first time I ever saw him.  He was serving on the grand jury, and I was a witness in a cattle-stealing case.  He was a stranger to me, and we had just sat down at the same table at a hotel for dinner.  We were on the point of helping ourselves, when the old Scot arose and struck the table a blow that made the dishes rattle.  ‘You heathens,’ said he, ’will you partake of the bounty of your Heavenly Father without returning thanks?’ We laid down our knives and forks like boys caught in a watermelon patch, and the old man asked a blessing.  I’ve been at his house often.  He was a good man, but Secession caught him and he never came back.  So, Quirk, you see, a son-in-law will be a handy man in the family, and with the start you made last night I hope for good results.”  The other boys seemed to enjoy my embarrassment, but I said nothing in reply, being a new man with the outfit.  We reached the ranch an hour before noon, two hours in advance of the ambulance; and the sleeping we did until sunrise the next morning required no lullaby.

CHAPTER III

LAS PALOMAS

There is something about those large ranches of southern Texas that reminds one of the old feudal system.  The pathetic attachment to the soil of those born to certain Spanish land grants can only be compared to the European immigrant when for the last time he looks on the land of his birth before sailing.  Of all this Las Palomas was typical.  In the course of time several such grants had been absorbed into its baronial acres.  But it had always been the policy of Uncle Lance never to disturb the Mexican population; rather he encouraged them to remain in his service.  Thus had sprung up around Las Palomas ranch a little Mexican community numbering about a dozen families, who lived in jacals close to the main ranch buildings.  They were simple people, and rendered their new master a feudal loyalty.  There were also several small ranchites located on the land, where, under the Mexican regime, there had been pretentious adobe buildings.  A number of families still resided at these deserted ranches, content in cultivating small fields or looking after flocks of goats and a few head of cattle, paying no rental save a service tenure to the new owner.

The customs of these Mexican people were simple and primitive.  They blindly accepted the religious teachings imposed with fire and sword by the Spanish conquerors upon their ancestors.  A padre visited them yearly, christening the babes, marrying the youth, shriving the penitent, and saying masses for the repose of the souls of the departed.  Their social customs were in many respects unique.  For instance, in courtship a young man was never allowed in the presence of his inamorata, unless in company of others, or under the eye of a chaperon.  Proposals, even among the nearest of neighbors or most intimate of friends, were always made in writing, usually by the