as to make him a good magistrate, and, therefore, he is nothing more than a rich Mexican idler. ‘“He has been, for a long time, a comicloooks.corn