Show t In the G of tbt 1 flau ve rs 1 T JI i Story Y of f an Reid t tf BY f G A BENTY 4 4 t Copyright C 1900 by G A Henty CHAPTER II IL Early as Mexican an households hou are awake in order to eny the comparatively Comparatively cool hours of the morning Wil William William liam Harland Har and was waa wa the first up and dressing thessing hastily started out to fetch his kit bag At the bottom of this he had stowed stored away before he went on onboard onboard onboard board the clothes tl that at he had worn when he left home and also the con contents contents contents tents of or a small trunk that he had bad tak taken taken taken en with him buying b an outfit for use UBe on hArd board ho rd from a er f lep p shop He was back in an hour for fOl he had hidden the bag in a p of bushes but two twe miles from the fown wn The servants servant were moving ng about but u with ith the ex ec of If Juan none of or the others were yet down The him as he en entered entered entered I have hav been to and when f c Who Do You Suppose Set Tho Ruf fians ans Onto You I found It empty emi tf guessed the errand I on which you vou ou were away Why dio di diou t you ou not tell me last Jast night You could l hdA have e had a ne negro ro o slave to go with you t and carry cany that sack of yours back bIlek h I am not too proud to carry it myself Don Juan and I was really anxious to get it the first t thing this morning for I certainly should feel ery uncomfortable sitting down to breakfast with your friends in this s rough lough sailor suit Luckily I have some ime decent dec nt clothes in my bag and half halfA A dozen white hite jean jackets and trousers which I bought for wearing ashore when I was on 01 my last ast voyage for then as an apprentice and in a ship chiefly belonging to my father fat er I had a L good many privileges in the way of f leave leae lea e wh when n we Were Vere in yort yortY You Y ou look desperately hot and if you i would like a swim there is a pond in i that clump of trees tr es at the end of the theS j g S I have had bad a dip there myself E this morning Thank you I should like it extreme extremely ly Iy and I can finish my toilet t there The pond was an Artificial one the sides and bottom being lined with stone ston a thirk band of trees and under undergrowth undergrowth undergrowth growth surrounded it and it had 1 doubtless b ben en n f fined ed for the purpose of a bath and also alIO as was shown by r two or three f seats ats placed around it as ag asa aga asa s a shaf treat retreat rt during the heat of or the B day In half halt an hour Will Till joined Juan looking cool and comfortable in m his hi B white hite jacket and trousers trou rs and a white e flannel shirt with turndown collar and 1 black silk slik handkerchief round around his I neck That is Js a II good deft dU better better Juan said you want a 8 sombrero to complete your costume aft down here I told the servant rvan t to t choco chocolate chocolate late 8 te for us directly I r saw s U coming out from fr m the trees tree Don Guzman and andI Christina take their chocolate in their I room I dont suppose that we shall I see sec them till breakfast t which h will not be b served for an hour bot and a half yet yetI How is your arm Don Juan I Drop the Don please I was always called simply Juan by my m English E friends at Valparaiso o It Is much more I pleasant than our ceremonious way ay of addressIng each pach other so call m me Juan JuanI please e and I will call can you Will vm I Now INow Juan Harland said as they sipped their chocolate who do you be believe beneve lieve neve set those ruffians onto oth you I i could seen plainly enough that both you and the senorita had your pour suspicions suspicions dons though you did not nat choose to mention them to your father ather You are a sharp observer Juan laughed Well Ven yes I will tell teU you frankly upon whom my suspicions felL telL felLI telLI I must tell teU j you ou first that Don Dpn Guzman is IK 18 a connection of my father having Married a first cousin of his When my father went out to this new ranch of his twelve years yeas ago go he left me behind under my cousins charge and I lived Jived here for r five years going to the mission n to e by the fathers Since then th h I 1 have generally spent a month or ot two here heie and not unnaturally as you who have seen her will doubtless admit I have grown to tobe tobe tobe be very fond of Christina Of course till lately she be has simply looked upon me as her big cousin but when I was last here before going down to Val Valparaiso Valparaiso paraiso she was a little changed She had grown to be shy with me which she sho had never been before and I hoped that she had begun to return my aff tion Naturally enough when I re returned returned returned turned the other oth day I spoke out to her and learned to my delight that this was wu so but of course co she could say nothing until our parents had been consulted an Indispensable step as you of course know for in Mexico i although young people may have some someI voice in the matter the parents con cons consent I s B sent nt has to be obtained and the pre preliminaries I s are in fact settled by them In this case happily there is no fear of difficulty arising on that score Don Guzman and my father are firm friends and the alliance would be a suitable one In all aU respects as al although although although though my father may be more wealthy Wealth y than Guzman Guzma n Christina I is an only child while I have a sister who is about I er age But I still sun do not see Juan how this explains any one haing ha ing an enmity I with you No I am just coming to that You must know that the military command commandant I ant of San Diego Colonel Pedros Melos I los OS has bas a son Enriques Enriqu who is a captain in the regiment regimen t stationed here Chris Christina Christina I tina told me before I went Avent down to Chili that Captain Melos was a fre frequent frequent frequent quent visitor here and that he was very attentive to her father and fre frequently frequently frequently brought bouquets of choice flowers She added that although very civil to her as far as the customs of the country permit Dermit a to be civil to any young joung lady not related to him she did not like him Well Wen it happened the other day lay Just as Chris Christina Christina Christins tina tins and I were coming to an under understanding understanding standing exactly where we are sit n now this Captain Melos stepped out from the window of the room I should imagine that he had no great difficulty in understanding the situa situation tion A young who have just declared their love for each other are apt to look a little awkward when sud interrupted The UThe sound of his foot as he stepped out on the veranda caused us to look round sharply As his eye fell feU on us he turned as pale as if he had received a ablow ablow ablow blow and if ever mans face wore for a moment an expression of intense rage ra e his did then However he checked himself murmured a word or two about believing that Senor Guzman was on the veranda and then turned on his heel and went back Into the room Christina caught my arm Beware Juan that man will be your o r deadly en enemy enemy emy And I felt that she spoke truly I i I She f said aid that his attentions of late ha hal hali i i been very marked and she had been beenU U I LIn in constant fear that his father would on her to ask usI for her hand for his hisson hisson hisson son We agreed that I should with without w without h hout out loss of time speak to toner her father on the subject ct of my suit and I did so soon soon soon on the same sam day He was good enough to say that when a request from my father reached him to that effect he should most willingly accede to it Colonel Me Melos Melos los Jos did in I fact call the day before yes yesterday yesterday yesterday alid formally proposed propose the al alliance allI allInee liance lInee lI e to which Don Guzman replied re that his daughters affections were al already already already ready engaged with his perfect con consent consent consent sent and approval The colonel of course had nothing to do but to bow himself him out with as good a grace as ashe ashe ashe he could muster I fancy from what I have heard that he is a good officer and an honest man He has played a part partIn In all aU the civil wars that we have haye had here but unlike most others othero he al always always always ways stuck to the same side which h fortunately for tor him turned out in the end to be the successful one His son non bears an altogether different charac character ter Here indeed there has been noth noti nothing not ing much against him the fact of his father being commandant has no doubt acted as a check upon him and pos possibly possibly sibly the hope that he may have en entertained entertained I II of ot winning Christinas hand I I may have helped to render him dis discreet discreet creet but I have hae heard that in other I places where his regiment has been in garrison he lie bore the worst of charac characters characters terse Thus you see as a bitterly disappointed disappointed pointed man and as an unscrupulous one he might well have been the author of this attack upon me and as mr you noticed the idea occurred to Christina ut 1 RuI RuIA I I I A Young Couple Who Have Just De Dc Declared Declared dared Their Love For Each Other Are Apt to Look a Little Awkward When as well wen as myself remembering as we did the expression of his face when he saw us together That their affair was his work hoWever we have no shadow of proof and I should not think of whispering my suspicions to any one Still I shall shan take every precaution for forthe forthe forthe the three or four days das that I remain here and shall not be out in the We un unfrequented unfrequented Unfrequented frequented streets after nightfall And now about yourself tell me frankly what are you thinking inking t of doing Do you ou intend to continue at sea or are you thinking of returning to your home where no doubt you would be gladly received by your father I have not thought it fully over yet yeti but I certainly shall not go back to my father with the tale that I oI found my life lIe unbearable and und deserted my ship When I go It must be b with a better batter record than that He may have objected most strongly to my taking to the sea but I think it would be he an I even greater annoyance to him to find that having in defiance of his wishes one done db e so I pad so soon backed out of it He lie himself is s a man who carries through anything that he undertakes no matter if he incurs loss in so doing I do not say that if I saw some other opening and made a success of it ft he would mind but when I do go back it must be not as a returned prodigal I but as a man who has done something who has In one line or another achieved V W I tV I I 1 I ic r U I 1 M J Ji o i Lr 1 II J t J THREE TEREE DAYS LATER JUAN AND WILL SAID GOODBY GOOD BY TO SENOR GUZMAN AND HIS BIS DAUGHTER AND ARD SET SETOUT OUT a certain of success As far as I have It over my ideas have been to take a passage down to Val which seems to me the most place on this coast and there look round I have ve money enough to toI last I st for some sorpe little time for my father on my return from my last voyage gave me a check ch ck for or and beyond 20 or 30 expended on my sea kit I still have it all in my belt I But what do you think of doing in inVal Valparaiso Val I would take anything that turned up except ex ept a clerkship Then if in two or three months I could see nothing that seemed ly to lead to a good thing I would ship again Well W lJ you will wUl w l not embar embark on any such chase for some time for I intend to take you off with me to tomy tomy tomy my fathers hacienda da for a long visit You will receive the heartiest of wel welcomes welcomes comes when I tell teU them what you have done for me I can promise premise you I think a pleasant time ther there and you will see what will be quite a new side of life Ufe to you and learn something of the ranching business which let me metell metell metell tell you is ia I as good as another though I admit that a considerable rable amount of capital is requires for making a fair start OIL I would like liJe l e it t extremely Harland I ITher L said but There Ther are no huts buts b ts in it Will the theother theother theother other broke in n You dont suppose that after what lias has happened you pre are going your way and I am going mine in inthe Inthe inthe the course of a few days as if we were but two passengers who had made a short voyage together gether t My ly Either ther would never ne vel forgive e me if I 1 did not I bring you up with me I expect to td tomorrow t morrow or next day ay we shall have ha ye three or four ot of the men reen down with horses blankets and other necessities for travel I sent a messenger off on the day I arrived There is generally a wagon or two that comes down every month for groceries wine and other matters and an an l as I 1 find that it is I fully that time the thc last trip I ex cx expect expect the carts and arid men will both ar arrive arrive rive nyc tomorrow Traveling comfortably we shall take the th best part of a week to get there of J course ours with relays of horses it could be done In less than half that tim time rhe The wagons take ten days and that Is good traveling especially especially as there therl are ar three days heavy work over the first range ra of hills Here the toe mules will have a few days rest and then start jt aln You find mules better than horses for wagons Beyond all comparison cc better the value of a mule is six times limes Imes of a horse except for exceptionally c good and fast animals Feed a mule well welland welland welland and there is no rio better beast in the world Of course the mules are big animals being bred from the finest donkeys that can be imported from Spain Sp aln and an d can an drag aS as much mich m ch as oxen and go g halfa half fas C g J 11 Acting under his friends frI advice Will purchased the necessaries for his jour journey journey journey ney the principal item being a Mexican Mexican can poncho this in appearance was like a large blanket of a long soft wool that was practically waterproof t tA A hole edged with braid was cut in the middle This was slipped on over the head and a long riding reaching to the stirrups was obtained while at night it served all the purposes of an ordinary blanket Juan presented him with a 2 rifle a brace of handsomely qan mounted and a sword We Ve always ride armed across the hills we are on good terms with the Indians near us but might might fall t ll in with some wandering bands or possibly possibly possibly bly u 8 party of white whit cutthroats fugi fugitives fugitives fugitives tives from justice Besides Beside he added there may ma ay possibly be dangers on this side of the first range of hills nills I You think Will began besan be a aYes Yes I think it possible that the or organizer organizer organizer of the first attempt on my life Ufe may possibly try again It Is not probable probable probable able that he likes me inc any better for forthe forthe forthe the failure he then made Some high riding boots a couple of pairs of fringed Mexican trousers tro users and anda I a few other necessaries completed the i equipment most of which was to be besent b sent up in the wagon with his kit bag Will wm was in high spirits Nothing could be more pleasant than the trip prom promised promised promised to be and he looked eagerly for forward forward forward ward to the start The wagons had arrived and with them four mounted men who had overtaken them on the day before they reached San Diego They brought down with them two rid riding riding riding ing horses intended for Juans use My father always sends two down Juan said so that th t I can have a change |