"Charley, how came those squaws in my
closet?" He looked very much ashamed and said: "Oh, me tell you:
bad man go to kill 'em; I hide 'em."
"Well," said I, "do not hide any more girls in this casa! You
savez that?"
He bowed his head in acquiescence.
I afterwards learned that one of the girls was his sister.
The weather was now fairly comfortable, and in the evenings we
sat under the ramada, in front of the house, and watched the
beautiful pink glow which spread over the entire heavens and
illuminated the distant mountains of Lower California. I have
never seen anything like that wonderful color, which spread
itself over sky, river and desert. For an hour, one could have
believed oneself in a magician's realm.
At about this time, the sad-eyed Patrocina found it expedient to
withdraw into the green valleys of Lower California, to
recuperate for a few months. With the impish Jesusita in her
arms, she bade me a mournful good-bye. Worthless as she was from
the standpoint of civilized morals, I was attached to her and
felt sorry to part with her.
Then I took a Mexican woman from Chihuahua. Now the Chihuahuans
hold their heads high, and it was rather with awe that I greeted
the tall middle-aged Chihuahuan lady who came to be our little
son's nurse.
