IN THE OLD WEST 293 



sweethearts. And now, when the room is filled to 

 crowding, with two hundred people swearing, 

 drinking, dancing, and shouting the half-dozen 

 Americans monopolizing the fair, to the evident 

 disadvantage of at least threescore scowling Pela- 

 dos, it happens that one of these, maddened by 

 whisky and the green-eyed monster, suddenly seizes 

 a fair one from the waist-encircling arm of a moun- 

 taineer, and pulls her from her partner. Wagh! 

 La Bonte it is he stands erect as a pillar 

 for a moment, then raises his hand to his mouth 

 and gives a ringing war-whoop jumps upon the 

 rash Pelado, seizes him by the body as if he were a 

 child, lifts him over his head, and dashes him with 

 the force of a giant against the wall. 



The war, long threatened, has commenced; 

 twenty Mexicans draw their knives and rush upon 

 La Bonte, who stands his ground, and sweeps them 

 down with his ponderous fist, one after another, as 

 they throng around him. " Howgh-owgh-owgh- 

 owgh-h ! " the well-known war-whoop, bursts from 

 the throats of his companions, and on they rush 

 to the rescue. The women scream, and block the 

 door in their eagerness to escape; and thus the 

 Mexicans are compelled to stand their ground 

 and fight. Knives glitter in the light, and quick 

 thrusts are given and parried. In the center of 

 the room the whites stand shoulder to shoulder, 

 covering the floor with Mexicans by their stalwart 

 blows ; but the odds are fearful against them, and 



