The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 2, 1899, Page 22

oy THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY. APRIL 2, 1899. I-IEAH,” the people cried, as Juan Quereno passed—the cry of in fact. And this was considered an excellent joke. It had been a joke in the countryside for nearly twenty vears; one of perhaps half a dozen; for the uneducated mind is €low to com- prehend, and slower to forget. Some one had nirkpa.mml Juan no the le" when he was at school, and Spain, like Italy s of Provence, is a country where men have two names—the bap- and the led. Indeed, the custom is so universal that official S0 rds must ne ance of it, and grave Government papers t in the name of so-and-so, “named the monkey."” \fter all, worse by-names in the village than the Mule, as many know, a willing enough beast if taken the right w the wrong—well, one must not take him in the wrong w end of i mule will suddenly stop because, it would ap- ing on mind desires to think it out then and in who raises a of course, a fool. Any one There were, e has s And the stick o Wik - i SHoOoT 3 Youw . 1 and watch ntl r but to sta y, “Al- R on. And then ti and re mule mill move on, sm—a quality which, by the way, in the horse and the dog. ngs with Quere ¢, therefore, by him accordingly. humble capacity ra rc range of mountains 1v make for himself a small repu- w was, namely, a Government i en chaotic miles of rock and s it was officially announced x - he delay never occurred on « v and summer, storm and shine, he g kward and forward, sleeping one night at San ( el Rey. Such was Juan Quereno, ‘“a schoolmaster of San Celoni said, w a wave of the cigarette which he always s vas, nevert sant enough when the Mule, ¢ v inking look in his steady black eyes P to him alone F g e replied t ves.” And he drew aside on the he t down W he -4 t the wall and thrust out other. Then he sat fo with his WS 5 boots. His face was tanned a.deep brow t £ much intelligence perh T ba T which somethin a w n deways at the schoolmas- a lips with openly, after the manner of Tt Ca na aquired elder man. 3 M th If the Mule had ever been a ¥ u please, of a little d [ first class boys, blinking throug g g h must have made the world [ effect that they had 1 ward t he goats poised he crannies. oked toward hat the M sometimes r erhaps of t other Cristofero > fmmortal fame. yes she upward jerk of the ow. But that as- hand, distinctly the beasts of the Mule's, ryside—to recollect that the 1d was trusted by the author- valley. and certainly none to ge of San Celoni. The malediction. He had promotion. and promo- 1 it was exile—no newspapers, twenty mil paved ise of his rural No wonder he was a democrat— now. such as his father had schemed cceded. A republic, it must be re- every man is not only equal but 1.miles to the south man. In a repu es—he would have mmu 100k of. shame at his e £al ly speaking an untruth. nt- The man had hardly spoken to Caterina. Conversatio: strong point. He 2 i 1d exchanged the usual greetings tain on a fiesta day. He had nodded a good-morning irt (for Mule had no manners), more times than he iterina had met his slow glance with those solemn eves 1o speak, had settled the M Just as it business of five out of six men. For Catertna had nd solemn and sad, which said a hundred things th which seemed to have some history In them ule’s business, ve. b rina’s history,for she was only 17. Though _always be sure . P ps the history was all to come, Knew none of the ings. He was a hard-working, and only kn . e w that he wanted Caterina, and, as the hout her. Meantime he Iived on from day to ted, and worked—just as the reader may be to live on without something or other, and is one thing worse, namely, to live on and be {dle, olm r Andalusian tongues are Juick 1y suppose that you would make ive w iich he W is life slowly But one ms h was the d no mothe the postal lidity agai nomy for a moment only. at length quired the man of education. A woman would have un- he schoolmaster was think- ment. The muleteer's face Appoin ckly aster, “is Which was t believed what he rea was a long one had matter of practice. You should d advice, for the Mule was simple That is to say. it lasted a long time, and the mountains had faded from blue to i -off snow peaks reared their shadowy heads Into. the ; choolmaster had a few more questions to ask, and (e M ed them in monosyllables. He was tired perhaps after hio i cv; for he had come the northward trip, which was aiwey h entalling as it did-a rocky climb on the sunny side of the 3 He had nothing to say in his own favor, which fs not per- . @ seriot some might suspect. own valuation, which is just as well—for the world ¢ schoolmaster only succeeded in confirmin, g his own sus- was nothing but a dull fellow, and he finally had to r|“‘ The world does not r Vo had not, even the savolr-faire to perceive when a con- or he said, judteially, “we shall see.” And. the Mule went away with that heaviness oF VeATY“which must gurely follow a mean action. For he knew thatiln applying to Caterimare er-le had placed Caterina at a disadvantage. The schoolmaster, be 1t embered, He ¥ n that he ator, and t as a democ and such are usuvally autocrats in their own AS, moreover selfish man, and had long cherished the con- s destined to be great. at gift which is called by those who do not P he most dangerous that a man can have. There was ng n Celoni to listen to him. And if Caterina were married and he free man he could give up the school and go to Malaga, where as- he.could make a name. . * schoolmaster told Caterina the next morning that she was to 0ssess it the ©100k had often come there of late. The priest had noticed it, and ons two old women. ‘Almost as if she were in the mountains,” they sald, which is a local polite way of referring to those unfortunate gentiemen who, for some rea- £on cr another, do not desire to meet the “Guardia Civil,” and haunt the upper slopes of the Sierra Nevada, where they live, as live the beasts of The light that had flashed across . He thought, namely, that he was * t the matter was settled. The dusky roses faded from ' moment, and her great dark eyes had a hunted look. ' the forest, seeking their meat from God, while the charitable, and, it is even whispered, the priest of the Alcalde himself will at times lay an old coat or a loaf of bread at the roadside above the village, and never inquire who comes to take it. The Mule himself, it Is known, buys more matches than he can ever burn, S0 much as six boxes at a time, of those cheap sulphurous wooded matches that are made at Barcelona, and the next day will buy more. The Mule, however, is such a silent man that those who are “in the mountains” make no concealment with him, but meet him (wild, unkempt figures that appear quietly from behind a great rock) as he passes on his journeys, and ask him if he has a match upon him. They sometimes look at the mail hags slung across the stubborn back of Cristofero Colon with eyes that have the hunted, hungry look which Caterina has. “There is perhaps money in there,” they say > answers the Mule, without afte thousand pesetas.’” thought. And the Mule, who is brave enough where Caterina is not concerned, qhietly turns his back upon a man who carries a gun and follows Cristofero Colon. Tt sometimes happens that he trudges his nineteen miles without meeting any one, with no companion but h!s mules and his dog. named animal {s such as may be met in Spain or even in Fr street corner—not a retriever, nor a foxhound, nor anything dog as distinguished from a cat or a goat, living a troubled ar life in a world that will always cringe to a pedigree, but has no respec for nondescripts. It was on these journeys that the Mu thought > had so much cceording to h rereasing feclir For even he could think. perhaps scious, however, of an eve ea (for he was of course a mere earthy crea- f a possible life without Cateri And it day that the schoolmaster beckoned to him e and told him that it was settled—that C: lefsure f dim lights of a sickn ture)—at the end of a 1 passed the schoolhov would marry him. “Would you like to see her; she is indoors?” terina inquired the bearer of the tidi answered the Mule, after a dull pause. *“Not to-night. T have gs. as you see.’” my mail And he clattered down the narrow street with s his v 1 dazed look, as if the i 15 settle to be m and ther And what v asked, d knows they were rigl Caterina making, th is to be no love-m who heard the remark, who was a very old man himself. Two days a that the Mule met erina fountain. He said good-morning. They both stopped. and the Mt or he saw som and which made him feel that he ing and stumbling up the nar in such a vile temper, by the way, that into Caterina’s eves and had nothing to say. 1id not understand, ofero Colon, sc; was no street Mule had with the g to hurry after him eyt ardia Civil another s t Nolveda of g recruit corps. For hany—an old a lover h but one can never tell slow business,” said the schoc who lived in San Celor to the regulatior lia Civil alone. bu s. “A slow b pretty girl like Caterina; cor a ( of you > were one never me head and a as T should choos with women—eh Indeed atters did not progr ared to take so much for granted—to take iia =0 much that had not been said Even the love-making seemed to him to have been understood, and he appeared to be quite content to go his daily journeys with the know that Caterina was to be his wife. There were. of course, others in valley who would have be ad enough to marry Caterina, but she had showed no of these swains. who knew themselves ferior. in a worldly sense, to the Mule. 1e whole countryside gradually 2 ed itself also to the fact that Caterina was to marry Queren The new n spread to the mountains. The Mule heard of it there one day when he had accomplished f en daily journeys to the acc paniment of this new har As he was near had been “in the mou Pedro Casavel s very quickly m- ass he v Pedro Casavel, who ated on a stone awaiting him. had injured another in a ¢ superior man, who adve s said that F originating in po mortal disecase. the vill where enem- had forgiy in the mou He rose was more ds was an old man, now stricken with a fely return to i His ro Casavel could s r owned a good house and some and would not prosecute. But Casavel linge =0 Christian a spirit Iy approached. He carried a gun always his companions in retreat. The Mule mechanical ket for a box of matches. which he knew would be held them out silently S B them are to marry Caterina,” he said, with a half he neared Casay disdainful assionately, with a bang on the Colon, *if you do 1 will shoot vou. ust as he smiled when the people cried “Aj-i- tock of 1er.”” he said, with a shake of the head. And mechanic: other the box of matches, which Casavel took, though h d with anger and that terrible jealousy which flows in southern blood. Then the Mule walked slowly on. while his dog ~ARD HIS FACE IPON t the man ke ceive The Mule always did, to th It w conclusic furniture. a very said for name, he left known, have a kec as fin By h of the postmaste He consulted ( arily aroused from a sort of ap: interest in 14 was that rich he had to expect minine nimal from w seemed ng on Celoni like tu walted outside. Tt tr be admitted his the she W ned at the summit of the p he village where Caterina lived r He » the gun with a tl did not even shrug his shoulders. lly the schoolmaster . the Mule, who had L hen over her chickens. 15 a commonplace ceremony, ed off up the village street be was a deadly dull person— d father-in But when he returned on the he ! were shop bought ther fell upon it The into San Celoni and sunburned the “There aside and very village than was chinking of awkw enough for you." s hand animals more than with men nd a wor t is it?" he And Caterir to unders iterina winced, herself with he pre had met from t wh nodded her head only toin known i de asked the ense. whispered a praver it Pedro C; Cas Womanlike, she from her and at the er And he heg have have held out as man who was to such an her own mind. done bij she knew in the ning to see now he Mule omen wes “Thank you, with bright eyes. ually ends nothing,” seemed to me pretty at all happy nd with And rmed his lips thought s t down ag mere the have 9y ¢ v o ike i d'\mww S o ambled after him, turning back once or twice to glance apprehensively standing in the middle of the rocky path. er scent than human beings—perhaps also they have a ter vision, and see more written on the face of man than we can per- w Casavel s itening gesture. who hurried matters to their natural hitherto lodged in the house age of his own and bought some simple on several points, and she was moment- hy which had come ove tchen fittings. The bes As for the s resigned unobtrusively ind his mail bags. which he had passed on his way. this village, and it were of superior quality to had expended nearly r on their he: said Caterina he tty."” that he L 1c came ev face and hands at the fountain as he came He stood a bridegroom at her, and, if he had only had the he sald as if he had hurt instead of pleased her. varations for their simple supper, . perhaps, in his dull way; as any King has table with sort ¢ the twir and looking at her as she sobbed. ; ng to her laid his great he could not think of anything to other emcrgenci he dumb beasts amid the mountains. er a long p: nd this instantly , with nother m. that the Mule had never used his knifa, not Caterina did not dare, however, to answer him. he spoke. rest his slow brain thinking. and was less slow to read a movement than a d aterina’s fingers began to falter, and if her ey f despair sat down and hid her Mule's happiness was only human ling of an eye into abje solid, he with that it that you are sorry you married me?'” d to a people saying yea, vea and nay, nay, y economy of words. Virgin. sked the g him with white cheek 2 What ma vin, espe hoolmaster w ) the old mistakes told the M was gentle even w ing the necessary courage to fac It was, of course, the woman who spoke first, in a qulet voice, with that philosophy of life which is better understood by women than by men. wvel might suffer. g aloud. to do hereaft marriage the schoolmaster w Y. despite his radi e, per] h the s Dogs, s and looked dowm, as he before turning his face nding where he had left The Mule h her of late, by that could be Mule, lik: red his habits of thought as well as his it little from life. So, his daily journey, the Mule w: ina in the little pink stucco chapel that broods over the village of And Cristofero Colon and the dog one morning before married to and at its conclusion the bridegroom The Mule, it must nada mas—and nothing more, as aw observed at the cafe that same morning. second evening he made it evident that Caterfna in his absence, for he gave her, irdly, some presents that he had brought from a as held in the district that atticles n from Granada a peseta on a colored Kerchief is, and a brooch of blue glass. taking the presents and examining them tood before him in a girlish attitude, folding the kerchief across her hand, and holding it so that the light of their new lamp “It is very pr Mule had washed his remembering looking down love-making might have commenced then and there, at a point wher the world says it 1 owly, at length, “in the shops that He paused and turned awa his beret then with his back toward her he finished the sentence. Not pretty She busied nd the Mule s were blinded. fter all, misery. Then at length vy hand upon her He could only meet silence which he He had detected a movement, ained, to withdraw from the touch He had dealt with And she Mule, and the question brought her ie you think that? Oh—no!"” could fool him. The Mule turned Womanlike, she had forgotten her own t'C ' said the Mule, thin when it was too late, and will continu 1 objection to he in the mountains. argument : For the rted in his adherence Caterina might 1t he he had not asked her, He was s better men than he Caterina could not ct that she loved a not one to listen ally from a girl who could not know tendencies, had asked her; for stofero Colon. the truth. “You must, at all events, eat,” she said, “after your journey. Itis a ‘cocida’ that I have made.” 55 She busied herself among the new kitchen utensil hardly yet as certain as the movements of a woman, but : child, hasty and yet deft enough. The Mule watched her, seated clumsily, with round shoulders, in the attitude of a field laborer indoors. “When the steaming dish, which smelled of onions, was set upon the table he rose and v dragged his chalr forward. He did not think of setting a chair in place for Caterina, who brought one for herself, and they sat down—ta the wed~ ding feast. They appeared to accept the situation, as the poor and the hard-worked have to accept the many drawbacks to their lot, without furthge commrent. The Mule cultivated a more complete silence perhaps than hithertoy but he was always kind to Caterina, treating her as he would one of his bea which had been injured, with a mutual silent acceptance of the fact ti she had a sorrow, a weak spot as it were, which must not be. tbuche ‘With a stolid tact he never mentioned the mountains, or those: unfortuna men who dwelt therein. If he met Pedro C: vel he did.not mention the encounter to Caterir Neither did he make any ence ‘to Caterina when he gave Pedro a box of matches. Indeed, he rarely spoke to Casavel at all, but nodded and passed on his y If Casavel approached from behind he stopped without looking round and waited for him just-as his mules stopped, and as mules always do when they hear any one approach- ing from behind. with movements her those of a So time went on, and the schoolmaster, resigning his sitiation,’ de- parted to Malaga, where, by the way, he came to no good; for of talking there is too much in/this world, and a wise man would not say thank you for the “'gift of the gab.” The man whom Pedro Casavel had injured died quietly in his bed. Caterina went about her daily work with her unspoken history in her eyes, while Pedro himself, no doubt, ate his heart. out in the mountains. That he ate it out in silence could scarcely. be, for. the tale got about the valley somehow that he and Caterina had been: lovers before his misfortune. And as for the Mule, he trudged his dally.score of miles and . sald nothing to any man. It would be hard to say whether he ced that asavel, when he showed himself now in the B rather ostentatiously without his gun—harder still to guess whether the Mule knew that as he passed across the summit Casavel would sometimes lie amid the rocks and cover him with that same gun for a hundred yards or so, slowly following his movements with the steady harrel it the mailcarrier’s life hung, as it were, on the touch of a t minutes together. Pedro Casavel seemed to shift le were seeking to perfect certain details of light a i Per- haps it was only a grim enjoyment which he tiol¢ the Mule’s life in his hand for five or six m time week, perhaps after all he was that base thing and-lacked th nerve to pull a trigger—to throw a bold stake upon iife’s table.and stan by the result. Each day he crept a little nearer, grew more daring; un he noticed a movement made by the lank, ill-fed ¢ 1at seemed to indi- cate that the beast, at all events, knew of his pre in the rocks above the footpath. Then one day, when there was no wind, and the range had been ascertained, Pedro Casavel pulled port and a puff of bluish smoke floated up to h , doubtless taken note of, and the Mule fell forward on his * I have it,” he muttered, in the curt Andalusian dialect there the Mule died. It happened to be Cristofero Colon's day to do southw: and despite the lank dog’s most strenuous efforts, he contin gravely carrying the dusty mail bags to their destination mained behind with the Mule, pessimistically sniffing at his ognizing no doubt that which, next to an earthquake, is the eas to recognize in nature. Then at length he turned homeward Celoni, with hanging ears and He prob: the Mule had long stood between him and starvation—that n other would take his place or remember to feed a dog of so unattractive an ap- pearance and no pedigree whatever. ippeared L coward And then and loose D ATARINA |eCIKED UR AND MET HIS EYES Caterina did not expect the Mule to return that evening, ‘which his night m home at Puente del Re to the d therefc whe heard, after nightfall ter of hoofs: fn ¢ narrow street and the shuffling of iron hee the door, and in the bri moonli of the Guardia (i shuffled his fee “What is it?" she N actly tha at her very step. She op ocked hats and me »ehind tand still ident to the Mule?” replied the sergeant, grimly ho approached carefully, carrying Mule whom they brought in and laid on the ta “Sha y, and do His companion in arms now evidently hi Casavel upon him. he made way for would need much pity or consider appeared, leading by the sleeve one who tive. Caterina looked up and met his eyes. It was Pe len, ill-clad, half a barbarian, with the seal “The mail bags 1ed the sergeant, who in a way was the lawgiver of the v »s doybt t. We. shall find the mail bags among the e Mule m wn fi for his pocket with one el dis his hand upon the Mule 1 chest without hee. That s S no new sight to an old s v.”" he repeated, wi glance at Casavel and stood one on each side of the table that hore such a grim burde ooked at each other. “Robbery and murder. > brought Pedro -( vel, whose hiding place we have known these last two vears, Wi the chance, eh?—on the chance. It was the dog that came and told us. Whoever shot the man should have too—for safety's sake.' As the sergean: spoke he mechanically m pockets were emp Suddenly he stopped and from the fnside pc jacket. He turned toward t} the writing on it Mu He was scholars in \e sergeant turned, after and faced Cas “You are fr ask your pardo; He held out the paper, which, however, C: stupidiy staring. as if he did not understand. Then the sergeant t o the lamp again. He unfolded the piper, which was crumpled as if with long friction in the pocket, and read alpud: “Let 1m0 one be accused of my death. It is I who, owi s w “I have made a mistake, dnd I savel did not take, but stood ~ & .to private trouble, shall shoot If.—Juan Quereno, so-called the *Mule.’ — e A humorous but very annoying practical joke was played on’theé. Lon- don firemen the other day. It has long been the custom of the-various firg brigades to hold an annual ball early in January, and ‘this year, the sl arrangements were made for that purpose. Invitations were sent out and were eagerly accepted, conspicuous among the guests being Comimander Wells, a retired officer of the navy, who acted as honorary president;.and. several city Aldermen and other offic the ball room presented when the entert scene was changed The first dance on the A brilliant and mer inment hegan, but very. so programme was quadrille, and Coma ‘Wells, who was the leading figure in it, was just about to ady nce majestically up the floor when a signal of alarm was he Tor a morignt little attention was paid to it, but hardly a minute assed ‘before: the news was received that a terrible fire had broke in London:* The dancers were amazed. No one seemed to know just what had hapgencq untll finally an apparently authoritative report came to the effect that shere had been an explosion in a storehouse which was filled with fimers; alls, and that, as a result, twenty houses were on fire. 3 Without a moment's hesitation the gallant firemen prepared their lives, as they had so often risked them before. their duty lay, and, being of the same caliber as the Britsh officers iy danced so merrily before the battle of Waterloo, they tore. themeiiers away from their fair partners and hastened to the scene of 5 mander Wells was one of the-first to leave the ball room. " E; carriage, he ordered the coachman to drive as fast as he afflicted district. ; A few of the cooler heads meanwhile thought that it would Be w notify the local authorities of their departure, and. therefore They municated with them. To their amazement, back came these ply: “We don't know what fire you are talking abou right in this quarter of the city. Go on and am Truly this g00d news, but.It came too late. Most of the q had left the ! oom, S L Teturn that they had been cruelly victimized fy monid 1oL K on, Al el The oritles have tried to discover the.guilty party or im;u “heir efforts have been in vain, and it s not likely th i 8 successful. 1y that they will ever be to, Fisk They knéw ‘whera Comt hg his could ‘to"the Ever; se yourselves