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Chapter 2 My Arrival in Houston: Where My Check-Times Were Paid with Pure Solid Gold
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Chapter2 My Arrival in Houston Where My Check-Times Were Paid with Pure Solid Gold A s soon as I was well situated in that luxurious special train, I meditated on all that had happened to me. It all seemed like a dream or something that I had read in the story of A Thousand and One Nights. I remembered that it was only a few hours ago that I was forced to get off that freight train by that cruel African brakeman, and now I was walking very peacefully and happily toward the place of my golden dreams, Houston! What had really happened? Multiple thoughts danced in my mind and left me stunned and confused: my arrival at the blessed home where my mysterious little woman lived, her uneasiness when she saw all my unpaid receipts, her interest in my plight, and her urging her husband to take me to where I could catch the special train. She created quite a commotion in that house while trying hard to help her husband speedily remove his work clothes, removing his boots, his chaps, his spurs, and whatever else there was to remove. While he was dressing up in his clean shirt and fresh suit, she was shining his shoes, brushing his hat; meanwhile, it was also necessary to harness the team of horses to the buggy. All of those things were running through my mind, and my thoughts were so many that they were crowding one another, causing me to become sentimental and to feel great admiration and gratitude that emerged from the deepest part of my soul. Even the black woman entered my mind as she went hurriedly to the chicken coop to gather that bucketful of eggs—and everything was done because of me! Oh, noble souls, may God bless you! At that moment I was thanking the good Lord with all my heart for having led me to those noble hearts who deserved my admiration and praise! But I felt really sorry that I was beginning to travel away from them and would not have an opportunity to prove to them that I was not an ungrateful man. But at every moment I was getting farther away from them and did not know whether I would ever see them again. At 1:15 that afternoon the train arrived in Houston. What a pleasure! I was elated that I was finally going to be paid! As I got off the train, a friend of mine, Desiderio Pérez, was already waiting for me. We had worked together for the same company, but he had been ordered to go to San Antonio a few days before that swindler took all our money—the cheat who perhaps arrived in México City early the next morning with four thousand dollars belonging to more than fifty employees. Mysteriously , I escaped the trickery that you readers are already familiar with. My Arrival in Houston 51 Main Street, Houston, Texas, looking south, late 1880s, the place of Luis Gómez’s “golden dreams.” Courtesy of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library. [54.146.97.79] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 15:23 GMT) From the railroad station, my friend Desiderio and I walked to where the paying car was parked. My friend Pérez entered before I did, and he immediately announced that they were calling out for “Mr. L. G. Gómez, payer for the company for more than two years.” “Mr. Gómez,” said the payer, “we have been calling for you for the last three days.” “Yes, sir,” I answered, “but it was impossible for me to be here sooner.” “Do you have your paperwork ready?” “Yes, sir,” I answered as I took out all of the documents from my wallet and gave them to him. He took them and spread them out over his account book. Then he opened the safety box, which was to his right, pulled out a canvas bag, and opened it. He then counted out ten ounces of gold coins valued at $20 each (paper money was not in circulation in those days), then ten coins worth $10 each, and ten more coins worth $5 each. Then he gave me $25 in silver, which made a total of $375. At last, thanks to the helping hand of my mysterious petite woman, I was now a rich man! The payer counted all of the money for me, and then he asked me to please...