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42 - Insurgent Mexico by John Reed · Insurgent Mexico

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  Speaker 1: Section forty one of Insurgent Mexico. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Insurgent
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  Speaker 1: Mexico by John Reid, Part six Mexican Knights, Chapter two,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Happy Valley. It happened to be the day of a fiesta,
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  Speaker 1: and of course nobody worked in via a leegre. The
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  Speaker 1: cockfight was to take place at high noon in the
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  Speaker 1: open space back of Catarino Cabrera's drinking shop, almost directly
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  Speaker 1: in front of Dionicio Aguires, where the long burrow pack
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  Speaker 1: trains rest on their mountain journeys and the mule teers
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  Speaker 1: swap tails over their tequila. At one the sunnyside of
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  Speaker 1: the dry arroyo that is called a street was lined
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  Speaker 1: with double rows of squatting peons, silent dreamily sucking their
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  Speaker 1: corn husk cigarettes as they waded. The bibulously inclined drifted
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  Speaker 1: in and out of Catarinos, whence came a cloud of
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  Speaker 1: tobacco smoke and a strong reek of aguardiente. Small boys
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  Speaker 1: played leapfrog with a large yellow sow and on opposite
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  Speaker 1: sides of the arroyo. The competing roosters tethered by the
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  Speaker 1: leg crew defiantly. One of the owners, an ingratiating business
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  Speaker 1: like professional wearing sandals, and one serese sock stalked around
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  Speaker 1: with a handful of dirty bank bills, shouting dies beso
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  Speaker 1: signores only ten dollars. It was strange. Nobody seemed too
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  Speaker 1: poor to bet ten dollars. It came on toward two
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  Speaker 1: o'clock and still no one moved, except to follow the
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  Speaker 1: sun a few feet as it swung the black edge
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  Speaker 1: of the shadow eastward. The shadow was very cold, and
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  Speaker 1: the sun white hot. On the edge of the shadow
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  Speaker 1: lay Ignacio, the violinist, wrapped in a tattered set up,
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  Speaker 1: sleeping off a drunk. He can play one tune when intoxicated,
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  Speaker 1: Tosti's Goodbye. When very drunk, he also remembers fragments of
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  Speaker 1: Mendelssohn's Spring Song. In fact, he is the only high
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  Speaker 1: brow musician in the whole state of Durango and possesses
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  Speaker 1: a just celebrity. Ignacio used to be brilliant and industrious.
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  Speaker 1: His sons and daughters are innumerable, but the artistic temperament
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  Speaker 1: was too much for him. The color of the street
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  Speaker 1: was red, deep rich red clay, and the open space
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  Speaker 1: where the bureaus stood olive drab. There were brown, crumbling
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  Speaker 1: adobe walls and squat houses, their roofs heaped high with
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  Speaker 1: yellow corn stalks or hung with strings of red peppers.
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  Speaker 1: A gigantic green mesquite tree with roots like a chicken's
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  Speaker 1: foot thatched on every branch, with dried hay and corn.
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  Speaker 1: Below the town fell steeply down the arroyo. Roofs tumbled
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  Speaker 1: together like bload, with flowers and grass growing on them,
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  Speaker 1: blue feathers of smoke waving from the chimneys, and occasional
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  Speaker 1: palms sticking up between. They fell away to the yellow
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  Speaker 1: plain where the horse races are run, and beyond that
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  Speaker 1: the barren mountains crouched tawny as lions, then faintly blue,
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  Speaker 1: then purple, and wrinkled, notched and jagged across the fierce
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  Speaker 1: bright sky. Straight down and away through the arroyo, one
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  Speaker 1: saw a great valley like an elephant's hide, where the
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  Speaker 1: heat waves buck jumped, A lazy smoke of human noises
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  Speaker 1: floated up, roosters, crowing pigs, grunting burros, giving great racking sobs,
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  Speaker 1: the rustling crackle of dried corn stalks being shaken out
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  Speaker 1: of the mesquite tree, a woman singing as she mashed
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  Speaker 1: her corn on the stones, the wailing of a myriad
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  Speaker 1: of babies, the sun fairly blistered. My friend Attanasio sat
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  Speaker 1: upon the sidewalk, thinking of nothing. His dirty feet were
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  Speaker 1: bare except for sandals. His mighty sombrero was of a faded,
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  Speaker 1: dull brick color, embroidered with tarnished gold braid, and his
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  Speaker 1: sadape was of the pottery blue one seasoned Chinese rugs
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  Speaker 1: and decorated with yellow sons. He rose when he saw me.
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  Speaker 1: We removed our hats and embraced after the Mexican fashion,
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  Speaker 1: patting each other on the back with one hand while
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  Speaker 1: we shook the other. Buenos tardes, amigo, he murmured, how
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  Speaker 1: do you seat yourself? Very well? Much thanks? And you
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  Speaker 1: how have they treated you? Delicious? Superlative thanks. I have
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  Speaker 1: longed to see you again. And your family, how are they?
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  Speaker 1: It is considered more delicate in Mexico not to ask
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  Speaker 1: about one's wife, because so few people are married. Their
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  Speaker 1: health is of the best. Great great thanks and your family,
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  Speaker 1: Biain Biain, I saw your son with the army at Himenes.
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  Speaker 1: He gave me many men any remembrances of you? Would
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  Speaker 1: you desire a cigarette? Thanks? Permit me a light. You
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  Speaker 1: are in vie e Legre many days for the fiesta only, Signor,
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  Speaker 1: I hope your visit is fortunate, Seignor. My house is
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  Speaker 1: at your orders. Thanks. How is it that I did
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  Speaker 1: not see you at the Bayleigh last night? Signor, you,
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  Speaker 1: who are always such a sympathetic dancer. Unhappily, Juanita is
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  Speaker 1: gone to visit her mother in el Oro, And now
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  Speaker 1: therefore I am a platonico. I grow too old for
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  Speaker 1: the senoritas. Ah No, Segnor, a cavallero of your age
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  Speaker 1: is in the prime of life. But tell me is
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  Speaker 1: it true what I hear that the Maistas are now
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  Speaker 1: at Mapimi see Segnor soon Via will take Torreones say,
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  Speaker 1: and that it is only a matter of a few
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  Speaker 1: months before the revolution is accomplished. I think that yes.
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  Speaker 1: But tell me I have great respect for your opinion.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Which cock would you advise me to bet on? We
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  Speaker 1: approached the combatants and looked them over, while their owners
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  Speaker 1: clamored in our ears. They sat upon the curbing negligently
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  Speaker 1: hurting their birds apart. It was getting toward three of
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  Speaker 1: the afternoon. But will there be a cock fight? I
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  Speaker 1: asked them. Gien save drawled one. The other murmured that
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  Speaker 1: possibly it would be Manyana. It developed that the steel
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: spurs had been forgotten in el Oro and that a
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  Speaker 1: small boy had gone after them on a bureau. It
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  Speaker 1: was six miles over the mountains to el Oro. However,
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  Speaker 1: no one was in any hurry, so we sat down.
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  Speaker 1: Also appeared then Katarino Cabrera, the saloon keeper and also
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  Speaker 1: the constitutionalist Heefe politico of vae Alegre. Very drunk, walking
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  Speaker 1: arm in arm with Don Pricileanos sucedes the former heefe
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  Speaker 1: under the DEAs government. Don Prisiliano is a fine looking,
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  Speaker 1: white haired old Castilian who used to lend money to
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  Speaker 1: the Pieans at twenty percent. Don Katerino is a former
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  Speaker 1: schoolmaster an ardent revolutionist. He lends money at a slightly
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  Speaker 1: less rate of usery to the same parties. Don Katerino
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  Speaker 1: wears no collar, but he sports a revolver and two
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  Speaker 1: cartridge belts. Don Prisiliano, during the First Revolution was deprived
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  Speaker 1: of most of his property by the madar ristas of
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  Speaker 1: the town, and then strapped naked upon his horse and
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  Speaker 1: beaten upon his bare back with the flat of a sword.
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  Speaker 1: Ai e, he says, to my question the revolution, I
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  Speaker 1: have most of the revolution upon my back, and the
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  Speaker 1: two pass on to Don Prisiliano's house, where Katerino is
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  Speaker 1: courting a beautiful daughter. Then, with the thunder of hoofs,
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  Speaker 1: dashes up the gay and gallant young Jesustriano, who is
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  Speaker 1: a captain under Orosco. But viae Alegre is a three
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  Speaker 1: days ride from the railroad and politics are not a
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  Speaker 1: burning issue there. So Jesus rides his stolen horse with
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  Speaker 1: impunity around the streets. He is a large young man
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  Speaker 1: with shining teeth, a rifle and bandolier, and leather trousers
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  Speaker 1: fastened up the side, with buttons as big as dollars.
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  Speaker 1: His spurs are twice as big. They say that his
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  Speaker 1: dashing ways and the fact that he shot Emitaio Flores
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  Speaker 1: in the back have won him the hand of Dolores,
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  Speaker 1: youngest daughter of Manuel Parees, the charcoal contractor. He plunges
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  Speaker 1: down the arroyo with a gallop, his horse, tossing bloody
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  Speaker 1: froth from the cruel curb. Captain Adolpho Molendez of Constitutionalist
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  Speaker 1: Army slouches around the corner in a new bottle green
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  Speaker 1: corduroy uniform. He wears a handsome gilded sword which once
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  Speaker 1: belonged to the Knights of Pytheas. Adolpho came to viel
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  Speaker 1: Legre on a two week's leave, which he prolonged indefinitely
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  Speaker 1: in order to take to himself a wife, the fourteen
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  Speaker 1: year old daughter of a village aristocrat. They say that
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  Speaker 1: his wedding was magnificent, beyond belief, two priests officiating and
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  Speaker 1: the service lasting an hour more than necessary. But this
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  Speaker 1: may have been good economy on Audolpho's part, since he
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  Speaker 1: already had one wife in Chihuahwah, another in Parral, and
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  Speaker 1: a third in Monterey, and of course had to placate
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  Speaker 1: the parents of the bride. He had now been away
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  Speaker 1: from his regiment three months, and told me simply that
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  Speaker 1: he thought they had forgotten all about him by this time.
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  Speaker 1: At half past four, a thunder of cheers pronounced the
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  Speaker 1: arrival of the small boy with the steel spurs. It
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  Speaker 1: seems that he had got into a card game at
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  Speaker 1: el Oro and had temporarily forgotten his errand, but of
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  Speaker 1: course nothing was said about it. He had arrived, which
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  Speaker 1: was the important thing. We formed a wide ring in
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  Speaker 1: the open space where the bureaus stood, and the two
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  Speaker 1: owners began to throw their birds. But at the first onslaught.
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  Speaker 1: The fowl upon which we had all bet our money,
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  Speaker 1: spread its wings, and, to the astonishment of the assembled company,
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  Speaker 1: swords screaming over the mesquite tree, and disappeared toward the mountains.
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  Speaker 1: Ten minutes later, the two owners unconcernedly divided the proceeds
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  Speaker 1: before our eyes, and we strolled home well content. Fidencio
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  Speaker 1: and I dined at Charlie Cheese Hotel. Throughout Mexico, in
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  Speaker 1: every little town you will find Chinamen monopolizing the hotel
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  Speaker 1: and restaurant business. Charlie and his cousin Fu were both
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  Speaker 1: married to the daughters of respectable Mexican villagers. No one
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  Speaker 1: seemed to think that strange. Mexicans appeared to have no
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  Speaker 1: race prejudices whatever. Captain Adolpho, in a bright yellow khaki
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  Speaker 1: uniform and another sword, brought his bride, a faintly pretty
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  Speaker 1: brown girl with her hair in a bang, wearing chandelier
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  Speaker 1: lusters as ear rings. Charlie banged down in front of
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  Speaker 1: each of us a court bottle of Aguardiente, and, sitting
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  Speaker 1: down at the table, flirted politely with Senora Melendez, while
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  Speaker 1: Fu served dinner enlivened with gay social chatter. In Pigeon, Mexican.
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  Speaker 1: It seemed that there was to be a bileat at
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  Speaker 1: Don pri Siliano's that evening, and Charlie politely offered to
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  Speaker 1: teach Adolpho's wife a new step which he had learned
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  Speaker 1: in El Paso called the Turkey trot. This he did
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: until Aldolpho began to look sullen and announced that he
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  Speaker 1: didn't think he would go to Don Prisiliano's since he
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: considered it a bad thing for young wives to be
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  Speaker 1: seen much in public. Charlie and Fu also tendered their
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: regrets because several of their countrymen were due in the
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  Speaker 1: village that evening from parl and said that they would,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: of course want to raise a little Chinese held together.
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  Speaker 1: So Fidencio and I finally departed, after solemnly promising that
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  Speaker 1: we would return in time for the Chinese festivities. After
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  Speaker 1: the dance outside, strong moonlight flooded all the village the
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  Speaker 1: jumbled roofs were so many tipped up silvery planes, and
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  Speaker 1: the tree tops glistened like a frozen cataract. The arroyo
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  Speaker 1: fell away, and the great valley beyond lay drowned in rich,
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  Speaker 1: soft mist. The life sounds quickened in the dark, excited
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  Speaker 1: laughter of young girls, a woman catching her breath at
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  Speaker 1: a window, to the swift, hot torrent of a man's
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  Speaker 1: speech as he leaned against the bars, A dozen guitars
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  Speaker 1: syncopating each other, A young buck hurrying to meet his novia,
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  Speaker 1: spurs ringing clear. It was cold. As we passed Cabrera's door,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: A hot, smoky, alcoholic breath smote us. Beyond that, you
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: crossed on stepping stones, the stream where the women washed
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  Speaker 1: their clothes. Climbing the other bay, we saw the brilliant
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: windows of Don Prisilano's house and heard the far strains
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  Speaker 1: of vael Legre's orchestra. Open doors and windows were choked
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: with men, tall, dark, silent peons wrapped to the eyes
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  Speaker 1: in their blankets, staring at the dance with eager and
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: solemn eyes. A forest of sombreros. Now Fidenzio had just
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: returned to vail Legre after a long absence, and as
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  Speaker 1: we stood on the outside of the group, a tall
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  Speaker 1: young fellow caught sight of him, and, whirling his setape
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  Speaker 1: like a wing, he embraced my friend, crying happy return. Fidenzio,
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  Speaker 1: we looked for you many months. The crowd swayed and
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  Speaker 1: rocked like a windy wheat field. Blankets flapped dark against
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  Speaker 1: the night. They took up the cry, Fidenzio, fidenzio is here.
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  Speaker 1: Your karmene Cita is inside. Fidenzio, You had better look
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  Speaker 1: out for your sweetheart. You can't stay away as long
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  Speaker 1: as that and expect her to remain faithful to you.
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  Speaker 1: Those inside caught the cry and echoed it, and the dance,
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  Speaker 1: which had just begun, stopped. Suddenly, the peons formed a
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: lane through which we passed, patting us on the back
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: with little words of welcome and affection, and at the
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  Speaker 1: door a dozen friends crowded forward to hug us, faces
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  Speaker 1: alight with pleasure. Carmencita, a dumpy, small Indian girl dressed
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: in a screaming blue, ready made dress that didn't fit,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: stood over near the corner by the side of a
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  Speaker 1: certain pablito. Her partner, a half breed youth about sixteen
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  Speaker 1: years old with a bad complexion. She affected to pay
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  Speaker 1: no attention to Fidenzio's arrival, but stood dumbly with her
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  Speaker 1: eyes on the ground, as is proper for unmarried Mexican women.
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  Speaker 1: Fidenzio swaggered among his compadres in true manly fashion for
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: a few minutes, interspersing his conversation with loud virile O. Then,
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  Speaker 1: in a lordly manner, he went straight across the room
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  Speaker 1: to Karmensita, placed her left hand within the hollow of
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  Speaker 1: his right arm and cried, well, now let's dance, and
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: the grinning, perspiring musicians nodded and fell to There were
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  Speaker 1: five of them, two violins, a cornnet, a flute, and
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  Speaker 1: a harp. They swung into tres piedras, and the couples
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: fell in line, marching solemnly around the room. After parading
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: around twice, they fell to dancing, hopping awkwardly over the rough,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: hard packed dirt floor with jingling spurs. When they had
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: danced around the room two or three times, they walked again,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: then danced, then walked, then danced, so that each number
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: took about an hour. It was a long, low room
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: with white washed walls and a beamed ceiling waddled with
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: mud above, and at one end was the inevitable sewing machine,
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  Speaker 1: closed now and converted into a sort of an altar
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: by a tiny embroidered cloth, upon which burned a perpetual
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: rush flame before a tawdry colored print of the Virgin
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: which hung on the wall. Don Prisciliano and his wife,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: who was nursing a baby at her breast, beamed from
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: chairs at the other end. Innumerable candles had been heated
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: on one side and stuck against the wall all around,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: whence they trailed sooty snakes above them on the white
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: The men made a prodigious stamping and clinking as they danced,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: shouting boisterously to one another. The women kept their eyes
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: on the floor and did not speak. I caught sight
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: of the pimply youth glowering with folded arms upon Fidenzio
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: from his corner, and as I stood by the door,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: fragments of the pians conversation floated into me. Fidenzio should
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: not have stayed away so long, Karamba, see the way
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Pablito scowls. There. He thought, surely Fidenzio was dead, and
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: that Karmensito was his own, and then a hopeful voice,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: perhaps there will be trouble. The dance finally ended, and
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Fidenzio led his betrothed correctly back to her seat against
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: the wall. The music stopped. The men poured out into
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: the night, where in the flare of a torch, the
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: owner of the losing rooster sold bottles of strong drink.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: We toasted each other boisterously in the sharp dark. The
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: mountains around stood dazzling in the moon. And then, for
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: the intervals between dances were very short, we heard the music.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: He erubbed again, volcanically and exuberantly into all waltz, the
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: center of twenty curious and enthusiastic youths. For he had traveled,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Fidenzio strutted back into the room. He went straight to Karmensita,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: But as he led her out upon the floor, Pablito
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: glided up behind, pulling out a large obsolete revolver. A
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: dozen shouts rang quidado. Fidenzio look out he world to
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: see the revolver pointed at his stomach. For a moment,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: no one moved. Fidencio and his rival looked at each
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: other with wrathful eyes. There was a subdued clicking of
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: automatics everywhere as the gentlemen drew and cocked their weapons,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: for some of them were friends of Pablito's. I heard
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: low voices muttering, Porfirio, go home and get my shot gun, Victoriano,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: my new rifle. It lies on the bureau in mother's room.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: A shoal of small boys, like flying fish, scattered through
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: the moonlight to get fire arms. Meanwhile, the status quo
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: was preserved. The peance had squatted out of the range
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: of fire, so that just their eyes showed above the
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: window sills, where they watched proceedings with joyous interest. Most
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: of the musicians were edging toward the nearest window. The harpist, however,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: had dropped down behind his instrument. Dom Priciliano and his wife,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: still nursing the infant, rose and majestically made their way
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: to some interior part of the house. It was none
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: of their business. Besides, they did not wish to interfere
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: with the young folk's pleasure. With one arm, Fidensio carefully
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: pushed Karmensita away, holding his other hand poised like a claw.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: In the dead silence, he said, you little goat. Don't
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: stand there pointing that thing at me. If you're afraid
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: to shoot it, pull the trigger. While I am unarmed,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: I am not afraid to die, even at the hand
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: of a weak, little fool who doesn't know when to
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: use a gun. The boy's face twisted hatefully, and I
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: thought he was going to shoot. Ah murmured the peans.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Now now is the time. But he didn't. After a
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: few minutes, his hand wavered, and with a curse, he
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: jammed the pistol back into his pocket. The pean straightened
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: up again and crowded disappointedly around the doors and windows.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: The harpist got up and began to tune his harp.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: There was much thrusting back of revolvers into holsters, and
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: the sprightly social conversation grew up again. By the time
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the small boys arrived with a perfect arsenal of rifles
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: and shotguns, the dance had been resumed, so the guns
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: were stacked in a corner. As long as Karmensita claimed
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: his amorous attention and there was a prospect of friction,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Fidenzio stayed. He swaggered among the men and basked in
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: the admiration of the ladies out, dancing them all in speed,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: abandon and noise. But he soon tired of that, and
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: the excitement of meeting Carmencita palled upon him, so he
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: went out into the moonlight again and up the arroyo
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: to take part in Charlie Cheese's celebration. As we approached
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: the hotel, we were conscious of a curious, low moaning
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: sound which seemed akin to music. The dinner table had
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: been removed from the dining room into the street, and
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: around the room turkey trotted fu and another celestial A
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: barrel of arguadiente had been set up on a trestle
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: in one corner, and beneath it sprawled Charlie himself in
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: his mouth a glass tube which siphoned up into the barrel.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: A tremendous wooden box of Mexican cigarettes had been smashed
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: open on one side, the packages tumbling out upon the floor.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: In other parts of the room, two more chinamen slept
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the profound sleep of the very drunk, wrapped in blankets.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: The two who danced sang meanwhile, their own version of
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: a once popular ragtime song called Dreamy Eyes. Against this
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: marched magnificently the Pilgrim's Chorus from Tannhauser, rendered by a
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: phonograph set up in the kitchen. Charlie removed the glass
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: tube from his mouth, put a thumb over it, and
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: welcomed us with a hymn, which he sang as follows
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: pool for the shore, sailor pool for the shore. Heed
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: not the lowling lave, but pool for the shore. He
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: surveyed us with a bleary eye and remarked, bled lao
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: jacqualist is wid us here too nigh, after which he
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: returned the siphon to his mouth. We blended into these festivities.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Fidenzio offered to exhibit the steps of a new Spanish fandango,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: the way it was danced by the damned grasshoppers, as
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Mexicans call the Spaniards. He stamped bellowing around the room,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: colliding with the chinamen and roaring la poloma. Finally, out
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: of breath, he collapsed upon a nearby chair and began
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: to descant upon the many charms of Adolpho's bride, whom
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: he had seen for the first time that day. He
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: declared that it was a shame for so young and
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: blithe spirit to be tied to a middle aged man.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: He said that he himself represented youth, strength and gallantry,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: and was a much more fit mate for her. He
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: added that as the evening advanced, he found that he
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: desired her more and more. Charlie Chi, with the glass
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: tube in his mouth, nodded intelligently at each of these statements.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I had a happy thought, why not send for Rodolpho
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: and his wife and invite them to join our festivities.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: The China men asleep on the floor were kicked awake
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and their opinion asked. Since they could understand neither Spanish
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: nor English, they answered fluently in Chinese. Fidenzio translated, they say,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: he said that Charlie ought to be sent with the invitation.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: We agreed to that. Charlie rose, while Fu took his
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: place at the glass tube. He declared that he would
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: invite them in the most irresistible terms, and, strapping on
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: his revolver, departed. Ten minutes later, we heard five shots.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: We discussed the matter at length, not understanding why there
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: should be any artill at that time of night, except
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: that probably two guests returning from the bylay were murdering
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: each other. Before going to bed, Charlie took a long
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: time in the meanwhile, and we were just considering the
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: advisability of sending out an expedition to find him. When
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: he returned, Well, how about it, Charlie, I asked, Will
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: they come? I don't think so, he replied, doubtfully, swaying
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: in the doorway. Did you hear the shooting, asked Fidencio. Yes,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: very close, said Charlie. Fo if you will kindly get
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: out from under that tube. What is it, we asked, Well,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: said Charlie. I knocked at Adolpho's door and said we
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: were having a party down here and wanted him to come.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: He shot at me three times, and I shot at
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: him twice, So saying Charlie, seized Fu by the leg
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: and composedly laid down under the glass tube again. We
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: must have stayed there some hours after that. I remember
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: that toward morning, Ignacio came in and played us Tusti's
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: good Bye, to which all the China men danced solemnly around.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: At about four o'clock a Tanasio appeared. He burst open
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the door and stood there, very white, with a gun
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: in one hand. Friends, He said, a most disagreeable thing
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: has happened. My wife Juanita returned from her mother's about
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: midnight on an ass She was stopped on the road
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: by a man muffled up in a poncho, which gave
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: her an anonymous letter, in which were detailed all my
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: little amusements when I last went for recreation to Huarees.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: I have seen the letter. It is astonishingly accurate. It
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: tells how I went to supper with Maria and then
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: home with her. It tells how I took Anna to
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: the bull fight. It describes the hair complexion and disposition
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: of all those otherly ladies, and how much money I
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: spent on them, Karamba. It is exact to assent. When
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: she got home, I happened to be down at Katerino's
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: taking a cup with an old friend. This mysterious stranger
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: appeared at the kitchen door with another letter, in which
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: he said I had three more wives in Chihuahua, which
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: God knows is not true, since I only have one.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: It is not that I care amigos, but these things
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: have upset Juanita horribly. Of course, I denied these charges,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: but Volga medios women are so unreasonable. I hired Dionisio
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: to watch my house, but he has gone to the bails,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and so arousing and dressing my small son, that he
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: may carry me word of any further outrages. I have
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: come down to seek your help in preserving my home
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: from this disgrace. We declared ourselves willing to do anything
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: for at Nasio, anything that is that promised excitement. We
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: said that it was horrible that the evil stranger ought
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: to be exterminated. Who could it be at to Nasio
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: replied that it was probably Flores, who had had a
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: baby by his wife before he married her, but who
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: had never succeeded in quite capturing her affections. We forced
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: auguardiente upon him, and he drank moodily. Charlie Che was
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: pried loose from the glass tube where Foo took his place,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and sent for weapons, and in ten minutes he returned
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: with seven loaded revolvers of different makes. Almost immediately came
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: a furious pounding on the door, and att Nasio's young
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: son flung himself in Papa, he cried, holding out a paper,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Here is another one. The man knocked at the back door,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: and when Mamma went to find out who it was,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: she could only see a big red blanket covering him
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: entirely up to the hair. He gave her a note
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: and ran away. Taking a loaf of bread off the window.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: With trembling hands, Attanasio unfolded the paper and read aloud,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: your husband is the father of forty five small children
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: in the state of Quahuilla, signed some one who knows him,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Mother of God, cried Attanasio, springing to his feet, in
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: a transport of grief and rage. It is a lie
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: I have always discriminated. Forward, my friends, let us protect
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: our homes. Seizing our revolvers, we rushed out into the night.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: We staggered, panting up the steep hill to Attanasio's house,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: sticking close together so no one could be mistaken by
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the others for the mysterious stranger. Atanasio's wife was lying
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: on the bed, weeping hysterically. We scattered into the brush
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: and poked into the alleys around the house, but nothing stirred.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: In a corner of the corral lay Dionisio, the watchman,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: fast asleep, his rifle by his side. We passed on
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: up the hill until we came to the edge of
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: the town. Already Don was coming a never ending chorus
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: of roosters made the only sound except the incredibly soft
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: music from the bylay at Don Priciliano's, which would probably
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: last all that day and the next night. Afar the
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: big valley was like a great map, quiet, distinct, immense.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: Every wall, corner, tree branch, and grass blade on the
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: roofs of the houses were pricked out in the wonderful
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: clear light of before dawn. In the distance, over the
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: shoulder of the red mountain went a man covered up
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: in a red stape. Aha, cried Atanasio, there he goes,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: And with one accord we opened up on the red blanket.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: There were five of us, and we had six shots apiece.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: They echoed fearfully among the houses, and clapped from mountain
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: to mountain, reproduced each one a hundred times. Of a sudden,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: the village belched, half dressed, men and women and children.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: They evidently thought that a new revolution was beginning. A
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: very ancient crone came out of a small brown house
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: on the edge of the village, rubbing her eyes Oiga,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: she shouted, what are you shooting at? We are trying
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: to kill that accursed man in the red blanket, who
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: is poisoning our homes. And making via a llegre a
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: place unfit for decent women to live in, shouted Attanasio,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: taking another shot. The old woman bent her bleary eyes
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: upon our target, but she said gently that is not
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: a bad man. That's only my son going after the goats. Meanwhile,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: the red blanketed figure, never even looking back, continued his
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: placid way over the top of the mountain and disappeared
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: end of Section forty one.