The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 1, 1906, Page 5

This story published today— Ears of the Governor”—is the fourth of a weries of thrilling stories of Spamisk brigandage . and Hesketh Pritchard, written under the title of “The Chromicles of Don Q.7 The tules recount the lawless and- ventures of this bandit, who, i mot pertrayed in colors of the ordinary nish outlaw, but as a phil- osopher of mo mean type. Ome complete story of “Don Q.'s” ndventures and highly exciting experiences will appear each week in The Sunday Call until the series is finished. z, however, Copyright by Pearson Publishing Co.) NEW Governor haé lately been appolr a to the prison at Cas- telleno. Don royster! some, Hugo was a ng blade hand. ed for hi end early ccessful in his ca- reer. In an {ll-advised bour he delivered a speech in pu wherein he abserved that Don Q was & heppy nickname for the brigand chiet who 1 had ter rorised the & of his crimes and fulminated agal the penalties of the law. this Don Q. read In hi ain eyris with exceeding re his self-esteem. The speeck when you still some re then the wife of the governor. go? pe chief’s =moc voice ed petular with & charming pout e him!” She ng of her Hthe b her eyes flashing. “I heard a » suspected—I set sples—I fol- She clasped her hands be- breast, then fung them apart vehement gesture of rage. “Oh, at this moment I could kil him.” ceed, 1 beg of you.. What have I do with lovers’ quarrels?” Everything, if you will help me! Yes, we cuarreled. He laughed at my tears. I vowed I would throw myself on your protection. He dared me to do so,l and though I was Indeed afraid (for your name is a cause for shuddering in the plains, senor), I came. He must pay & ransom for me. Thus shall he be taught to value his wife.” “Ney, senora. 1 could not have the heart to deprive him of your charmin soclety. Figure to yourself his anxi 3 was the unexpected reply. “You shall be sent down to Castelleno tomorrow in satety.” The beautiful face darkensd. I will not go!” she cried imperiously. “I did not fancy you would side against me with my husband! Remember,” with a witching glance at the dim figure in the corner, ou promised to help me.” “] have not forgotten. Yet you must tomorrow, though your departure leave the mountains bleak Indced!” “You are only & man after ail!” she exclaimed angrily. = “Tne sins of one man are not sins in the eyes of another perhaps you would feel less for him 1f you knew more of what he says inan; st Sunday he vowed you much upon himself s tha A changed note in e frightened her. e had an argument to back it,” she on nervouely. ‘“He sald it was ptive up men beside But he would w Oh, I cannot senor! ndesa shivered and obeyed. “He wagered that ne, unbacked by comrades- mean followers—you prove yourself—oh, how can I it? But you must, senora. Having gone so far I regret to insist—" Have it then,” she cried desperately. “You would prove yourself as cowardly as you are hideou e Of & 8¢ The ejaculation then the ve lady, violence; ly—""but even: now, missed out one little no,” she sobbed; “I recollect no more.” *Then listen. The governor of the of Castelleno was good enough e i ic that I have but one I mean to show him. Wil take a message from his Excellency Don Hugo, your nd."” she ventured, “you promised to hat will I do also.” him I have a little museum up bere in the mountains to which I de- sire a small addition. “Tell him further that when I come down into Castelleno I shall have Wwith me two ears—my own; but then when I depart I shall have four ears, my own and Yes, senora, alone and single- handed, within fiftcen days, I, Don Q., will come down from the mountains,and crop the éars of the governor of the prison of Castelleno.” “But,” she cried in horror, “you have decelved me. An earless husband!—how unendurable!” “Nay, senora, he will be the more faith- ful, believe me.” For the eighth time the governor of the prison of Castelleno uttered an angry oath. Because, for the eighth time that evening, his excellency found his hand straying nervously to his ears. The message of Don Q. had been faith- fully brought down to him by his wife. In her presence, and indeed to himself during the hours of daylight, he would THE SAN FRANCISCO SfiNDAY CALI. scoff at the threat as the absurd and empty vaporing of a wretched hill thief. He was a strong man, mentally and physically, vet when evening bégan to fall and the wind moaned over sad Spain his impressionable nature took og a more somber tint. He would start at a foot- fall and his hand whisk up to his ears. He cursed his imagination, he cursed Don Q., he cursed his wifé, but in his heart of hearts he wished he had let sleeping dogs le. He remembered a hundred tales of the flerce chief, each one of which made him shudder. For Don Q. was & man of @& strange, warped sense of humor, and by K.and Herketh Pritchard’ am I to be called forth until you ses me egain,” The men touched thelr tongues aud eyes, “That is well. Keep your oath in mind,” advised Don Q. “For the story of what I am about to carry out will be told in the posadas of Bpain by your children’s children.” * After this the quiet of death fell upon the cave. The band belleved the chief to be still there, fcr he certainly had not passed by the sentrfes, who rigor- ously kept the only known entrance to the valley. Don Q. had left the Boca del Lobo ¢ P ASPECT A VELIVRE, PARAPHRASED IFZ0 HUPMAN LIRINESS - <2 <> < S scarcely’ one of the legends attached to his name but glowed with lurlda manl- festations of this quality. Besides, the bandit appeared to be omniscient. None ever lived to carry him false news twice. But true information was paid for with terrific lavishness. ; Above all, Don Hugo could not forget that the man's promises were always kept; that he never failed to make his acts coinclde scrupulously with his threats, Uo in the Boca del Lobo, the ‘Wolf’s Mouth, as the robber's valley was called, all wag going on as usual. Don Q. remained in his cave issuing orders and dealing out justice acording to his own drastie code. But he was not idle. The task he had set himself was one of enor- mous magnitude and any small mistake or slip could only end in supreme disaster. Don Qs plan was lald out very sub- tly, and with a minute precision of de- tail, and he proposed to go down single- handed to smite his enemy. ‘When all was ready he called up Ro- bledo and Gaspar to the cave. “My children,” he sald, in his sllkiest tone, “there is one under the mountain- with whom it is necessary that I should deal, the goveérmor of the prison of Castelleno.” A flicker of excitement lit up the dark eyes of the men, but the chief raised his deljcate yellow hand. “I have nothing yet for you to do save to secure the quiet of my musings. You will bring my food as usual day by day. I lay no command of sllenice upon you, but for no reason whatever—you heed. me, Robledo?—for no reason whatever by an entrance known to none but him- self. In a longly gorge he found waiting a horse saddled and bridled in semi- military fashion. During four days, whether riding downward by devious and little-known paths, or cooking his meal at sunset, or lurking in a thicket to watch the passing of a couple of guardias clviles, or dozing the dark hours through rolled in his cloak, the vision always before his eyes took the form of the shapely ears of the govern- or of the prison ot Castelleno, He was engaged upon a fantastic ex- ploit. The difficulty of -entering the governor's presence might In‘itself have scemed insurmountable; but almost as Don Q. uttered the words of the threat a plan formed in his mind. s e e s e @ . Tt was evening. On the roof of the- prison beside a cluster of potted palms a couple of reclining, chairs had “been placed h the best podition to catch the cool airs from the mountains In one Dona Catalina yawned and fanned herself languidly, while the gov- ernor sat smoking clgarettes in the, moody silence that day by day was growing upon him. Now and again he lifted his eyes and gazed across the white town and the tillage surrounding it, to the tracery of peak and pinnacle which beyond them climbed into the pink evening sky, He had manifestly lost flesh, and the frown upon his hand- some brows told of ruffled nerves. A sweet, low laugh brought him to his feet. He glanced angrily at his wife. “Again! O. my Hugo. you stare at tha mountailns and finger your ears as If Don Q. could stretch his long talons across from his cave and pull them off!” She laughed again with an abandon of enjoyment that came near to breaking down the restraint Don Hugo had placed upon his temper. “Not precisely. But I admit that sight of the sierra reminded me of your fool- ish visit up there and naturally of that robber’s most insolent message,” he re- plied with an alr of loftiness. "This has forced me to take special steps with a view to setting an end to his career. A conclave -of the principal personages of Castelleno and the nelghborhood is to be held in the great hall presently. An ex- traordinary expedition will then be sent up against him.. I will probably lead it myself—' The seénora rose from her seat and curtsled deeply and derisively. “I shall be doubly anxious about your ears then, my beloved! Don Q. is & man of his word. But, see, your guests begin to arrive.” Spaniards, in spite of their reserve, are moved to excitement upon any subject which touches them, nearly. The cabal- leros of the district no less than the citizens of the town appeared to find in Don Q. & topic far from conducive to calmness. However, his reputation stood with the poor; the rich, whom he sent empty away, bore him much ill will. The room resounded with tales of the mys- terious brigand. Each man could supply & different anecdote of his annoying, if not terrible, exploits, some of which dated back a score of years, some of yesterday, but almost all stamped with that dis- torted humor which commonly bit too deep for laughter. The Count de Bermeja had told the story of Antonio’s punishment by the brigand, and another of th hidalgos had spoken of a report that Don Q. hoped eventual to publish & book, which should the form of an autoblography and be enriched by a& couple of appen- dices, the first setting forth the names of all his captives who had been ransomed, the dates of capture, amount of ransom demanded and recelved, and date of re- lease; the second appendix, to be set within a suitable border of black, should contain & complete list of those whose money-value had failed to arrive, with a little note below each name detalling In what form death had met them. Then Don Hugo, rising in his place, re- ferred to the crowning offense of which the brigand had been guilty. He told, In fact, with certain expedient deviations from historic accuracy, the tale of his wite's journey into the mountains, That so beautiful a woman should have been kid- naped and half frightened to death stirred the ready Spanish chivalry, and when Don Hugo declared himself ready to ad- minister an oath of membership to a so- clety of vengeance the idea was greeted with acclamation and was about to be carried into effect when a servant dis- turbed the meeting. A captain of the civil guard was in walting below, charged to speak without delay to the Governor on a matter of the highest importance. “You will be good® enough to request Captain del Pino to rest himself for a few minutes,” returned Don Hugo impa- tiently. “Pardon, excellency, he bade me pre- sent {his.” The man held out a card upon which some sentences were written. ‘The Governor glanced at it and uttered an exclamation. | “Senors, Captain del Pino comes from Madrid upon business connected with Don A slender man in the uniform of the civil guard was already bowing In the doorway. His long blue cloak hung be- hind his shoulders, and, as he raised his head, covered with dark, curling hair, the -he bore stains, not way. His brow was bandaged and a spat- ter of showed on his cheek. “My is pressing, excellency. Can I see you alone?” he said. in a low tons, which, however, carrfed & Impe- rious echo. “You have a mission connected with—" began the Governor, pleasantly. “Pardon me,” interrupted the ecourtly captain, “a secret mission, intrusted to me by the highest authority in Madrd”™ ““As to that you will never guess the purpose for which we are gathered here tonight.” A matter of some and difficulty?”” Del Pino's tone and movement of the head were in the naturs of a general compliment to the ability and position of those presemt, “You may speak freely. We—my P and I—are agreed on that subjest.” Den Hugo then waved his hand largely. “Your mission then concerns—" “A certain gentleman, well known, not only in these parts, but throughout the whole of Spain, a certain Don Q.,” added the captain quietly. “Come, come, Senor Capitan! We have less respect for the one-eared brigand of the Boca del Lobo,” laughed the Gev- ernor, too busy in lighting a cigarette to notice a sudden contraction of Del Pino’s features. “That vulture of the rocks has troubled us too long. We were, precisely when you arrived, arranging to make an end of him.” “No doubt your plan would be success- ful, though it was sald, In Madrid, that hé had defled capturs for some twenty years already, and that a score or sg ex- peditions sent out against him had falled,” observed Del Pino, with a shrug of his shoulders. “He must be a remarkable personage. 1 was the mors gratified, therefore, at receiving ordera from head- quarters to come down and deal specially with a man of such Interesting antece- dents.” “Can you bring yourself to eonceive the last crime the fellow has committed. senor?”” Don Hugo took advantage of a pause. “He had the arrogance to kidnap my own wife In the last fortnight! Del Pino made & gesture of horrified surprise. “She must at emce be rescued!™ he declared. “Make your mind easy, I She is at this moment within these S “I trust he treated her as & gentleman should?” Captain del Pino asked in his soft drawl. “On the contrary, he behaved Hke a ster!” e held her at ransom, of course! “No, no; not precisely,” stuttered Den “Far from it! The reason of is obvious. I wonder it does not strike you, senor.” . Del Pino gazed for an instant at the Governor's air of self-complacent ruffing and shook his head. “You must forgive my dullness, emeel- — e — (Continued on Page Six)