The morning call., 1893-06-07

! the lookout. Leaving our horses secured
in the timber we followed the captain, and
amushed ourselves, four on either side of
the road, among the rocks and underbrush.
Here. keeping well under cover. we could
see up and down the road for nearly two
miles in either direction, for our captain
| had chosen a place where the road, after
cim bing steep hill by tortuous grade,
was level for only few yards at the
summit before plunging downward into
| deep CANYON.
Far down in the direction of the mine,
though of course the mine itself was not
| visible, being over two leagues distant, we
| could see the team approaching. 1t was
drawn by four animals, and as it came
nearer we noted that the animals were
mules and that the wagon held four men
besides the driver. Nearer yet. and we
knew that the four men sitting behind
were white and the driver was a Mexican.
was sorry for the latter for had met him
and been quite friendly with him at the
mine the day before. But the captains
orders were strict. We were to kill every
one. as only by so doing could we hope to
succeed in our plan for keeping the gold
after we had obtained it. | felt glad, how
| ever, that | was not to be among the first
to shoot. Five were to shoot first at a given
signal, each picking his man. while the
captain. myself and another we're to re-
serve our fire in case the first yolley should
not be fatal to all the victims.
NcdICl CdlIlc lllo " dEUn, llIo JlIbl0 Ill uItS
| struggling up the steep grade, and now we
could distinctly see the faces of the men.
l recognized one tall. pOwerful-looking
man, with long beard, as the superinten-
| dent himself. and his son was beside him.
ALI were well armed. bnt they did notloOk
as though they expected 10 have any Occa-
sion to use their weapons. For a few Min
utes they passed from our sight under the
| brow of the hill, but we knew, as we
knelt breathlessy in the brush, that these
! five men were slowly approaching their
death. Now the heads of the mules ap-
peared as they neared the summit-a few
more turns of the wheels and the wagon
was on the level, and then-a whistle-a
rattliDg discharge of rifles, and all was
still. The mules had halted at the volley,
and were breathing hard from the heavy
pull, and as we waited in our cover for
sign of life from the victims, the only
sound we heard was the drip. drip of the
blood from the wag0n-beQ. During those
few moments | remember that | was gaz-
ing with kind of fascination at the hid
eous grin on the face of the driver, who
had fallen forward, with both arms and
head hanging over the dashboard. A ball
had struck him In one eye. and had taken
part of the top of his head off, but the
other eye was open and glaring horribly.
The captain stepped out of cover and
| advanced to the wagon, while we all fol-
lowed. The four men behind had been
seated facing each other, aud had fallen
forward from their seats. They were
piled together in the bottom OF the wagon
bed, a CHASTITY heap. But we were after
gold. not dead bodies, and two of the band,
climbing into the wagon, dumped the un-
slightly corpses into the road one on top
of another. When the last corpse was
thrown out there lay the gold at the bot
tom-a huge lump in the shape of sugar.
loaf standing nearly foot high, but so
covered with the lifeblood of the men that
| Ill - / t.NIs H.
metal beneath. With its red cOne-shaped
mass it resembled great CORY heart torn
| from some monster larger than an ele-
phant. Some of the band crossed them
selves on seeing 1t, muttering that blood
on gold portended bad luck.
'Just then, while the captain was ours
ing them for set of superstitous fools,
and declaring that they need not claim
their share II they were afraid of 1t, the
mules, becoming frantic at the smell of
blood. before any one could spring to their
heads, dashed forward with the wagon
over the brow of the bill. Instinctively
wa raised our rifles to stop them in their
! headlOng course. but an instant later we
| saw it was unnecessary. At the begin
| ming of the descent the road swerved to
the right along the steep hillside, the
| ground ,sloping off rapidly on the left side
| for 20 feet 10 the brow of a precipice. In
making this turn at full speed the animals
! swung the wagon off the edge of the grade
on to the abrupt slope, and, in less time
! than it takes to describe it, wagon. harness,
mules. together with the dead body of the
| driver, were piled In An ineXtrlcabie mass
among the powders Of Ia mountain torrent
! 60 feet below.
"On first leaving the road the wagon
| had upset and dumped the lump OF gold on
to the yielding soil Of the slope 1t lay
half embedded where 1t fell, and as we
gathered around it some OF the supersti-
tious ones again started back in horror.
for all that was visible was Il red cross
lying nearly fat upon the ground tilted
slightly toward US. But the mystery was
easily explained. The cross was merely
framework, on which the heavy bullion
could be more easily handled while in
transit. 1t was formed of two planks,
each two feet in length, spiked together in
the form OF cross. and, as four of us put
our united strength to two OF the ends we
had TO strain hard to turn it over, for the
cone-shaped mass of gold was still firmly
attached to the lower side. aDd striking
the ground where it FELL before the frame
work, it half buried itself. 1t had been
set on its base at the intersection of the
two planks. and firmly bound to its place
by thong alter thong OF green rawhide
that continually contracted as it dried.
This was a great inconvenience to US,
! and while four of the men were dispatched
TO lead up the horses and secure the arms
and other valuables that were now of no
| uoO W huc flCllllo iu lOp VI ILt NIL, LU6
remaining four laid hold OF the four ends
Of the framework, and struggling up the
| few yards OF steep slope, set it down in
the center of the roadway. Here, when
the horses had arrived. we spread num-
! ter of saddle-hankets around an 0pen
| space about two feet square, and with a
| pick and shovel that had been brought
along as part Of the captains plan. we
soon had hole dug about two feet in
depth, into which, using two riataS, we
! lowered the treasure, framework and ALL
All the earth that we had taken from the
excavation had been carefully placed on
the outspread blankets, and now, after re-
| filling and carefully stamping the hole. we
carried the remainder of the earth to a
little distance and scattered it over the
bank. Our treasure was safe. for no one
would ever look for it there.
NOW, muchachosp said the captain,
our work is done. For three or four
months we will operate in another part of
the country. and when it is all forgotten
we Will come back some day with a wagon
and carry away our gold. Vamanos, be-
fore six months are passed we shall all be
rich men, So saying he vaulted into his
saddle, and we followed his example. But
before leaving the spot we rode back and
forth at gallop up and down the road to
oDliterate all trace of our work.
"a month later, while operating in a
distant part Of the State, we were sur
prised one evening while in camp by
large body of soldiers. Most of MS were
drunk with meScal, as we had Just re-