Mexican an' half Injun, an' thar's likewise a row of bells about the
wide brim of her Chihuahua hat.
"'Thar's mebby a half-dozen of us standin' 'round when the Donna
Anna comes up. Nacherally, we-all is interested. The Donna Anna,
bein' only eighteen an' a Mexican, is not abashed. She waves her
hand an' says, "How! how!" Injun fashion. an' gives us a white flash
of teeth between her red lips. Then a band of nuns comes out of a
little convent, which is one of the public improvements of the Plaza
Perdita, an' they rounds up the Donna Anna an' the wrinkled
Magdalena, an' takes 'em into camp. The Donna Anna an' the other is
camped in the convent doorin' the visit. No, they're not locked up
nor gyarded, an' the Donna Anna comes an' goes in an' out of that
convent as free as birds. The nuns, too, bow before her like her own
peonies.
"'Thar's a Lootenant Jack Spencer with us; he hails from further up
the Cumberland than me--some'ers near Nashville. He's light-ha'red
an' light-hearted, Spencer is; an' as straight an' as strong as a
pine-tree. S'ciety ain't throwin' out no skirmish lines them days,
an' of course Spencer an' the Donna Anna meets up with each other;
an' from the onbroken hours they tharafter proceeds to invest in
each other's company, one is jestified in assoomin' they experiences
a tender interest. The Donna Anna can't talk Americano, but Spencer
is a sharp on Spanish; an' you can bet a pony, if he wasn't, he'd
set to studyin' the language right thar.
"'Nothin' much is thought by the Pine Knot Cavaliers of an'
concernin' the attitoodes of Spencer an' the Donna Anna touchin' one
another.
Love it might be, an' less we cares for that. Our army, when it
ain't fightin', is makin' love throughout the entire Mexican War;
an' by the time we're at the Plaza Perdita, love, mere everyday
love, either as a emotion or exhibition, is plenty commonplace. An'
so no one is interested, an' no one keeps tabs on Spencer an' the
Donna Anna.
Which, if any one had, he'd most likely got ag'inst Spencer's gun;
wharfore, it's as well mebby that this yere lack-luster feelin'
prevails.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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