sun-bonnet and slipped out of the house and across the clearing, and the next instant she was flying down the path through the pines. She knew the road they had taken, and a path that would strike it several miles lower down. She ran like a deer, up hill and down, availing herself of every short cut, until, about an hour after she started, she came out on the road. Fortunately for her the delays incident to getting any body of new troops on the march had detained the company, and a moment's inspection of the road showed her that they had not yet passed. Clambering up a bank she concealed herself and lay down. In a few moments she heard the noise they made in the distance, and she was still panting from her haste when they came along, the soldiers marching in order, as if still on parade, and a considerable company of friends attending them. Not a man, however, dreamed that, flat on her face in the bushes, lay a girl peering down at them with her breath held, but with a heart which beat so loud to her own ears that she felt they must hear it. Least of all did Darby Stanley, marching erect and tall in front, for all the sore heart in his bosom, know that her eyes were on him as long as she could see him. When Vashti brought up the cow that night it was later than usual. It perhaps was fortunate for her that the change made by the absence of the boys prevented any questioning. After all the excitement her mother was in a fit of despondency. Her father sat in the door looking straight before him, as silent as the pine on which his vacant gaze was fixed. Even when the little cooking they had was through with and his supper was offered him, he never spoke. He sat in silence and then took his seat again. Even Mrs. Mills's complaining about the cow straying so far brought no word from him any more than from Vashti. He sat silent as before, his long legs stretched out toward the fire. The glow of the embers fell on the rough, thin face and lit it up, bringing out the features and making them suddenly clear-cut and strong. It might have been only the fire, but there seemed the glow of something more, and the eyes burned back under the shaggy brows. The two women likewise were silent, the elder now and then casting a glance at her husband. She offered him his pipe, but he said nothing, and silence fell as before. Presently she could stand it no longer. "I declar, Vashti," she said, "I believe your pappy takes it most harder than I does. The girl made some answer about the boys. It was hardly intended for him to hear, but he rose suddenly, and, walking to the door, took down from the two dogwood forks his old, long, single-barrelled gun, and turning to his wife said, Git me my coat, old woman; by Gawd, I'm a-gwine." The two women both on their feet in a second. Their faces were white and their hands were clinched under the sudden stress; their breath came fast. The older woman was the first to speak. were "What in the worl' ken you do, Cove Mills, ole an' puny as you is, an' got the rheumatiz all the time, too?" "I ken pint a gun," said the old man, doggedly, "an' I'm a-gwine.” "An' what in the worl' is a-goin' to become of us, an' that cow got to runnin' away so; I'm afeared all the time she'll git in the mash?" Her tone was querulous, but it was not positive, and when her husband said again, “I'm a-gwine," she said no more, and all the time she was getting together the few things which Cove would take. As for Vashti, she seemed suddenly revivified; she moved about with a new step-swift, supple, silent-her head up, a new light in her face, and her eyes, as they turned now and then on her father, filled with a new fire. She did not talk much. "I'll a-teck care o' us all," she said once; and once again, when her mother gave something like a moan, she supported her with a word about "the only ones as gives three from one family." It was a word in season, for the mother caught the spirit, and a moment later declared, with a new tone in her voice, that that was better than Mrs. Stanley, and still they were better off than she, for they still had two left to help each other, while she had not a soul. "I'll teck care o' us all," repeated the girl once more. It was only a few things that Cove Mills took with him that morning, when he set out in the darkness to overtake the company before they should break camp-hardly his old game-bag half full; for the equipment of the boys had stripped the little cabin of everything that could be of use. He might only have seemed to be going hunting, as he slung down the path with his old, longbarrelled gun in his hand and his gamebag over his shoulder, and disappeared in the darkness from the eyes of the two women standing in the cabin door. The next morning Mrs. Mills paid Mrs. Stanley the first visit she had paid on that side the branch since the day, three years before, when Cove and the boys had the row with Little Darby. It might have seemed accidental, but Mrs. Stanley was the first person in the district to know that all the Mills men were gone to the army. She went over again, from time to time, for it was not a period to keep up open hostilities, and she was younger than Mrs. Stanley and better off; but Vashti never went, and Mrs. Stanley never asked after her or came. (To be concluded in October.) TRANSITION By Melville Upton The suicide, who was a stationary engineer, had arranged all his affairs with unusual care, and even gone to the extent of oiling his engine and shaking down the ashes in his furnace preparatory to his day's work. When they found him he was dead, with one foot back on the rung of the ladder, as though, after taking his fatal plunge, he had changed his mind and struggled to get back to life again.-Daily Paper. WHAT is it that the dying find at parting In that dread moment when the earth swings clear, A plummet's lead beneath them? This one, whom the shroud sets stiffly over, Fresh-oiled his engine, saw to every glint of brass work, Did all as tho' this day were not his last. Then, leaned this ladder here against the boiler, And took his reasoned plunge into the deep unknown! Reaching back to life with that look there in his eyes! What was it that he found there in the silence, When earth's great shadow swung away Beyond all plummet's depth beneath him? Was it searing light or weight of heavy darkness TARAHUMARI LIFE AND CUSTOMS By Carl Lumboltz THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR Tarahumari Comb made from a Pine Cone. TH "I HE Tarahumaris, the inhabitants of the Sierra Madre, whose home was described in a former article, came, according to their own traditions, from the north and the east (the same countries as the Apaches, as they say), and were placed in these mountains, the middle of the world, by their god., They descended originally from heaven, with corn and potatoes in their ears. Their god was with them at the beginning, but the devil molested him, and to such purpose that he had to retreat. Once, when their god was intoxicated, the devil robbed him of his wife. cannot remain here any longer," said he, "because the devil took my wife; but I will leave two crosses in the world." He placed one cross where the sun sets and one where it rises. The cross in the east their god uses when he comes down to visit the Tarahumaris; that in the west is for the Tarahumari when he dies and goes to heaven. Between these two crosses lives the Tarahumari tribe. The Indians would like to go to the crosses and dance before them, one of their forms of worship, but they are prevented from doing so by large bodies of water, and they therefore have small crosses standing outside their own houses before which they hold their nightly dances. They also sacrifice before these crosses, and here is where their god comes to eat. The Tarahumari invariably provides a smooth place near his house or cave upon which he .*. See "Among the Tarahumaris," by Carl Lumholtz, in SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE for July, 1894. erects his cross and where he holds his dances. The older Spanish chroniclers mention the Tarahumaris. According to Mr. F. A. Bandelier the first Jesuit census, taken in 1678, gives the number of Christian Tarahumaris at 8,300. Early in the seventeenth century Padre Ribas, quoting from a letter written to him by another priest who visited the Tarahumaris in 1608, described them as a race living partly in caves and dressed in garments made of the fibre of the agave, which the women were expert in weaving. They were docile and readily accepted Christian teachings. The Tarahumari of to-day is of a medium size and a dark-brown color. The people of the barrancas (valleys) are smaller than on the highlands. If anything they are lighter in color, but I have often noted light yellowish faces on the highlands. The Tarahumaris are more muscular than most of our North American Indians. Their cheek-bones are prominent and their expression is heavy. The woman is smaller than the man, but generally just as strong, and when angered by jealousy is often able to beat her man. They are rapid walkers, gliding smoothly along with quick steps, with the body slightly bent forward and without any swaying to and fro. Both men and women wear long, flowing, straight black hair, which in rare cases is wavy. It is held together with a woollen head-band made for the purpose, or with a narrow pleated band of palm-leaf. Their hands and feet are small. Where they live in contact with the Mexicans they wear a red bandanna. Very often the men, for convenience, gather their hair at the neck, leaving off the band. Their teeth are exceptionally fine, and the canine teeth are not readily distinguished from the incisors. Beards are very rare, and if one appear, the Indian pulls it out with great care. A Their devil is always represented with a beard, and they call the Mexicans the "bearded ones.' My offer of some tobacco was once refused by a man because he feared that it would cause a beard to grow on his face because I was a bearded man. medicine-man once astonished me by having his hair cut short. When I asked him why he had done so, he said it was not good because it was old; his head would get new and good thoughts with new hair. When the hair is cut off for this reason, the head is covered with a piece of cotton-cloth to keep the man's thoughts from escaping. When they cut hair from the head because it is too long, they place it under a stone or hang it from the branch of a tree. Many of the women have surprisingly well-shaped and small bones, while the men are powerfully built. Though they are well nourished, it is rare to find a fat man. The women are more inclined toward corpulency. They are abstemious when at home, eating only twice a day. But when serving the Mexicans, they gorge themselves to illness. They generally get up at night, however, to eat and play on their homemade violins, of which music they are very fond. During half the year, when provisions are scarce, in the dry season, many of them are nearly starving and are reduced to skeletons. Nevertheless they show even then a remarkable endurance. An Indian has been known to carry a letter from Guazapares to Chihuahua and back again in five days, the distance being nearly eight hundred miles. In some parts where the Tarahumaris serve the Mexicans, they are used to run in the wild horses, driving them into the corral; it may take them two or three days to do it, sleeping at night and living on a little pinole. They bring in the horses thoroughly exhausted, while they themselves are still fresh. They will outrun any horse if you give them time enough. They will pursue deer in the snow, or with dogs, in the rain, for days and days, until at last the animal is cornered and shot with arrows, or falls an easy prey from sheer exhaustion, its hoofs dropping off. Their senses are keen, but in this respect they are not much superior to well-endowed civilized men. They certainly do not feel pain in the same degree that we do. I have taken samples of hair from the heads of more than fifty Indians, and not one seemed to mind in the slightest having thirty or forty hairs pulled out at a time. Once I pulled six hairs at a time from the head of a sleeping child, six years old, without causing the least disturbance. I asked for more, and when twentythree hairs were pulled out at once the child scratched its head, but slept on. The Tarahumaris are very fond of heat, and may often be seen lying on their backs or stomachs in the sun. Heat never seems to trouble them. I have seen young babies sleeping with uncovered heads on the backs of their mothers, exposed to the fierce heat of the summer sun. In the pine regions, where they live longer than in the barrancas, it is not infrequent to meet men and women who are at least one hundred years old. Long life is what they pray for. Old people are many; their hair is gray, but they are seldom bald. There is a peculiar, but very slight and indescribable, odor characteristic of the Tarahumari; he himself does not recognize it; but he says that the Mexican smells like a pig, and the American like coffeeboth offensive odors to him. The men hunt, make arrows and bows, rattles and rasping-sticks, used in their so-called musical performances, and till the fields. The women, besides attending to the preparation and cooking of the food, manufacture clumsy pottery, often colored red with ochre, and they show considerable skill in weaving with a primitive loom made of four sticks laid on the ground; they weave all their clothing, blankets, girdles, following six or eight typical designs, their colors being black, white, yellow, and blue. The yellow dye is made from a lichen which they call "wool of the stone," and their blue is a species of indigo. In contrast with most other savage races, these Indians are not fond of ornament. The women wear hanging ear ornaments of mother-of-pearl, and necklaces of grass seed. Tattooing is unknown. The men may chalk ornamental designs on their faces and legs at the foot-races, but few of them wear necklaces. A singular fact is that mirrors have no attraction, either for the men or women; they do not want to look at themselves. baby is left thus, in spite of its wails, for about an hour. Then the medicineman comes to "cure it," so that it may become strong and healthy, and live a long life. For this ceremony a big fire of corn-cobs, or of the branches of the mountain cedar, is made near the cross, and the baby is carried over the smoke three times toward each cardinal point, and also three times backward. The motion is first toward the east, then toward the west, then south, then north. The smoke of the corn-cobs assures him of success in agriculture. With a firebrand the medicine-man makes three crosses on the child's forehead if it is a boy, and four if a girl. The attraction of these people is their wonderful health, which may be looked upon as a matter of course in this delightful air, saturated with the aroma of pines and the intoxicating scent of countless medicinal herbs and roots. They are subject, however, to pleurisy (dolor de costado), which generally proves fatal. During my travels I met with fifteen hunchbacks and five cases of As a rule, the Tarahumari is not a harelip. Small-pox decimates them, thief, but if he thinks himself quite unand it is seldom that the disease may observed and the temptation is very not be found in some of the valleys. great, there are few who will not steal. They are, however, so prolific that there He never cheats, and is a pleasant felis rather an increase in their numbers low to deal with so far as honesty goes. than the contrary. There are more wom- He is averse, however, to selling anyen than men. The Tarahumari woman thing, and considers it a favor; in fact, is a good mother, and takes great care when you succeed in making a bargain of her children, of whom she generally with an Indian, the mere fact establishes has from six to eight, or even more, a species of brotherhood between you and she nurses them until they are and facilitates later transactions. Time three years old. A boy or girl is never for consideration is thought absolutepunished, although often scolded. If ly necessary by the Indian. To buy a a boy misbehaves, the father may re- sheep requires at least two hours. In proach him at a feast or before one of all bargains he always consults his wife, his friends, and the friend may also and even his children, and if any of talk to the culprit. The children are them, even the youngest, objects, nothvery independent, and if angry, the ing can be done. To conclude a barboy may strike his father or mother. gain about an ox may require three The daughter never goes so far, but if days. The almighty dollar has no power scolded will weep and say that she is with most of them." The Indian has no unjustly treated. need of money, or of aught that money can buy for him, and he is swayed more by persuasion than by silver. He is rich when he has three or four cattle, with some sheep and goats. The Crosus of the Tarahumaris raises from three hundred to four hundred fanagas (bushels) of corn every year. The largest flock of cattle belonging to one man does not exceed thirty or forty head. Silver Mexican dollars from outsiders are accepted in exchange for corn and other products, but among themselves a system of barter prevails. In most cases cotton-cloth is preferred to dollars. When the woman in pregnancy feels that her hour of travail has come, she ties a girdle very tight around her waist, goes away some distance and, under a tree or in a cave, bears her child alone. She remains a day or two in this place, and food is brought to her, or she returns after half a day's absence and resumes her daily duties of grinding corn on the stone, etc. The husband makes no inquiry about the baby. When three days are over the mother bathes herself, but the child is not washed until one year old. While she is bathing, she leaves the little one naked in the sun, in order that he may recognize his newly born son, and the The Tarahumari is heavy and phlegmatic. His face is devoid of expres |