the Mexicans "Senor" Skinny, the cowpuncher Americano, and the Ramblin' Kid, the other vaquero from Texas and who is known by his gentle manner of speech, the dark eyes, and who smiles always, even as he did when he mastered the "Senorita Serpente" (after shooting "Lobo," who was said to be the Yaqui and who watched) after Senor Skinny had already yielded and was helpless. They too, the Americanos, as well as Padre Algonza, knew it was so.
Who, then, shall say it was false?
Not only were those who went into the house La Queratto, the fine casa, the luxurious home of Cortesana Serrano—the "Senorita Serpente"—and which was hidden among trees behind the thick walls of the court by the rock-cliff at the edge of Canyon del Seco, loathsome in their movements and the look in their eyes when they came out (if ever they came out), but even their bodies were mottled like the skin of the gila monster, or Blunt Nose, the rattlesnake, and their flesh had the odor of the reptile.
It was horrible.
"They are accursed!" Padre Algonza declared. "The breath of 'Senorita Serpente'—she with the face of an Angel and the passion of a fiend—has been blown into their mouths! Their souls have been withered! No more are they men. They are snakes!"
Even so, no Senorita in all Socorro was so bewitching, so hard to resist, as was Cortesana Serrano, the "Senorita Serpente."
Men followed eagerly after Cortesana Serrano.
From where she came was not told—only this: it was from the South. Some said she was Aztecca, others said she was Tolteci—and all agreed that Cortesana Serrano was most beautiful and lived alone with the old watchman called "Lobo," said to be a Yaqui, at the casa La Queratto.
Wise men, even, sought Cortesana Serrano and died—or went mad—in the embrace of the "Senorita Serpente!"
First, there was Francisco Trevino; he came from Mazapata—very handsome—a captain with the soldiers of Comandante Garcia. From the moment he saw the "Senorita Serpente," smiling from the doorway of the dance place kept by the big one, she who smokes mirrihuana, and is called "Old Bonanza," Captain Trevino was under the spell. That night they went to the casa La Queratto. Pietro Gonzales, who tends the goat-herds of Don Alvardo, saw them go in.
For two days after that neither "Senorita Serpente" or Captain Trevino were seen. What happened in the house behind the high walls has not been said, but there were sounds—like the wind in the dry branches of a yucca that is dead, or the noises that come from the small caves under the basalt cliff where many snakes are known to have dens.
The third day Captain Trevino was found, half way between the casa La Queratto and the cantina El Merino—crawling on his stomach in the dirt of the road! He could not speak, he could not stand, he could only squirm in the dust with the undulating motion of the reptile. From his throat there came hissing, and his face and body were spotted like Blunt Nose, and his flesh had the smell of the serpent.
That night he died.
PADRE ALGONZA tried hard, but could get from Captain Trevino no look of undertanding, nor a word to tell what had been done.
"Senorita Serpente," that night also, came again to the ranchito in Socorro; her black eyes were brighter, her red lips were warmer, her dancing more sinuous and inviting, and her laughter more seductive than ever!
Two there were then who did not come back.
One, a Gringo—his hair was the color of straw—came to San Bendito because of the mines and was going, next day, to Los Oro, where the copper ledges are worked; instead, that night with "Senorita Serpente," he went to the casa La Queratto. Never again was he seen.
The second night "Senorita Serpente" once more was at the fandango at Old Bonanza's.
Then it was Manuel Valencia, son of Don Julio, very rich. Manuel danced three times with "Senorita Serpente" in Old Bonanza's after which the two left together.
Two days later Manuel was discovered. crouching against the wall of the cantina El Merino, his head swaying from side to side like a snake that is watching to strike. From his throat came the hissing, his face was blotched and hideous, his eyes were the eyes of a demon, and the odor from his mouth was the odor of the gila monster—the reptile diablo.
Padre Algonza worked all day and part of the night, but could not save the son of Don Julio.
Again "Senorita Serpente," who had been gone for two days and two nights, appeared, more fascinating than ever, at the ranchito in Socorro—yet, in her eyes at times there was a look that could not be understood. It was a mingling of recklessness, of horror, of dread.
AFTER ONE NIGHT at the casa La Queratto, Jose Santoyez, brother of Pablo, was found trying to hide under the bench by the great palm at the corner of the fonda. His head only was sticking out, and when anyone came near he hissed at them like the poison viper, and he also was mottled and smelled the same as the others—as does a venomous serpent.
Pablo, with the help of Padre Algonza, got Jose in a box and sent him to Hermorillo, and to this day he is there, in the place where they keep those that are mad—still acting as he did when they found him.
"Senorita Serpente" came after that to Old Bonanza's, and though she laughed and danced and her charms were greater, if anything, than before; it could be seen in her soul was a weight—a sadness she dared not make known.
Senor Skinny and th' Ramblin' Kid came then to Socorro.
There was to be the Celebration Porfiro. A great time was to be held. For one thing, there was the bull-fight. Stebano Venustanio, bravest matador in all San Bendito, was to kill the black bull, "El Toro Satan" they called him, because already he had gored several horses and was famous for the sharpness of his horns and the wicked manner of his fighting.
Coming from the Rancho del Snake, where they guarded the cattle, th' Ramblin' Kid warned Senor Skinny:
"It is not necessary always for a man to be th' fool—" th' Ramblin' Kid, sitting on the little roan stallion, told Senor Skinny, "—on this trip—leave th' senoritas alone!"
Senor Skinny laughed.
"If a cowpuncher can’t fall in love once in a while," he answered, lightly, "wat the hell is the use of bein' alive!"
"If a cowpuncher does, as you say, 'fall in love once in a while'—under certain conditions—" th' Ramblin' Kid replied significantly, "—especially in th' country we're goin' to now—"
"Don’t be so darned mysterious!" Senor Skinny cried gaily, "love is love wherever it happens—"
"—he won’t be alive!" th' Ramblin’ Kid finished.
Senor Skinny looked superior tolerance at his slender, dark-eyed companion. Once more Senor Skinny laughed, very joyously, and, as was his habit when thinking of the ladies, he broke into song:
"Oh, the buzzards watch th' carcass—
While the coyotes whine an' yell:
But Old Skinny loves a Maiden—
And he'll follow her to hell!"
