While Florence was drinking, Jo Ann heard a snapping of twigs near by. She wheeled about and, peering through the bushes, saw two small boys gathering wood. One of them was bent over by the weight of a large bundle of the wood, held in place on his back by a rope passed across his forehead; the other was chopping sticks with a machete, a long heavy knife. At first glance Jo Ann thought they must be twins, as they were dressed alike in the loose white trousers and blouse worn by the peon.
A few minutes later the boys stepped back into the narrow trail, but on seeing the girls they quickly moved to one side to let them pass.
With a smile, Florence greeted the boys with the customary salutation, “buenos tardes.” Their little brown faces under their frayed straw sombreros grinned back at the girls as they returned the greeting; then they turned and went on down the trail.
As soon as they were out of sight Jo Ann exclaimed, “That’s the first blue-eyed Mexican I’ve seen! I didn’t know they ever had blue eyes.”
“They don’t! What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you notice that one of those boys had dark-blue eyes?”
“No.”
“Well, he did.”
“They were both dressed alike, and dirty and ragged. All I noticed was how frail-looking the one was who had the bundle of wood on his back. I couldn’t help wondering why the other boy, who looked stronger, didn’t take part of the load.”
“That’s the one with the blue eyes. Do they belong to the family at the goat ranch?”