xt7cjs9h4j4d https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7cjs9h4j4d/data/mets.xml Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows), 1863-1931. 1910  books b92-237-31299385 English L.C. Page, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Mary Ware in Texas  / by Annie Fellows Johnston ... ; illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. text Mary Ware in Texas  / by Annie Fellows Johnston ... ; illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. 1910 2002 true xt7cjs9h4j4d section xt7cjs9h4j4d 


















MARY WARE IN TEXAS

 







                       Works of
          ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON

               The Little Colonel Series
            (Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.)
        Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated
The Little Colonel Stories
  (Containing in one volume the three stories, "The
    Little Colonel," "The Giant Scissors," and "Two
    Little Knights of Kentucky.")
The Little Colonel's House Party
The Little Colonel's Holidays
The Little Colonel's Hero
The Little Colonel at Boarding-School
The Little Colonel in Arizona
The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation
The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor
The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding
Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum
Mary Ware in Texas.
The above Jr vols., bored with The Little Colonel Good
    Times Book, as a set of i2 vols

The Little Colonel Good Times Book
The Little Colonel Doll Book
             Illustrated Holiday Editions
Each one vol., small quarto, cloth, illustrated, and pri
                         colour
The Little Colonel
The Giant Scissors
Two Little Knights of Kentucky
Big Brother
                  Cosy Corner Series
        Each one vol., thin l2mo, cloth, illustrated
The Little Colonel
The Giant Scissors
Two Little Knights of Kentucky
Big Brother
Ole Mammy's Torment
The Story of Dago
Cicely
Aunt 'Liza's Hero
The Quilt that Jack Built
Flip's "Islands of Providence"
Mildred's Inheritance
                     Other Books



Joel: A Boy of Galilee .
n the Desert of Waiting
The Three Weavers
Keeping Tryst
The Legend of the Bleeding Heart .
The Rescue of the Princess Winsome
The Jester's Sword
Asa Holmes .



            L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
53 Beacon Street                          Boston, Mas.



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i

 




m ary Ware  
           in texas

  By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
  Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Bi Brother."
     "Ole Mammy's Torment, " - Joel: A Boy of
         Galilee, " "Asa Holmes," etc.
     Illustrated by FRANK T. MERRILL    I




        Ii  


    BOSTON  L. C. PAGE
    & COMPANY  MDCCCCX

 













        Copyrigjt, zoro,
  BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
         (INCORPORATED)

Entered at Stationer's Hall, London


      All rijhts reserved






 First Impression, October, 19io


















 Electrotyoed and Printed by
 THE COLONIAL PRESS
 C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U.S.A.

 



























  TO

F. V. P.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 


CONTENTS



CHA FTER
  I. IN SAN ANTONIO
  II. IN SEARCH OF A HOME
  III. THE LITTLE TOWN OF BAUER
  IV. MARY FINDS GAY .

  V. AT FORT SAM HOUSTON .
  VI. ON THE CREEK-BANK
VII. CHRISTMAS .
VIII. " DIE KLEINEN TEUFEL"
IX. AT THE BARNABY RANCH

  X. IN JOYCE'S STUDIO .
  XI. PHIL GOES TO WARWICK HALL
XII. IN " BLUE-BONNET" TIME
XIII. JACK .
XIV. SAN JACINTO DAY .
XV. NEW TRAILS



         rAG; E

  .   .   I5

          51

          71
          93


     . 139
        171
       .  198
       .  230

       .  259
       .  284
       .  308
       .  329

      353

 This page in the original text is blank.

 



      LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                              PAGE
 IT WOULD HAVE BEEN JOY TO HER SOUL COULD SHE
   HAVE SEEN HERSELF " (See page 308)   Frontispiece

   WHAT AN ADORABLE LITTLE CURL! .7

"A DASHING GIRL IN KHAKI AND A COWBOY HAT,
   ASTRIDE A FIERY LITTLE MUSTANG.   .  .   .  59

 HE . . . SEATED HIMSELF BESIDE HER, COFFEE - CUP
   IN HAND                                    I 13

 SHE SENT THE BOAT DOWN STREAM WITH LONG, SWIFT
   STROKES                                    134

 THREE ALERT AND EXPECTANT LITTLE FIGURES SAT
   IN A ROW ON THE STEPS .198

"LEANING AGAINST THE MANTEL, LOOKED DOWN AT HER,
   THOUGHTFULLY                               263

   "WELL, I'M GOING AWAY AND I MAY NOT SEE YOU
   AGAIN'"                                   .375

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS


                CHAPTER I

                IN SAN ANTONIO

  THE musicians were tuning their instruments
somewhere behind the palms in the hotel courtyard.
It was one of the older hotels of San Antonio, much
sought by Northern tourists on account of that
same inner garden, around which the big building
stretched itself. The rooms opening on to it had
vine-covered balconies, and, looking down from
them into the tropical growth of palms and banana
trees and roses, one felt that it was summer time,
no matter what the calendar said.
  It was on one of the second floor balconies at
the close of a November day that Mary Ware stood
looking around her with eager eyes.   Queen's
wreath and moon-vines made such a thick screen
that no one could see her, so she might lean over
the railing as far as she pleased to watch the bril-

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



liantly lighted scene below.  Electric bulbs were
strung through the cacti and devil's ivy like elfin
lamps. There was a shine of brass buttons as col-
ored bell boys scudded across the open space with
clinking ice-pitchers or Jingling keys, and through
the glass doors beyond came the gleam of silver
and flowers where the waiters were arranging the
tables for dinner.
  There was to be a military banquet in one of the
private dining-rooms, and already the guests were
beginning to arrive for the reception which was to
precede it. So much bunting was draped over the
arch between the office corridors and this inner
court, that the view was somewhat obscured, but,
by leaning dangerously far over the railing, 'Mary
could catch a glimpse of the legs of a uniform now
and then, strolling along beside the trailing skirt
of a dainty evening gown.
  All this warmth and life and color was in sharp
contrast to the dreary solitudes of the snow covered
mining camp which she had just left. It had been
winter for nearly a month up in the hills of Arizona,
and Lone Rock in the winter was such a barren
waste socially that her present surroundings seemed
wildly exciting. In Lone Rock it was a matter of
comment whenever a human being passed the house,



2

 

IN SAN ANTONIO



and even a stray mule, stumbling along with a bell
on its neck, was enough to call one to the win-
dows.
  The orchestra behind the palms having finished
its tuning, swung into a gay two-step. At the sud-
den burst of music Mary drew a long breath and
stood up straight, her pulses atingle. Something
delightful was beginning to happen. Two girls,
one in white and one in pale lemon-yellow, attended
by a young lieutenant and a still younger man in
civilian's evening dress, came out under the bunt-
ing-draped arch and strolled along past the banana
trees to the garden seat just below her.
  From her hiding place behind the moon-vines,
Mary watched them as only a sociable little soul
could watch, who for months had been hungering
for such companionship. She clutched the railing
with both hands, hoping fervently that they would
stop.
  They did pause for a few moments, just under
the balcony, so near that for the little while they
stood there she could almost feel herself to be one
of the party. She could even smell the white vio-
lets that the girl in white wore on her corsage, and
was close enough to see that an amber comb was
slipping out of the soft auburn-bronze hair arranged



3

 
4  MARY WARE IN TEXAS



so becomingly on the graceful little head. Each
laugh and gesture sent it slipping lower and lower
till involuntarily Mary's hand went out to stop it.
Then she drew back in confusion. She had almost
called attention to herself by speaking aloud.
  " Let's go into the other court," insisted the girl
in yellow. " I want to show you the alligators in
the fountain, Mr. Wade, to convince you that you're
really in the sunny South. Some people can't ap-
preciate alligators - Bogey there, for instance."
  Her disdainful glance indicated the lieutenant.
  He jeers at me for liking them, but I think they
are more interesting than half the people one
meets. "
  " Bogey! What a nickname for such a dignified
officer," thought Mary, peeping over the railing to
see how such banter was received. Evidently the
lieutenant was accustomed to it, for he smiled in-
dulgently as one would at a spoiled child.
  " ' Birds of a feather,' you know," was his an-
swer. " Go on, Roberta. I don't care to flock with
alligators myself, but if you do we'll follow and see
it done."
   Roberta deigned no reply but a glance intended
to be withering, which failed in its purpose because
it was only counterfeit. Her eyes were as dark as



4

 

IN SAN ANTONIO



a gypsy's and she had the curliest lashes Mary had
ever seen. A boyish straightforwardness of man-
ner contradicted their coquettish curliness, however.
She had an air that comes only from being brought
up in a houseful of teasing brothers. The man in
civilian dress, whom she called Mr. WVade, watched
her as if he had found a new species of girl, uncer-
tain what she might say or do next. He was famil-
iar with the coquettish kind and with the tom-boy
kind, but this combination puzzled him.
  Mary longed to follow as the four went slowly
away together into the adjoining court, wholly un-
conscious that they had left an indelible memory
behind them, or that they had revealed anything of
themselves and their affairs to an unseen listener.
But to Mary it was as if a new book had been
opened before her and she had been allowed a
glimpse of one page and the attractive picture that
illustrated it. It was never necessary for her to
begin at the first chapter of a book. Often, at-
tracted by some paragraph in the middle, she would
plunge into a story, only turning back for the be-
ginning after she had pursued it eagerly through to
the last word and found " how it all ended."
  Now as the interesting group walked away she
fervently hoped that fate would send them across



5

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



her path sometime again during her sojourn in San
Antonio, that she might piece together the rest of
the story. All that she knew now was that the girl
in white was a daughter of one of the majors at
Fort Sam Houston, that the lieutenant had known
Roberta ever since he was a cadet at the West Texas
Military School, and that it was her brothers who
had dubbed him Bogey. She had learned also that
this was Mr. Wade's first visit to Texas, and that
Roberta was trying to impress him with it by mar-
velous tales, so that he would decide to spend the
winter in San Antonio instead of going on to Mex-
ico.
  But if the conversation revealed little, the picture
they made as they stood against the tropical back-
ground of palms and banana trees held many sug-
gestions. Mary felt that she knew all about lieuten-
ants, having met two at a Kentucky house-party
where she had gone to be flower-girl at a wedding
when she was only fourteen. Fashions evidently
had not changed in lieutenants, since these looked
as if they might have been taken out of the same
box that furnished the first soldiers of her acquaint-
ance; but the girls -- there had been many changes
in girls since she last saw any of this kind. It was
eight months since she had left school at the end



6

 










































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          ":t2jw, ".,I,

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

IN SAN ANTONIO



of the Easter vacation, and none of the girls at
Warwick Hall were doing their hair then as Ro-
berta and the Major's daughter were doing theirs.
Each had a very elaborate coiffure with a cluster
of little short curls escaping to nestle against their
white necks.
  Her attention was especially called to this new
style by Roberta's escort, whom Mary had classified
in her mind as a " callow youth with a habit of
making gallant little personal speeches."
  When they first stepped into the court Roberta
had thrown a white scarf about her, almost as light
as thistledown, and glistening with crystal beads
which spangled its soft meshes like dewdrops. As
they turned to go it slipped from her shoulders, and
Mr. Wade sprang forward to replace it. Drawing
it around her shoulders he said with a melting
glance at her dark hair, " What an adorable little
curl !
"'Ringlet, 0 Ringlet, she blushed a rosy red,
When Ringlet, 0 Ringlet, she clipped you from her head!"'
  Mary, who knew her Tennyson like her multipli-
cation table, recalled the next lines,

     "Ringlet, 0 Ringlet, she gave you me and said,
     'Come kiss it, love, and put it by,
     If this can change, why, so can I.-"



7

 
MARY WARE IN TEXAS



  Roberta only laughed, not in the least impressed
by his manner nor embarrassed by the inference of
his quotation. Mary knew that she could not copy
the curls, but she decided to try the rest of the coif-
fure in the morning. Not a single twist or wave
had escaped her sharp eyes. In the darkness of her
retreat, after they had gone, she put her hands to
her head, rehearsing in pantomime each move she
would have to make to produce the result she ad-
mired.
  Suddenly her hands dropped and one clutched the
railing, as the window shutters of the next room
were thrown open with a bang and some one stepped
out on to the balcony adjoining hers. The intruder
was a large and elderly woman in a rustling black
dress. The light from the room streaming out
behind her showed that she was portly and gray-
haired, and the way she peered through the vines,
changing quickly from one view-point to another,
showed that she was impatient.
  When she turned, Mary saw that her dress, which
was made to fasten in the back, was open from col-
lar to belt, and she readily guessed the trouble.
Forgetting that her presence was unknown to the
anxious watcher, she leaned forward through the
dark, saying politely, " Can I help you, Madam "



8

 
IN SAN ANTONIO



  If a hand had reached out and grabbed her, the
old lady could not have been more startled. With
a stifled shriek she backed up against the wall to
hide her open bodice, and stood there limp and
panting.
  " Merciful fathers! how you scared me! " she
breathed as Mary's face appeared in the full light.
When she saw only a little school-girl of seventeen
or thereabouts her relief found vent in a hysterical
giggle. It shook her plump shoulders until they
both started to laughing so hard that she could
barely find voice to explain, or Mary to apolo-
gize.
  " I just couldn't get my dress hooked up the
back," she finally managed to say. " I rang half a
dozen times for a chambermaid, but the ones on
this floor all seem to be off duty this time of eve-
ning, and I won't ask a bell-boy as some of the ladies
do. I don't think it's decent. So I just thought
I'd look down into the court and see if I couldn't
catch sight of James. He did it yesterday and I
vowed I'd never ask him again. He's willing
enough, but he kept me standing a solid half hour
by the clock, and we were both tuckered out when
he got through."
  " Let me come and do it for you," said Mary



9

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



with her usual alacrity for following up promising
beginnings.
  "Oh, if you only would! " was the grateful an-
swer. " I'll go in and unlock the door-"
  Before she could finish her sentence Mary had
climbed lightly over the railing which divided their
balconies, and was following her into her room
through the long windows that opened to the floor.
  "Do you know," confided the old lady while
Mary deftly fastened the hooks, " I think a hotel is
the lonesomest place on the face of the globe for a
woman. I come down here once a year or so with
my husband, and he has a good time sitting around
in the lobby smoking and making friends with
stockmen like himself, but by the end of the second
day I'm homesick for the ranch. Of course I enjoy
the stores and the crowds on the street, and seeing
all the finely dressed tourists at meal-times, but
we've been down here three days now, and you're
the first person I've spoken to besides the chamber-
maid and James. It's all right for strangers to
keep themselves to themselves I suppose, but I must
say it's a sort of strain when it comes to being the
stranger yourself. I want somebody to neighbor
with."
  " So do I," responded Mary with such heartiness



IO

 

IN SAN ANTONIO'



that the old lady instantly expanded into warm
f riendliness. Before she was fairly fastened into
her rustling black and purple gown she had confided
to Mary that it was her very best one, and that it
just wouldn't wear out, because it was too fine for
church and she had no occasion to put it on save
when she made her rare visits to San Antonio. The
sleeves had been changed so many times to keep it
in fashion, that her dressmaker had refused to alter
it another time, even if the lace on it did cost five
dollars a yard. James said why didn't she wear it
at home and get done with it. But she told him
much comfort a body would take around home in
the tight gear a dressmaker boned you up in. But
she'd have to do something, for full skirts were
clear out now, and she felt like a balloon when other
people were going around as slim and lank as
starved snakes.
  " It doesn't take long to get out of date," she
added, " when you're living up in the hills in the
back-woods."
  " Oh, I know that," agreed Mary. " I've been
living in a lonesome little spot out in Arizona for
so long that I've nearly forgotten what civilization
is like."
  " You don't look like it," was the frank comment



I I

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



as the still franker gaze of her listener travelled
over her dress from top to bottom, noting every
detail.
  "Oh, this," answered Mary, as if the eyes had
spoken. " This is a dress that I got in New York
last Easter vacation. I was in school at Washing-
ton, but as I had to leave at the end of the term
and go back home I've had no occasion to wear it
since. That's why it looks so new."
  " Now do sit down and tell me about it," urged
her hostess hospitably. " I've always wanted to go
to Washington."
  She pushed forward a low rocker, and took the
arm chair opposite with such a look of pleasurable
anticipation on her kindly old face, that Mary
obeyed. She knew how it felt to be fairly bursting
with a sociability for which there was no outlet.
She had experienced that same sensation a few
minutes before when she watched Roberta and the
Major's daughter go by with their friends. Besides,
she felt a real liking for this companionable old
lady who introduced herself as Mrs. Barnaby of
Bauer, Texas. Mrs. James Barnaby.
  " She's the real, comfortable, homey sort,"
thought Mary, who had been much given of late
to classifying people. " She's like mission furni-



I 2

 

IN SAN ANTONIO         '



ture - plain and simple and genuine. She'd be her
simple unpretentious self no matter what gilt and
veneer she found herself among."
  Mary was proud of her insight afterward when
she learned more about Mrs. Barnaby's family.
They had come out from Ohio over fifty years be-
fore when she was so young that she could barely
remember the great prairie schooner that brought
them. They had suffered all the hardships of the
early Texas settlers, gone through the horrors of
the Indian uprisings, and fought their way through
with sturdy pioneer fortitude to the place where
they could fold their hands and enjoy the comforts
of the civilization they had helped to establish.
  She told Mary little of this now, however, but
led her on with many questions to talk of herself.
Mrs. Barnaby had a lively curiosity and always
took the most straightforward means to gratify it.
  " She's interested in people, no matter who they
are, just as I am," thought Mary, instantly recog-
nizing the spirit which prompted the questions, and
for that reason was led on to tell more than she
would have told to most strangers. She did not
take the world at large into her confidence now as
she had done in her chatterbox days. In just a
few moments Mrs. Barnaby had a very fair snap-



13

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



shot picture of the Ware family in her mind. Mary
had given it very simply.
  "I had gone from school at Warwick Hall to
New York, to spend the Easter vacation with my
sister Joyce. She's an artist and has her studio
there. And we got word that my oldest brother,
Jack, had been dreadfully hurt in an accident at
the mines where he was manager-that it had made
him a cripple for life. We all just adore Jack, so
of course I packed up and went straight back to
Arizona. It wasn't possible for Joyce to leave just
then, and my brother Holland is in the navy, and
of course he couldn't get away. Except the trained
nurse there was nobody with mamma at the time
but my youngest brother Norman, and as he is only
fourteen I felt that I had to go."
  " I hope he got better right away," interrupted
Mrs. Barnaby eagerly.
  " Yes, he did for awhile. He even got so that
he could wheel himself around in his chair and go
down to the office awhile every morning. But as
soon as the cold weather set in he began to have
such dreadful rheumatism that the doctor said the
only thing to do was to take him to a milder climate.
So we got ready right away and brought him down
here."



14

 
               IN SAN ANTONIO                 I5

  "It must have been a hard trip for him," com-
mented Mrs. Barnaby with a sympathetic shake of
the head. " Arizona always did seem to me like
the jumping-off place. I don't see how you man-
aged it, him in a wheeled chair and so helpless."
  " Oh, we came in a private car," Mary made haste
to explain, " and Jack really enjoyed the trip.
Waffles, the old colored cook on the car, you know,
just laid himself out to please him, and the porter
was so strong and helpful."
  " H'm! " exclaimed her interested listener.
  I've always thought I'd like to travel in a private
car. It must be such a nice way to get over the
country. But it isn't everybody that can afford it."
  It was on the tip of Mary's honest little tongue
to explain that it was not their car. They had come
as guests of Mr. Robeson, one of the mine owners.
But Mrs. Barnaby interrupted her with a question.
  " Didn't you all go out in a big red automobile
this afternoon I've been trying to think ever since
you came in here where it was I'd seen you before,
and I believe it was with that party. There was a
little lady in black and a boy and a rather heavy-set
man with iron gray whiskers. I heard him giving
orders to the chauffeur to go out to the missions."
  " Yes," agreed Mary, " that was Mr. Robeson,

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



one of the owners of the mine. He's so fond of
Jack and has been so lovely to all of us on his ac-
count. His valet stayed with Jack while we went
out to see the town. He's going on to Mexico this
afternoon."
  Again she was on the point of saying that it was
as Mr. Robeson's guests they had enjoyed the out-
ing in the expensive car, but another question
switched her off to another subject and left Mrs.
Barnaby with the impression that the Wares were
wealthy beyond computation. Mary had the man-
ner of one always accustomed to luxury, and her
easy way of referring to the studio in New York
and the private car and the valet made one think
she was born to purple and fine linen.
  The impression was deepened later, when the
Barnabys found themselves at the same table with
Mary and Norman in the dining-room. " Mrs.
Ware was having dinner in her rooms with Jack,"
Mary explained.  He was sensitive about being
wheeled into a public dining-room, so she and her
mother would take turns staying with him.
  With a brief glance at the menu card Mary or-
dered dinner for herself and brother before Mr.
Barnaby had adjusted his glasses on his long nose
and stumbled half-way through the menu.    He



ii6

 

IN SAN ANTONIO



always read the bill of fare aloud to his wife, pro-
nouncing the French words exactly as they were
spelled, and they paused to discuss the nature of
each unfamiliar dish with the amused waiter before
ordering.
  The ease with which Mary ordered gave further
evidence to Mrs. Barnaby that the Wares had al-
ways been accustomed to sumptuous living, and to
being "waited on, hand and foot." And it was
proof to Mary that " James " was as genuine and
primitive as his wife when he made no attempt to
cover his ignorance of French menus. Looking up
with a twinkle in his eyes he said to the waiter,
"Just bring me the same as my wife ordered."
Then he added with an odd one-sided smile that
gave an irresistible expression of humor to his face,
" I always take the blazed trail when there is one.
It's a heap sight safer than striking out for your-
self when you're in tall timber."
  Evidently Mrs. Barnaby had told him all that she
had learned of the Ware family, for he at once be-
gan making minute inquiries ahout Arizona and the
mines, with the interest of a shrewd, genial old man
who kept pace with the times and liked the compan-
ionship of young people. They were warm friends
before the meal was over, and Mary hurried up-



I 7

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



stairs afterward, to report all she could remember
to Jack. She had fallen into the habit of making
the most of everything she saw and heard, for his
entertainment.
  She found him in his chair, out on the balcony
with her mother, looking down on the same scene
she had watched earlier in the evening. Mrs. Ware
had just tucked a lap-robe around him and drawn
a wrap over her own shoulders when Mary opened
the door of the room behind them, and started
across the floor to join them.
  Some letters had been sent up while she was at
dinner and seeing one on the table addressed to
herself, she paused to read it before joining them.
It was just a note from one of the girls at \Varwick
Hall, who, knowing Mary's fondness for the beau-
tiful old garden there, always enclosed some leaf or
flower from it every time she wrote. This time
several violets fell out, withered but still sweet. As
Mary stooped to pick them up she heard Jack say
in a voice so full of hearty enjoyment that she
scarcely recognized it for his: " This certainly is
great! What a world of things we've been miss-
ing all these years, little mother! I never realized
just how much we have missed till I went East last
year. Then afterwards the days were so full of

 
IN SAN ANTONIO



work and the new responsibilities that I didn't have
time to think about it much. But I can see now
what a dull gray existence you've had, for as far
back as I can remember there's only been three
backgrounds for you: a little Kansas village, a tent
on the edge of the Arizona desert, and a lonely
mining camp. How long has it been since you've
seen a sight like this "
  The scattered violets were all picked up now, but
Mary still stood by the table, waiting for her
mother's reply.
  " It's so long ago I'll have to stop and count up.
Let me see. You're twenty-two and Joyce twenty-
three - really it's almost a quarter of a century
since l ve been in a large city, and seen anything
like this in the way of illuminations, with music
and crowds. Your father took me to New York
the winter after we were married. Before that I'd
always had my full share. I'd visited a great deal
and travelled with Cousin Kate and her father.
And I'm sure that no one could want anything
brighter and sweeter and more complete than life
as I found it as a girl, in ' my old Kentucky home.'
As I had so much more than most people the first
part of my life I couldn't complain when I had less
afterwards.  But I certainly do enjoy this," she



19

 
20  MARY WARE IN TEXAS



added earnestly, as the orchestra began the haunt-
ing air of the Mexican " Swallow Song," La Go-
londrina, and the odor of roses stole up from be-
low. The court was filled now with gay little
groups of people who had the air of finding life one
continual holiday.
  The cheeriness of the reply almost brought tears
to Mary's eyes, as she realized for the first time
how much more than any of them her mother must
have suffered from the hardships of their early
poverty, because it was in such sharp contrast to
what she had known before. To hide the little
quiver that wanted to creep into her voice Mary
laughed as she joined them, dragging a chair
through the French window after her.
  " Here you sit like two comfortable cats in the
lap of luxury," she said. " You'll begin to purr
soon.
  " That's exactly what we're doing now," an-
swered Jack. " We're congratulating ourselves on
being in this land of summer with every comfort
at hand and a free show to entertain us. This is
as good as being in a box-party at the opera."
  Mary settled herself with her chair tipped back
on its rockers, and looked down on the court below.
" I wish we could stay at this hotel all winter," she



20

 

IN SAN ANTONIO



exclaimed. " I wish we could be as rich all the
time as I feel to-night.  Ever since we started
South in Mr. Robeson's car I've felt as opulent and
as elegant as if we owned the earth, and I've
noticed that you and mamma take to luxury quite
as readily as I do - like ducks to water. Norman
is learning fast, too, for one of his opportunities.
He's having the time of his life now, down in the
lobby, just ' seein' things at night.' He asked me
for a quarter when I left him, to get some post-
cards of the Alamo and the plaza to send home."
  " Well " queried Jask as she paused.  Mary
had had the family finances in hand since his illness,
and her economical clutch had earned her the title
of " Watch-dog of the Treasury."
  " Oh, I gave it to him," she answered. " Gave it
with a lordly sweep of the hand, as if bestowing
millions were a daily habit of mine. But to-morrow
it will be a different story. To-morrow a copper
cent may be too great a boon for my family to
ask me to part with. To-morrow we go house-
hunting, with the sad realization that we're all as
poor as Job's old blue turkey hen."
  "What's the odds so long as you're happy,"
quoted Jack. There was a long pause in which they
listened to the music, each enjoying to the fullest



21

 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS



the novelty of being in such a place. Then Jack
asked, " Didn't you have any adventures down in
the dining-room We rather expected that you'd
have a series of them to report."
  " Mercy, yes! I've had half a dozen since I saw
you last, very mild ones though. I've seen some
most interesting people, a major's daughter and a
lieutenant from the Post, called Bogey, and I over-
heard the beginning of a romance, a most senti-
mental request for an ' adorable little curl,' and I've
hooked Mrs. James Barnaby of Bauer, Texas, up
in her best black and purple gown, and James him-
self has invited me to take ' pot luck ' with them
up at the Barnaby ranch any time I choose to
go.  He's a dear and so is she, and if you'd
only -"
  Her chatter was stopped by a sudden exclama-
tion from Jack, and following his gaze into the
court below she saw two of the group in which she
had been so interested earlier in the evening.
  " That's the lieutenant I told you about! " she ex-
claimed excitedly. " That's Bogey, and the other
is the major's daughter.  I don't wonder that
you're stunned at the sight of a pretty girl like that
when it's been such ages since you have seen one."
  " I'm stunned because it happens to be a girl I



22

 

IN SAN ANTONIO



know," exclaimed Jack in a tone almost as excited
as her own.   That's Gay Melville, and I met her
at The Locusts the night I stopped in Lloydsboro
Valley with the Shermans."
  "Are you sure " gasped Mary.
  "Dead sure! She played the violin that evening,
and you can't take your eyes off her face when she
plays, it's so sweet, and you could never forget it
after you'd watched her through one performance.
Then her hair - there's no mistaking that, and
that little trick of lifting her chin. Besides, it's no
surprising matter to see her. She lives here and
she's a popular girl."
  "Oh, I know it! " exclaimed Mary, " and I've
known all the time that her home is in San Antonio.
Haven't I heard the Warwick Hall seniors ta