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Show ! A TALE OF TWO j j THANKSGIVINGS; A ThanksislvliiK approaches earn year Hon Antonio la wont to tell the following atorya atory of two Thanbsi-ivlnga In one year, the Inn ThanksnlvliM! of pniioral California and the first reeoirnlllnn In tho woit-land woit-land nf the TbanksKivIng of the American. Tho story runs In thla wise: "liefer the flrlngo ramn" California Califor-nia had a Thanksgiving; dny of Hi own. nllhounh no governor' procl. matlnn or pre-ldenllnl edict dlnnltleil It wllh such ofllclnl title. It was In-dlKeniius In-dlKeniius to the country, and was es. peclnlly aiilled to Cullfornln's cllmnt-lo cllmnt-lo conditions and to ber religious his. tory. Wbnt time moro seasonable to Klve thank than Just after the bar-vest bar-vest bad been gathered, and what dy moro appropriate- than the 4th of (k;. tohnr. fete of Ht. Francis d'Asslsl Ht. Krancla, whose- anna bad rescued tho country from tribal darkness; 8t. Krancla, to whoso speeliil protection were confided the mission of AlUi California! Karly In the morning of Oct 4. IRIS, n picturesque prorealon approaehni the old church at Monterey. Krnm far and near each ranchero brought In a heavy vehicle drawn by oxen and heaped high with corn and boana and melons. A the vehicle and walker cam nearer, tbo hells of the church rang out a glad welcomo to Its loyal children. chil-dren. Then tho assemblage knelt down on mother earth anil each heart echoed tho prayer tho reverend padre monclta and Kranclsra. I Th old senor had taken t fancy to th young American. In th two week lnce Kodgera' arrival b had Invited hli to hla home every day. With the oxceptlon of the father and Carmonclta. the Max family felt uncomfortable un-comfortable under the cold blue critt-Iny critt-Iny of Ui trnnt!or; but. a.i Callfor-nlana. Callfor-nlana. thoy did nut withdraw their hospitable attentions Csrmenclta. fooling tho disapproval of hlir family, fam-ily, ahnwerrd favors upon bin. And b well, at drat he cin e to prr.lc speaking Spanish, and later, he cam because he could not keep ay, Th brown e'yos haunted hlin when away from their presence now nilscblov-ous, nilscblov-ous, now during, now languishing, now sparkling, but always Impelling him to g.ua Into them Into them and on Ui softly curved cheek and petal ruricd mouth. Ho did not want to love a ('alifornlan, nor. In fact, any oih'-r woman at present, la-ivo would Interfero with his ambitions. Yet be answered the call of tJO eves ard his lips learned moro readily to converse. Aa a slave to bis conscience con-science he had told Carmonclta that be had come to this country to mnke his fortune, and that, it once gained, bo would return to his own Innd. "Ob. It Is thnl tho cllmale does not suit you, aeiiorT" The cllmato Is all right, but " "II Is the people. You tit) not like im?" and the dark head went up In the air. "You know I like you, but " "Hut when you go back to your own land, renor ' "I'll never go back. Your land shall be mine, or you will go with me." "Hut your fortune, aenor? " "Fortune does not rentier. Nothing rr altera but you. I wont you. you, Car-mencttn. Car-mencttn. I'romino to marry nie. I'ronilse." nnd he held her close. "Let mo go. Let me go. When you make your fortune, aenor. then I will marry you. No, no, senor. I'll never marry a poor Americano. My own I roiintrynian la different. Wo do not ' care for money. You aro different. I Ixsik at Kulalla Oonrnlea. Hha married mar-ried a poor Americano, and now she hna to work, work, work, end save and never have any comfort. All becniiso h'T husband wants to save money. No. You nmlio your fortune and then - you may go homo or you may marry mo, If Itamon has not boon buforu- i hand." "Ilo'll never bo beforehand. I'll get the fortuno, and you. too." "Oh, but only Ibis day Itamon line asked my fill her that he muy marry mo on (he Mh of December, his felo day and tho Virgin's." "December! Ko near! Hut this la only Ortoher, and November cornea between. be-tween. There are olher felo days beside be-side his. This Is your ThnukSKlvlHK. My country tins a Thanksgiving In a few week. Then I'll cither huvo rlrhea or dellnlto promise of riches. Then I'll claim you. That will bo my Thanksgiving" Aa merry voice were heard cnlllng. "Carmencltn, Clta." ho whispered. "I'ronilse mo. rromlso nnd seal your promise ao, ao, so." Her alllrmnllve answer waa amoth-ered amoth-ered and they turned to jrroct their Beckers. Ill employment with I.arkln took him to the different ranches and even a far north as I'lielilo do San Jose. Here old Don I'nlomnrea, In extolling California over Mexico, said: "Oh, yea, aenor, Mexico baa ber sliver sli-ver mine. But who can say that California baa not greater riches? Perhapa the old padrea can toll of gold field that the old Indian know about. "No, aenor, Tbe reverend padre never divulged any aurh information. They bad uen how th Indiana of Mexico were enslaved to work In the mines, and how avarice, awakoned by I the desire for silver, bad corrupted the whltb man. So why Introduce a great ours her In this land of content, where Ood aenda all that la needed and where his children live In peace and In bl spirit?" After till Rodger cultivated tho acquaintance ac-quaintance of the different priests on bin routes tho padres of Monterey, of the Pueblo tie San Jone and of the missions of Snn Jose and Santa Crux. Ills eyes, always stern, grew coldur and keener, and hla manner, always Implying superiority, did not tend to win bloa personal friendship. However, How-ever, a a alranger nnd a protogn of I.arkln. th padres extended their hospitality hos-pitality to him their hospitality, but nothing more. It was not llkoly that 1 they would conOde to a foreigner a f cret whMi they withhold from their own sons. On the Monday previous to Thanksgiving Thanks-giving HiHlgera had to start on a trip to the vicinity of Hanta Crux, that would keep him away until Thank giving day Itself. In hla absence th preparations for the hull went on. Thanksgiving night arrived, the ball begun, and yet Rodger bad not returned. re-turned. Alxiilt 10 o'clock, the voice around the entrance announced bis arrlvul. Ho seemed almost excited. He explained that bo had had illRlcul ty In crossing the Salinas and that he had rushed for fear of being too Into for the hall. "As ho tloea not dunce, that would be a pity," ftamon Castro murmured to a neighbor. During the following dance. Rodger Rod-ger telegrnpbed to Carmencltn' watchful eyes. When tho music began be-gan sho slipped out and met blm In the moonlit courtyard. "Hold tip your head," ho commanded, and then he twined strings and strings of pearls around ber slender neck. Then ho caught her to him. "You are mine. It Is Thanksgiving and you are mlno." "Rut. aenor. where " "Don't ask anything. You promised If I brought you wenlttj you would bo mlno. Promise me you will sail with mo In the White Wing tomorrow. The cnptaln enn marry us at sea. and at my homo yon will have happlnesa you never dreamed of hero. Promts me. Promise " 11 it t why that Hidden pause In the 1 ;;-:lr.:;;:Kr'i''i jiff1?;;: r" -. : '.fTjf'g .. .;" i . . . .". . ' ,s. : ,;' '.,Ui'-'".T'-','.a-' 'v'v.'-' ;"'-" ':- -'.'.. ' --.:,- -i 1 . ' j ; . -. ' - . " "' ;'; '. - " ' 1 ' r" - y .. ""- "' -' ' ' '' , , .', ;.ja-'v ' " . ."-4, " . , -.'' ;'.V ,v Pilgrims' Hall, Plymouth. Massachusetts. voiced the prayer of thanksgiving to St, Krancla for tbe harvest of the past year and of pellllon that he continue con-tinue bis care by sending early and bountiful rains. When the banner had been escorted escort-ed bark Into (he churi li and tlcposllcd at tho lefl of the nltnr the congregation congre-gation aurgotl out and a merry acuuo ensued. With cbuller and evcliunatluns aud infectious Inugtiter, the people moved about In ever-changing groups. No one wna greeud more warmly than Ikm Thomas l.urkln, who limit thla opportunity of Introducing 0 tho pooplo fiom tho country hli latest pro'tego, Alvln Itodger. The old Cab Ifornlan ncrepted thu newcomer warmly, as was their habit. "The friend of Don Thomas Is a fr!n:d of nilue. My hnuio Is your whenever you wish to vlalt It." The strunger accepted all d..eo of friendliness with the same luipor-turbablt) luipor-turbablt) calmness, and finally attached at-tached himself to tbe group !q whlcb th Dial family wera chattering. A th vans atsrted, tho population of Monterey rattered to lis homos, accompanied by all th country people peo-ple who could possibly remain ovor for th evemug's flesln, Itaioon Caa-tro Caa-tro Joined the Dlni group, but bad to content himself with walklog with on ot th suns, while So nor Dial marched Itodger off Just behind Car- music. The slleuco inade them both start. Then from thu windows thundered: thun-dered: "That Americano, Uodger. Isig tif an Inlldol. He niurdored the indre of the Mission lie Santa Crili nnd stole tlio Htrltigs of pearls from tbo virgin." Curmeiii Ha shivered herself her-self out of bl arms as the piercing tones Insido continued: "Snncho. the 1 Indian, saw blm white hid In the sanctuary. Ho ca-ue to tell us, but tbe Americano had aeveral hours' slnrt. Now he bore. Where is he?" A bowl for hlisul went up as the wholo company Jumped for tho disir-wnya. disir-wnya. Tho cry roused Carmonclta. "Come," sho breathed, nnd. seizing his hand, led him running through the nearest exit. Half a block down the street they were before their pursuer pur-suer perceived thorn. Then ahota tilled the air. At the corner they made a awlft turn nnd ran directly to the bay. Carmonclta Jumped Into an old boat, Rodger followed and unmoored It. He seized tho oars and mad some distance, from the shor. Th pursuers reached the beach. Bom fired wildly, but other boarded a boat and continued after them. It was Inevitable that thoy be taken. Csrmenclta crept along th boat to his aide and put ber arm around him. "It was my fault, my sin. You did It for me. I love you. I lov you!" The oar were dropped. Hla arm Inclosed ber. "Don't let them tuka us.' aha whispered. He emblem ly stood erect, with ber still In hla arm. Then one bound and the water had closed over their bodies. They never again rnached th shores of Nfonterey, nor has tbe aea ver again given up the troasured pearl. When he finishes hi atory. old Don Antonio always lean back aud alKhs. "Yotl see why It I I do not appreciate appre-ciate th American Thanksgiving There always returns thnt plctur of tb first time we celebrated It." "Did the padres know of th gold fields? Who can tell? a they did. they were wise to withhold th infer matlon. You aeo how much harm the desire for gold works." "I it true? Well, I waa on of the pursuer." Kathorlne A. Chandlur Id Ban Francisco Call. |