He takes us out
onder a huddle of pine trees, where thar's two graves side by side,
an' with a big cross of wood standin' gyard at the head. Thar's
quite a heap o' rocks, about as big as your shet hand, heaped up on
'em. It's the Mexicans does that. Every Greaser who goes by, says a
pray'r, an' tosses a rock on the grave. When we-all is camped
comfortable, the padre begins.
"'"This is that which was with the Senor Juan and the Donna Anna,"
he says. "They adored each other with their hearts. It was many
months ago when, from the Plaza Perdita, they came together here to
the Donna Anna's house, the Hacienda Tulorosa. Who was the Donna
Anna? Her mother was an Indian, a Navajo, and the child of a head
man. Her father was the Senor Ravel, a captain of war he was, and
the Americanos slew him at Buena Vista. No; they were not married,
the father and the mother of the Donna Anna. But what then? There
are more children than weddings in Mexico. Also the mother of the
Donna Anna was a Navajo. The Captain Ravel long ago brought her to
the Hacienda Tulorosa for her home--her and the Donna Anna. But the
mother lived not long, for the Indian dies in a house. This is years
gone by; and the Donna Anna always lived at the Casa Tulorosa.
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