The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-11-22


his question gave me no time to eouiv-
ocate, and before had realized what
had done had answered that we had
seen such couple as he described
How far were they ahead?'
About half an hour
The ladronl The contrabandists
(The Don himself had not escaped the
suspicion of the river guards on ac-
count of certain transactions IN mes
cali THE horse thief! He is IF that
tribe of smuggling scoundrels who
live on the other side of the great
corral below the ford of the white
rocks The bribones! Many a fine
mare have they driven to Mexic, from
my bunch, and l never could prove it.
The cursed smugglers! And this lizard
of a Guadalupe had the audac tv to
come and ask me for Anita! Anita.
who will have, when l am deed. the
lands, and the sheep, and the cattle.
and the mares! Dios milo! What eff
frontery l told him I would kid him
or any of his cursed kin that ever
dared tread my ground again. But
early this morning, an hour before the
coming out of the sun, he came to the
| house while ! was sleeping, and Anita
look you the faithlessness of the
| girI!-stole softly from the house and
met with him. Caramba, if | catch him!
Jose, here, who had got up to1et,out
| the goats from the corral, saw them
go and told me, and we mounted and
| followed. But we lose time. Vamono,
Jose! adois, senores"
And he was off in a whirlwind of
dust and profanity.
Well" said Edgeworth after a
pause. 81 shouldn t care to be in that
young smuggler's shoes if Mauricio
catches him"
Il say exclaimed Hensley, who
scented an agreeable varia ton to cook
ing and sweeping; lets follow them.
There'll be jolly row when the old
chap comes up with them"
Very jolly, indeed" rowled Edge
worth, who knew of what the Mexican
nature is capable. I'm not yearning
to be a witness in the next term of
court"
| But the kid" was off at a gallop
and there was nothing for it but to
| follow him. In a few minutes we
reached our fence; the gate through
which the road ran was wide open
under ordinary circumstances an I'M
| forgiving neglect-and in the open
country beyond, which had been
stripped of its mesquite by Mexican
woodmen, we had panoramic view of
pursuers and pursued. A thousand
yards in front of us Don Mauricio and
his man were dashing furiously along,
numerically quirting their horses: a
mile or more in advance o. them on
trail that swung off to the right tow
ards the river and which we knew led
to the ford of the white rocks, little
cloud of dust marked the course of the
| gallant Guadalupe and his bride. He
was making a bold push for safety,
we'll knowing that once he could reach
his kinsfolk on the other side, even
fierce old Mauricio would hardly at
tempt a rescue. We saw that the
chase must soon be decided in favor of
one party or the other, and as Edge
worth and l had now caught seine of
Hinsleys curiosity, we all pushed for
ward at a lively rate Ito be in," as
Hinsley jocularly remarked, "at the
death"
The Rio Bravo del Norte, as the
Mexicans call the Rio Grande, has here
cut a channel for itself seventy feet
below the surrounding country, and
the trail along which the smuggler
was flying came down to the water
! . l,
or gorges that open upon the river.
| Don Mauricio had already turned into
the trail as Guadalupe and the girl dis
appeared in the arroyo; so, not to be
late for the denouement, we left the
road and took short cut across the
plain to the bluffs overlooking the
ford. 1t was only a few minutes gal
lop, and when we refined up and looked
down at the scene below us this is
what we saw:
The river here widens out to twice
its usual width, and the water flows in
a thin sheet over rifle that runs up
stream at an angle with our shore. Be-
low the rifle the channel sharply con-
tracts again, and the water, massed
| together, boils in swift, rough rapids
to q smooth stretch of stream several
hundred yards below. Upon the Mex
lean shore, at the other end of the
rifle, was a great corral. with numer-
GUS huts clustered near it. the home of
Guadalupe. Midway of the rifle were
several large, whitish rocks, from
which the ford got it's name, and it
was at these that the runaways had
arrived as we reached the bluff and
took in the scene One hundred yards
more and Guadalupe would land his
prize, and he was now triumphantly
waving his hat in answer to the shouts
of welcome of several men, who came
running down the steep path from the
corral 1t was at this moment that
the pursuers galloped out of the ar
royo and rushed into the rifle, and |
thought from the headlong fury with
| which the old Don sperred his horse
through the water that in his rage he
intended storming the very camp of
the enemy. 1t was plain that he could
not overtake the fugitives before they
reached the Mexican shore, and felt
veryS much inclined to give the bold
smuggler cheer for his gallantry,
when Edgeworth suddenly cried out in
strange, sharp voice:
Great God, he's going to shoot.
Surely the old scoundrel won't"
L1,r.,,--,.4l ~