The Blood of the Conquerors | Page 6

would
inherit the estate of Don Diego, if the old Don died before spending it
all, which it did not seem likely that he would do. But Ramon early
demonstrated that he had a more important heritage in the sharp
intelligence, and the proud, plucky and truculent spirit which had
characterized the best of the Delcasars throughout the family history.
As there was no considerable family estate for him to settle upon, he
was sent to law school at the age of twenty, and returned three years
later to take up the practice of his profession in his native town. Thus
he was the first of the Delcasars to face life with his bare hands. And he
was also the last of them in a sense, to face the gringos. All the others
of his name, save the senile Don, had either died, departed or sunk from
sight into the mass of the peasantry.
CHAPTER III

The year that Ramon returned to his native town the annual fair, which
took place at the fair-grounds in Old Town, was an especially gorgeous
and throngful event, rich in spectacle and incident. A steer was roped
and hog-tied in record time by Clay MacGarnigal of Lincoln County. A
seven-mile relay race was won by a buck named Slonny Begay. In the
bronco busting contest two men were injured to the huge enjoyment of
the crowd. The twenty-seventh cavalry from Fort Bliss performed a
sham battle. The home team beat several other teams. Enormous apples
raised by irrigation in the Pecos Valley attracted much attention, and a
hungry Mexican absconded with a prize Buff Orpington rooster.
Twice a day the single narrow street which connected the neat brick
and frame respectability of New Town with the picturesque adobe
squalor of Old Town was filled by a curiously varied crowd. The
tourist from the East, distinguished by his camera and his unnecessary
umbrella, jostled the Pueblo squaw from Isleta, with her latest-born
slung over her shoulder in a fold of red blanket. Mexican families from
the country marched in single file, the men first, then the women
enveloped in huge black shawls, carrying babies and leading older
children by the hand. Cowboys, Indians and soldiers raced their horses
through the swarming street with reckless skill. Automobiles honked
and fretted. The street cars, bulging humanity at every door and
window, strove in vain to relieve the situation. Several children and
numerous pigs and chickens were run over. From the unpaved street to
the cloudless sky rose a vast cloud of dust, such as only a rainless
country made of sand can produce. Dust was in every one's eyes and
mouth and upon every one's clothing. It was the unofficial badge of the
gathering. It turned the green of the cottonwood trees to grey, and lay in
wait for unsuspecting teeth between the halves of hamburger
sandwiches sold at corner booths.
Ramon, who had obtained a pass to the grounds through the influence
of his uncle, went to the fair every day, although he was not really
pleased with it. He was assured by every one that it was the greatest fair
ever held in the southwest, but to him it seemed smaller, dustier and
less exciting than the fairs he had attended in his boyhood.

This impression harmonized with a general feeling of discontent which
had possessed him since his return. He had obtained a position in the
office of a lawyer at fifty dollars a month, and spent the greater part of
each day making out briefs and borrowing books for his employer from
other lawyers. It seemed to him a petty and futile occupation, and the
way to anything better was long and obscure. The town was full of
other young lawyers who were doing the same things and doing them
with a better grace than he. They were impelled by a great desire to
make money. He, too, would have liked a great deal of money, but he
had no taste for piling it up dollar by dollar. The only thing that cheered
him was the prospect of inheriting his uncle's wealth, and that was an
uncertain prospect. Don Diego seemed to be doing what he could to get
rid of his property before he died.
Local society did not please Ramon either. The girls of the gringo
families were not nearly as pretty, for the most part, as the ones he had
seen in the East. The dryness and the scorching sun had a bad effect on
their complexions. The girls of his own race did not much interest him;
his liking was for blondes. And besides, girls were relatively scarce in
the West because of the great number of men who came from the East.
Competition for their favours was keen, and he