THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 85 



maybe in common with some of my whiter neigh- 

 bors that the Sefiora is an Easy Mark, Manuel 

 shuffled his feet in the dust, looking- silly and sheep- 

 ish. Now Manuel being the homeliest man in New 

 Mexico sheepishness is not becoming to his peculiar 

 style. 



"Well, don't do that any more. Come, and let 

 me take your picture! One of our healthseekers 

 wants it." 



Ignorant of the motive for that desire Manuel 

 grinned approvingly, and for a period of weeks left 

 my water gates severely alone. But the day arrived 

 when, as mentioned above, they had to be chained. 

 Yet Manuel is no common thief. 



Having alluded earlier in this chapter to the num- 

 ber of volunteer or drafted Mexicans who could 

 neither speak, read nor write English, it is but fair 

 to take note of the proposed attack by Congress "up- 

 on the national disgrace of illiteracy" — an illiteracy 

 which is far from being confined to aliens, nor even 

 to certain sections. Many of the illiterates are 

 nativeborn whites, a fact long familiar to me, per- 

 sonally, but disregarded in the waving of flags and 

 shouting of shibboleths. Training camps have dis- 

 closed much, very much, that is lacking in our so- 

 called educational methods ; the wonder is that such 

 disclosures were necessary? For not only is il- 

 literacy revealed, but the vital necessity for "a 

 broader policy of public education" — so that, in 

 fact, it may be worthy of the name Education and 

 cease to stand complacently beneath the poor little 



