Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 26, October, 1880Various
History
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 26, October, 1880
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
"'For two years, you know'--assuming that we did know--'she spent
Saturdays at Trocalara, teaching our people how to read and write. They
were very rough at first--we all are out there--and did not care much;
but she interested them, and brought picture-books for the little ones,
and by and by she said she would come out on Sunday and we should have
church!' with a triumphant look at Hamilton and his Pan-Anglican
attendance. 'Yes, we had had a priest there before, but he was shot in a
row at Bowler's Paradise, and no one cared to apply for a new one.
"'Kitty came up to the ranch the first Sunday, and asked us to come with
her. We refused at first, but after a while, when we heard the singing,
we went down to the quarters, and found her sitting under one of the
trees with all the young ones clustered round her; and we waited there
and listened until we began to feel very sorry that we had played so
late at Bowler's the night before.
"'But Parker had been in luck, and he swore he would get her as fine a
piano as could be brought from the States (he was a half-Mexican by
birth) if she would sing like that for us at the ranch.
"'She stood up then, with all the young ones looking on in amazement,
the light and shade playing over her through the cool, dark leaves, and,
turning her large gray eyes full on Parker's face, said she would if we
would promise never to go to Bowler's again.
"'I think Parker expected her to refuse to come altogether, because we
had no women there, and we had heard the people in Junta talking of her
quiet, modest ways. But no, she never thought of herself: she only
thought of the nights at Bowler's, and wanted to save us from the end
she had seen often enough in two years in Junta. At any rate, the piano
came, and Parker had it sent as a sort of halfway measure to her house
in Junta, where she and her mother lived, and we were as welcome as the
light there always.
"'You have no idea of her music. They told me at concerts in Paris that
I was hearing the finest musicians in Europe, but they were not like
Kitty. They played for our money--Kitty played for our pleasure: it
makes so much difference,' he added as his fingers drummed an
accompaniment to the air he whistled.
"'One night Parker and I were sitting in a corner at Bowler's when we
heard a Greaser--a Mexican, you know--that Parker had refused to play
poker with the night before ask who the senorita was that had taken the
spirit out of Parker.
"'We both started forward instantly, but as the man was evidently
ignorant of our presence, Parker checked me with a fierce look in his
eyes that showed that the spirit of his former days would be very apt to
put a different ending on the conversation if it continued in that tone.
"'"Kitty," came the reply, as if that settled the matter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account