Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Now," said Jim, "except when the shifts change, you are to keep your people this side of the ditch," pointing to the line that separated the Mexican and American camps. "I have fifty men scouring the camp for whiskey. Anybody found with liquor will be arrested. If there is a particle of trouble over it in your camp, I'll let the Gringos loose. Sabez?" Garces shivered a little.
Manuel did not mean to tattle; he merely let fall a word or two to Valencia, whom he met occasionally in the open and accused bitterly of having a treacherous friendship for the gringos, and particularly for the blue-eyed one.
If we can do that, we can keep out MacDougall and everybody else … buy when we get ready. We couldn’t pay Alfego much, but we could let him in on the railroad deal … something MacDougall won’t do. And Alfego, you know, is a penitente. And all those little rancheros are penitentes. It’s the strongest penitente county in the State, and you know none of the penitentes like gringos.
At the same time, we are assured that the invaders upon the Rio Grande will soon be defeated yet more thoroughly." All the rest had arisen while he was speaking, and one of them, a fat, short man in a brilliant uniform, added, enthusiastically: "We feel that we can rely upon you, Colonel Guerra. We pity the gringos if they should attempt to beleaguer this impregnable fortress.
Mexican politicians and perhaps one or two gringos had done it, and the fact was a matter of common gossip. Some of these penitentes for a purpose had been men of great influence, and their initiations had been tempered to suit their sensitive skins. Others had been Mexicans of the poorer sort, capable of sharing the half-fanatic, half sadistic spirit of the thing.
One of my ancestors was an Irishman, and the Crawfords were from Scotland. It isn't as hot a country as Spain is. You are a Mexican, not a Spaniard." "So I am," she said, "and most of the Mexicans are Indians. We ought to have more Spaniards, but we can't get them. Anyhow, we don't want too many gringos to come in. They are all heretics, too."
Talking with Don Annunzio himself that evening, Rita found him far less guarded than his wife in his expression of patriotic zeal. He echoed her saying, that every Mambi in the country knew where to come when he wanted anything; and he went on to draw lurid pictures of what he would do to the Gringos if he but had the power. "See, señorita!" he said, in his wheezy, asthmatic voice.
José picked himself up, cursing his captor eloquently. "You Gringos don't know how to die," he said. "Death? Pah! We must die some time. And supposing I do know something about the señora, do you think you can force me to speak? Torture wouldn't open my lips."
"Los Gringos used to laugh at the Mexican and his cloak, and not long after they came the 'Greasers, as the Americans called the young men born here in California, began to wear the ugly clothes the Gringos brought out from Boston.
But from the moment when he laid her gold thimble in her waiting hand and got no reward save an absent little nod of thanks, the dull ache had been growing in his heart. He knew what it was that had sent José off in that headlong rage against all gringos; though two days before he would have said that José's jealousy was for him, and with good reason.
Word Of The Day