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

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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

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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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He finally arose and forced himself with trembling knees to enter and cross the further wing; here he would find the good Anselm. As he stood before the father ' s door he heard a murmur near the altar at his left and turning with straining eyes beheld the figure of a girl kneel- ing in prayer. His heart seemed to club him from within, and he stood sensing some great thought or message. The figure grew clearer as he looked, and it was Guadalupe. She wore a white robe and her dark hair fell in a mass about her shoulders and upon the foot of the altar. Rahelio heard his name murmured and saw her hands raise in supplication, and he cried out with all his might, and his voice sounded like a vague whisper. Things grew dim and confused to him ; he hated himself ; he came wretched, bloody with guilt and damned, and he loved her. Guadalupe rose and turned toward him startled, the look of a saint in her face. Rahelio fell clutching her feet and crying like a child. Guadalupe raised and led him into the open air where he gradually be- came coherent enough to be understood and he told her the whole story. And O Guadalupe, I loved you so ! and I have been a fool and I feel very low. And then 1 was proud and 1 turned back to honor my name and you and I have dishonored both ! And he held his bowed head in his hands. A moment so and then he stood up l efore her and throwing his arms wide and looking over the peaceful moonlit valley, he cried : And I love her, love her with all the soul I have and she must now despise me ! Guadalupe De La Torre said softly. Rahelio, my aunt stays here at the mission tonight to talk with Father Anselm about my future. When she awakes in the morning my future will already be. I love you. Now we will ride far away. Rahelio took her in his arms and kissed her many times. Together they closed the rusty creaking gates, and climbed on to his horse and lifted her before him. Together they rode down into the silent valley and up into the rolling Santa Lucias. They stopped for a last look at the peaceful scene, the rolling fields, and the moonlit mission standing big and solemn before the silver waters. Then they took the trail of the Padres for Mexico. JOHN DOUGLAS SHORT. 15