Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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THE FURIOTTS FACK AND THE FLASH OF A KNIFE Mexico and my uncle for his future ; of course Senorita De La Torre was included. He did not know just how to go about it. but he kn.ew it was necessary she should go with hini. His horse took the course he pleased and this brought him out on the flat sandy beach. This broad quiet solitude well suited Rahelio ' s mood, and as they ambled along the shore, sometimes splashing thru the shallow flood of the sleepy little waves, he dreamed gloriously on. The familiar air of a fandango aroused Castro sharply from these plans. He found himself under the beach walls of the Custom-House. alive to the call of the twanging guitars and the voices of the dancers. As he recognized the swinging tones of old Simineau ' s accordion, he must at least have a look, so he left his horse to watch below while he climbed the old wave beaten stairs. He slid into a corner bench where he watched the dance, himself unseen except for the glowing tip of his cigarette and the dark outline of his sombrero. He peered through the crowd for a glimpse of Guadalupe and burned three cigarettes with feverish speed in the vain search. Rahelio was about to give it up when he noticed three men strolling down the gallery. They stopped close behind him and he waited for them to move on, but they seemed in no hurry and he o erheard their talk. The name of De La Torre caught his ears and he was immediately bristling at- tention. Rahelio turned slowly to see who spoke and heard plainly. 13

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Soon he was up behind the town and clattering across the great Presidio campus, which shone hard and white under the rising moon. He passed the men ' s quarters looming up in their white-wash. To him the whole place breathed of the military and the searching hand of the law. He galloped harder. He rode into the woods behind the Presidio and followed an old cow path up to the summit. As he rode out into the moonlight the mournful call of Taps came floating slow and clear from the Presidio below. He drew up and faced about, listening to the end. He sat quietly thus for some time, his horse breathing heavily the while. The ride in the fresh evening air had cleared his mind from the effects of El Adobe, and his thoughts flew as he gazed sadly at the scene below. Rahelio looked over the miles of rolling hills, hazy and indistinct ; the old Castro grant, his hills by right ! Bitterh ' he remembered the coming of the greedy Gringos and the death of his father and grandfather. The calm moonlit waters of the bay lay silent at his feet and its white border faded miles away to the north in a great smooth curve. The lights of Monterey twinkled up at him and a bright splotch marked the Custom- House close by the bay. Guadalupe was surely there this evening. A jealous rage possessed him as he pictured her dancing with the young offi- cers and his old time friends — perhaps laughing and smiling into some more fortunate man ' s face at that moment ! Had she any thought of him? AVas she lost to him now? Must he be dragged into dishonor b} ' the fallen fortunes of his house? He devoutly hoped she had no suspicion of his present venture. Rahelio turned toward the west and looked over the rough coast line and the blank darkness marking the Pacific ; there lay China Cove and his desperate promise. He turned back to Monterey and looking over the land of his birth, of his life, of his fathers he thought of the spirits of the dead looking with shame on his evil choice. A wave of inspiration swept over him as he thought: Shall a Castro fall so low? A Castro, a contrabandista? For answer he flung the brass lantern to the ground with some of the satisfaction he would have felt had it been his friend the fisherman. With a grim look toward China Cove he roused his horse and took the back trail for Monterey. Rahelio riding slowly through the quiet streets of the town felt cheer- ful and happy for the first time in months. He had no definite plans, but a vague feeling ' that he had played true and redeemed himself, and that con- sequently every thing would come right. He determined broadly upon

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■ I think she still loves young- Castro, and that is why she is not here to- night. The one in the center leaning on the stone coping turned his head, and the moonlight showed Rahelio the look of malice and hatred on his features as he answered: ' Well I. Louis Sanchez, Avho speak to you now — I tell a-ou she Avill find her lover strung up for a bandalero one line dav. ' Castro ' s blood leaped at the insult to his love and his name, and Sanchez, his Avords scarce finished, saw him climbing over the Ioav coping, saw the furious face and the flash of a knife, and that Avas all. Rahelio saAv the blood spatter on the grey Avails and his fury left him. Som.e one cried out and someone ran at him. He knocked them flat and fled as he had come. His speed frightened his horse and he leaped into the saddle on the run, and theA ' AA ent pounding down the hard Avet shore and faded into the night. There Avas no room in Rahelio s mind noAv but for terror and a desire to fly aAvay, aAvay before the coming sun, a thousand miles away. His horse ne ' er galloped harder, yet it seemed hours to Castro before they reached the county road and climbed panting and straining up the Carmel hill. At the top of the hill the gloom of the dark shadowy pines Avith here and there a streak of ghostly moonlight, brought sharply to his mind the Avords of a young vaquero at El Adobe: T tell you Avhat, I don ' t like that Carmelo hill one bit. AMien I go that Avay I ' m not at all scared you un ' er- stand. but just the same I don ' t waste no time. I just grab my gun and dig my spur and ride like hell I I tell a-ou that man Tom Doud he ver ' bad man. Rahelio did likcAvise, but Avith more reason than the A ' aquero. Around the Avinding grade they flew, in the moonlight here and the darkness there, beating hard and fast along the silent dusty road. The Avay gradually be- came more open as they got down into the A ' alley, and coming around a sharp hill, there lay the Carmel Mission in the broad smooth fields Avith the sih-ery waters of the Lagoon and baA- behind. The sight brought dear Father Anslem to his mind and his years of confidence and confession. He Avas a father and a brother and a confessor to Rahelio, and he felt even noAv he must see him, even now Avith this terror on his soul. He sloAved doAvn as he came to the first adobes and Avalked his horse up to the A-enerable church. The poiuiding hoofs seemed to strike more noise out of the ground the sloAver they AA ' alked. and each beat struck a neAv dread into Rahelio ' s heart. He dismount ed and swung open the great iron barred door. As he looked into the A-aulted church, his courage fled and he dropped on his knees, clutching the barred gate. He dreaded to take his sacrilegious person into the sanctuary and yet he must; he groaned aloud in his despair. 14