Show 49 0 alk gwim affifa 0 affet the PAR 0 0 0 0 MY 0 0 0 0 WV 0 by peter B afsa CHAPTER VI continued a why should he be lie ile came olt oft see sec fand 1 d best he be he was drunk at t the time and my father was intoxicated otherwise there would have been two funerals rather father was heartbroken when he sobered up and sent ibis lawyer to your uncle ancle bill to apologize so BO your uncle bill accepted the apology and sent back one of his own when I 1 was a very small email boy your uncle ancle sold gold out his big ranch to old man 11 hobart obart whose aon son R kenneth la Is now my general manager does uncle bill treat you with civility and decency T of course he does lies iles adorable iles hes a love very well then ill not kill him you ton must agree though that I 1 did you it a real service in bumping oft off old untie uncle tom uncle bill says you did roberta admitted but then hes biased sly my father always declared that uncle bill was all wool and a yard wide dinners ready god that stout saddle colored female who appeared in the door just now mow says wed better come and get it or shell throw it out what hat an extremely old fashioned young man you are don jaime please do not call me don jaime the don Is really a title of 0 respect and Is used by ones employees or social social infer inferiors lors rather like having a pullman porter address you yoa as judge judg e I 1 or colonel you may call me mr higgins biggins mr Higue higueres nes james jimmy or jaime very well mr higueres niguenes Higue nes the g girl irl murmured in a very small voice when then hold e everything grything ry thing mine host hosl I 1 anus knust run to my 7 room for a handkerchief I 1 forgot to fetch one don jaime gazed after her there was no doubt but that he be approved 0 of f her ber mightily when his gaze shifted it met mrs gaubys Gan bys now how does she impress you she queried flue ried miss antrim Is physically beautiful and mentally alert yes ashes as smart emart a young woman as you and I 1 will ever meet well raised well spoiled polled haughty aware of her power over men and just loves to use it IL sound at heart though I 1 think will she be here long iong don jaime 7 1 I do not know in all probability the she will not be here long ion enough to please me in fact if I 1 run that bill dingle scalawag down the road she be here now ashes a new note in life to me but im not going to let her know she Is CHAPTER VII robbie bobble his big pale face glowing from Ms big recent ablutions arrived with roberta noberta and the four went in to dinner the table had bad been set in the gallery don jaime explaining that during the summer they always ate outside roberta appraised the table with the eye of an e expert it was covered with a white linen cloth short stemmed red roses peeped from a jade green bowl in the center the service was of sterling silver and very old and beautiful on closer inspection she taw saw that it carried a coot coat of arms my ally great great great grea grandmothers silver don jaime explained fellow in new york once heard I 1 had it find and sent bent his big secretary down to buy it lie ile offered me an unbelievably high price for the service and seem to believe me when I 1 told him it was not for sale ne ile just JUS t kept tilting the ante and seem to see he was annoying me some people are like that the they y think money Is the beginning and the end of everything perhaps you would also mr if you had ever been poor roberta suggested ive paid 12 per cent for rented money be retorted ive had the ranch mortgaged in bad years and banks carried my father halt half his big lifetime only those who are poor in spirit who lack courage can be really poor 10 do you not find life a little lonely here bere A busy man Is seldom lonely lly bly father spent his life in bondage to the irrigation system you probably observed en ell route here but after h his Is death I 1 completed it and transformed a semiarid sem larid valley into alfalfa and cotton fields I 1 got rid of the scrubby long horned cattle that were built tor for speed and substituted herefords Here fords va which hie h are built for beef all this has bien been a considerable task and tell fell to my hands bands when I 1 was eighteen that was waa ten years ago 1 after I 1 was de mobilized in the is pring of 1919 1 I really started to put pul this ranch on a paying basis I 1 cleaned up on cotton ta in 1919 and TO 20 and cattle prices were unbelievably high I 1 had a feeling however that thai such buch a wartime prosperity last so go I 1 sold all my cattle in the th fall of 1920 0 and in 1021 1 I plant any ADY cotton well the market smashes smashed on both and lucky jim have hav instead Insi end I 1 raised alfalfa and stacked it then I 1 bought cattle tor for a so son ng when the banks and the governmental loan agencies foreclosed cheap cat Vs tle and cheap feed you know I 1 hai had spy my moment of panic the road 0 as o rough and rocky in spots alt although bough that of course made it all the more interesting the victory nil all the more delightful I 1 think that when one ling has had to fight for his land and his people he learns to love both no matter how unlovely or uninteresting they may appear to those whose lives have beer been spent in shelter and without effort my aly life has been spent that way I 1 must admit roberta confessed and I 1 like it she added why not youve never tried any other life have you roberta noticed that her lost was much more at his ease now that their convers conversation atlon had veered into new channels it occurred to the girl too that don jaime maniel Higue higueres nes had lived more in five minutes of his colorful life than had the last three generations of hackette Hac kotti and the hacketts hackette Hac ketts were a long lived race what gainful occupation if any does sir air latham practice now dot don balme asked roberta ne ile plays the stock market with success I 1 hope ile he has always been very successful until recently when he lost practically everything he lind had or at least he would have lost it without the aid of some people who love him we anticipate a reverse in the market which will pull pill him out if not with a profit at least without terrific loss my father loved your uncle bill even if he did shoot him in the heel bee and disagree with him politically I 1 would be glad to give my fathers friend a leg up you live with your uncle rill bill I 1 take it ive been his big ward and a member of his big household since my tenth birthday I 1 have never known a wish he hastened to gratify at whatever cost so you see now that hes old and liable to suffer financial reverses it Is my duty to take care of him and tor for that reason my uncle tom toms e state estate comes to to me somewhat in the th e nature of a godsend one more reason why I 1 should be dealt with charitably in the matter of your decea deceased qed avuncular rela relative tire the young man suggested humorously well well pull you out till all right on the sheep 1 I understand the estate Is boarding on you mr Higue don jaime shrugged ET Es nada he replied that Is the grass gras they consume amount to that li and nd he snapped ills his fingers the k knowledge 1 e tint thit I 1 am serving a ill distressed stressed lady l Is a rich reward two maids removed the empty soup plates and set get the roast down in front of don jaime balme A wild turkey he informed roberta then he be sharpened his carving knife on the steel and attacked the bird dissecting it in a very be neat at and scientific manner CRI can you cook miss antrim heavens no 1 I had heard beard it was a lost art with the rising generation im a rattling good cook myself it if I 1 do say so most latin males are you know I 1 enjoy cooking fish and game now how about boxing great sport I 1 have three vaqueros ros who are paid five dollars R a mouth month extra to box with me that I 1 suppose said V roberta oberta dryly appeals to your irish blood are you of a religious turn of mind well I 1 built a church in my pueblo and I 1 support a padre for my people I 1 play the organ in my church and ive rehearsed the choir until its really rather good you must come to mass with me tomorrow and listen to it why were you armed today do you always carry that arsenal no he replied soberly 1 I do not but of late I 1 have felt that discretion might be the better part of valor you see I 1 have been unfortunate enough to make some new enemies recently the last time I 1 went abroad unarmed I 1 was carried home on a stretcher 1 I fear the girl EU suggested that the antrim sheep are proving to be a source of embarrassment to you oh not at alit all my encin enemies les never embar embarrass russ me I 1 assure you ile he said it so 90 simply so earnestly so absolutely without brag or bounce that roberta laughed aloud you are a new note in life she d declared mrs ganby canby do you not find don jaime a source of profound amusement don jaime I 1 must admit Is 13 different mrs birs ganby replied guardedly im sure of it mrs gantly ganby ile he a bit religious but he Is very charitable able so charitable in fact that I 1 am certain he Is obliging me in the matter of those sheep at considerable loss and nuisance and inconvenience to himself not kol at all her host protested 1 I expect to collect from the antrim estate a reasonable fee for my services to reimburse me tor for my outlay or inconvenience conven ence roberta had a fueling of helplessness in tills this plans presence for he be was a new experience with her she had never met a man who remotely resca resembled him so ruthless forceful and doniff dominating inting not knowing nhat to say she waa baj silent and attacked her meal when presently her glance met don jaimes again he was smiling lit at her whereupon she itched ditched with a desire to pull his undoubtedly celtic nose he his has all the audacity and assurance of the irish and all of tile the ego of the latin she thought what an Ind indolent plent semi insolent glance he has and he int good looking at all still lie he had bad look ing lies iles just masculine and knows it all of his life lie he has been accustomed to being high and low justice on this ranch because these peons geons of his big kotow to him lie he thinks lie he can get away with murder hes just a mexican ican feudal baron who aho has established his feudal sway just fur fair enough north of the border to make good with it Is it possible for one to send a telegram from your ranch mr she asked certainly after dinner you can telephone your message to the office at los algodones Alg and charge it to my account 1 I suppose I 1 should go to los algo dones in a day or two to consult with my atto attorney rupy 1 I well the longer you delay your visit M miss iss antrim the more agreeable it will be to alviso trudys almost a full blooded spaniard about one thirty second aztec or yaqui but enough to make him want to take life easy be kind your visit on a business mission will cause him to bestir hirn himself self roberta laughed again softly suddenly for again she had a swift it vision of glenn hackett and compared the activities of his law with the somnolent status of don Pruden cios legal mill 1 I feel like alice in wonderland she declared suddenly speaking of bees and birds and sealing scaling wax and cabbages and kings said don jaime 1 I am sincerely delighted to have sold prudy to you iles hes so a slow low so BO deliberate I 1 know hell just lengthen out your visit to vf va I 1 0 r J z 3 MIN I 1 just a mexican feudal baron the rancho valle verde until you get to like the country just now you think my count rys bare find and lonely and desolate but it will grow on you to one unaccustomed to wide horizons horizon 8 there Is b born 0 rn in texas a feeling that one Is lost but presently one discovers that out of all this loneliness and vastness a surprising number of good natured and contented peo pel come friendly and they do not talk too much although they do talk to the point ill miss my guess a mile if you find yourself without a serious interest in texas I 1 moan mean miss antrim lies iles secretly excited and disturbed 1 I roberta thought pronouncing T 1 as e I 1 wish dinner were over providentially it was not a long course dinner such as roberta had expected would be served and which she had looked forward to with dread A soup a salad rated a roast two vegetables a light dessert and black coffee that was all ile he runs bis big household like a sensible man at any rate the girl reflected ted she watched a humming bird flitting from flower to flower saw a quail come forth and bear away a crust tossed him by don jaime then as the shadows lengthened the mocking birds replete with food and happy perched in a time lime tree and paid for their meal in melody mcl oily roberta had dever cover hoard heard a spanish mocker before and was delighted with the beauty and variety ot of their extensive repertoire you yon are fond of music don jaime queried R Rii berta herta nodded and he tossed a quick order in spanish to one of his dusky maids from behind the climbing passion vines on the gallery across the patio a guitar was strummed strummer strum med roberta heard the mellow notes of a harp as unseen fingers ran the scale then a girls olce without much volume but wondrously sweet and sympathetic commenced to sins sing la golon drina when I 1 am unhappy don jaime explained they BID sins that sad song to me and make me unhappier happler un why dont you have them sing something joyful my dear miss antrim no higgins ever wants to be made happy when hes bes unhappy its like enjoying poor health we must feed our racial melancholy an choly you incorrigible celt I 1 are these professional entertainers brought out from los algodones Alg no part of the ranch assets that harp has been in our family since the first ill II iggins gins enil emigrated grated to madrid hello hub bub you petting getting sleepy tired after your long ride today eh robbie had left his chair and climbed up into don jaimes lap his big thin little arm was around the brown powerful neck his head cuddled under the big square chin don jaime held him close with his left arm and roberta noticed that with his right hand band he gently massaged the atrophied muscles of the boys left leg the purple shadows crept over the patio the music sobbed and mourned behind the passion vines presently don jaime shook robbie gently come son he said softly say your prayers in spanish as I 1 have taught you nuestro padre tile sleepy voice spoke haltingly the unfamiliar words the man prompting from time to time when the prayer was finished he rose and with the boy in his arms stooped over mrs ganby that she might kiss her son acio good night then he be passed around the table to robertas Ito bertas chair innocence and helplessness roberta heard him murmur who could not love it ile he stooped over her and lowered the boy until the childish lips brushed her cheek then he be bore the lad off to bed the two women exchanged glances the mothers eyes were moist that Is the latin in him miss bliss antrim lies iles not ashamed to demonstrate his affection roberta did not answer she was thinking of a remark th that at crooked bill had once made in her presence when children and dogs love a man a woman Is usually safe with him silo she wondered now if glenn hackett loved children and dogs and decided presently that he would love his own children if and when he be had them but that he would not be interested to in dogs or human beings beneath him in the social scale lie Is a strange man mrs ganby she salt said at last 1 I have n neur eer met his und kind before 1 I do 10 not k know now what to make of him vt whether bether t to 0 like him or dislike him to fear him or to trust him ile he killed uly my uncle and then masquerading tinder the name of jims junr higgins lie induced me to accept the hospitality of jaime ea |