The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-10-02
THE WHITE DEVIL.
A Mexican Superstition and It's
Interesting Origin.

One day as the freight train running
from San Francisco to San Jose rum
bled around the curve just outside of
the city of San Jose, white horse
sprang on the track and raced down to-
ward the town in front of the engine.
For Il mile the train did not gain on
him. then the unequal footing of the
cross ties and the pace began to tell
on the white stced, and the engine
crept slowly up to him. The engineer
gave a few shrielIs OF the whistle to
scare the horse from the track, but he
kept right on in front, running with
the speed of a racer, with his long tail
streaming in a straight line behind
him.
The engineer saw a stock gap in
front half mile away. and again
pulled the whistle. The horse simply
let out a few links and went on The
engineer got mad. He pulled the
throttle open and went after the white
phantom. ut Il thirty -milcs-an-hOur clip.
He was 4 bare hundred feet behind the
horse when the animal rcacho d the
stock gap and plunged in among the
open ties and fcE. The pilot struck
him, ground the life out of him in an
instant and then plowcd into the dirt
on the opposite side of the track. The
engineer swore n few choice oaths and
jnmped out of the cab. The horse was
as dead as door nail and the engine
had left the rails.
Another suit for the company"
said the conductor as he came up.
How did you do it, Jim?"
''Oh. | don't know" answered Jim in
rot fnaA
track and just stayed there till l struck
him. lie was possessed of the devil, l
guess"
They had to send to San Jose for the
wrccl5iur engine TO put the train back
on the rail, and while they were wait
ing Mexican rode along the road be-
side the track. He pulled up his bron-
cho To sec the wreck.
''Caramba, senor," he exclaimed,
+-1rning pale and trembling, 1T es
Vasquez horse" And ne mounted ms
pony as quickly as possible and sped
off down the road.
WHO the deuce is Vasquez?" asked
Jim. From the way that Greaser got
n push on himself you'd think we'd
killed n ghost"
''If that's Vasquez' horse as the
Greaser said, you have killed Mexi-
can ghost" said the conductor, and he
mixed over and looked at the dead an
i.nul living under the front wheels of
he engine.
II was Vasquez' horse. The whole
cof0try knew it the next day He was
.venty years old and totally blind
- hen he met his death in front of the
freight train, and for ten years had
roamcd over the unoccupied land about
the lower part of Santa Clara county
free as a bird and feared by the Mcxi-
cans more than Il lion. He was called
by them the white devil" and it was
their belief that he was possessed of
soul mortgaged to the evil one-the soul
of Vasqucz 1t is strange tale that
the old Mexican mothers tell of this
white horse.
Vasquez was the most noted bandit
of the early days of California. He
bade defiance to the law, eluded the de
tectives and searching parties for years
and killed and robbed half hundred
men. He roamed over the state of Cal
ifornia from the north to the south,
leaving desolation and death in his
wake. He surrounded himself with =
band of desperate Me Xicans and ter
rorized entire communi ties Lone trav-
elers by day and by night were stopped
on the road and relieved of their cash
and often of their lives. \ quiet viii
lage in the San Joaquin valley would
be awakened at the dead of night by
the rush of sounding hoof-beats
Timid men would pull the covers about
their heads and shiver. Next day the
principal store in the place would be
found open, the safe robbed. valuable
goods taken. and the guardian. if it had
any, dead with bullet in his head or a
knife wound in his heart. NaSquez had
been there.
One day the stage was rattling down
the road from one of the mountain
mines. The Wells-Fargo box was
heavy with bullion and half "A dozen
armed guards sat in the coach The
driver sat on the box with a Winchester
between his knees and chatted with
another guard who sat beside him bal
ancing a shotgun across his lap. They
were talking of Vasquez- ''They say
he alters rides white horse and
dresses like n dandy" said the driver
"Wish't he'd jump ther gun-site stage
onct when the boys is aboard
Two hOrSemen dressed in the tinseled
NJ ,.ican cavalier costume rounded a
turn IN the road just in front of the
stage and came riding toward it One
of them bestrode a white horse. They
cantered up. The man on the white
horse went TO the RIGHT and his com
panion to the left of the stage. Sud-
denly they refined up.
Pardon, senor, will the senor give
me light for me cigarette?"
The driver good-naturedly pulled up
and leaned over from his seat with the
big cigar which he was smoking ex-
tended between his fingers. He was
net with snap shot straight in the
brain and tumbled headlong into the
lust. At the same instant the guard
urched and fell forward under the
horses with ball in his forehead A
io2en men sprang from the under
brush beside the road and showed the +!
nuzzles of their rifles through the
stage door on either side.
Taken by surprise, not n weapon was