BarbarousMexico JOHN KENNETH TURNER

IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH 103
plained the foreman. "See! The wood is like leather.
With this cane I can beat twenty men to death and yet
it will be good for twenty more F'
In the slave kitchen of the same ranch we found two
girls of seventeen, both with refined and really beautiful
faces, grinding corn. Though their boss, Pla, stood
menacingly by, each dared to tell her story briefly. One,
from Leon, State of Guanajuato, declared that the "labor
agent" had promised her fifty pesos per month and a
good home as cook in a small family, and when she
discovered that all was not right it was too late; the
ruraics compelled her to come along. The other girl was
from San Luis Potosi. She had been promised a good
home and forty pesos a month for taking care of two
small children!
Wherever we went we found the houses full of fine
furniture made by the slaves.
"Yes," explained Antonio Pla, "some of the best artisans
in the country come right here—in one way or
another. We get carpenters and cabinet-makers and
upholsterers and everything. Why, on my ranches I've
had teachers and actresses and artists and one time I
even had an ex-priest. I had one of the most beautiful
actresses in the country one time, right here on 'Hondura
de Nanche.' She was noted, too. How did she
get here? Simple enough. A son of a millionaire in
Mexico City wanted to marry her and, to get her out
of the way, the millionaire paid the authorities a good
price to kidnap her and give her to a labor agent. Yes,
sir, that woman was a beauty!"
"And what became of her?" I asked.
"Oh." was the evasive reply. "That was two years
ago!"
Truly, two years is a long time in Valle Nacional,