The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-05-25
NUMBER q.
A MEXICAN ADVENTURE.
Story OF an Encounter with a
Gentlemanly Bandit

ago secured rich gold prospects in th,.
foothills of the Sierra Madres. in the
state of Durango, Mexico, suddenly
discontinued their active plans To de
velop those prospects, and after a lapse
of about year as suddenly resumed
operations. There was, at the time. a
mystery about this ficilleness of pro-
ecdure which bafiled the a~sayist who
aSSayed the samples from the prospects
and found them To he of remarkable
richness; and when. after this interval
of year. thn mines We're fully de
vcloped and operated with immense
profit, the general mining public was at
Il loss To understand just why this in
terim of inactivity had been allowed to
clapse. Certainly it was not for lack
of capital. for the company had mil
lions at its command, nor WAS IL from
any desire To speculate, for II rcsolute-
ly refused the most tempting offers Tor
its prospects
Not long since. at his solitary camp
fire in the Black hills. / spent night
in company with the mining engineer
who hal been sent to Mexico in charge
of the inItiatory operations for this
New York company
He was habi'ualiy as uncommunica-
tive as a chunk of quartz. bat l had
overtallen him when his supply of to-
bacco had been out for the space of a
lay, and l was fortunately able To sup
ply him with his favoritc cut: therefore
his lips were unScalcd. and as he pulled
the soothing leaf he related the history
of his apparently futile Mexican ex-
petition, which give. a nearly as may
be, in his own words:
My first business. after arriving in
Mexico. was to secure competent
gnide and servant and animals, pro-
cecd To the prospects, secure extensive
specimens of the mineral, and forward
them, along with my report. To the
company at New York. If my findings
We're favorable. | was promised that
the word would be speedily sent back
to push extensive developments, OF
which | was To have fun charge
Il was fortunate enough to secure as
a guide gruff. hardy old chap. who
went by the name of Sassy sam Al
most his whole life had been spent on
the plains a United States govern
ment scout
we made the journey to the pros
poets without accident or incident
worth mentioning The prospects
were far more fiattering than had an
llclpaItti. ana we SI@lrlGl BdCh To- the
outskirts of civilization with pockets
and pack saddles full of fine spcci-
mems
just before crossing the Sierra de Ia
Candida range my horse stumbled on
sharp stone and bruised itself suf-
ficienIly to cause a severe lameness-
This necessitated nv walking much
of the way over the range. which was
rough and prcciritous. Whenever / was
compelled to dismount in order To spell
my disa blcd horse Sassy Sam followed
suit and kept me company on foot
I'VE had scaled the ridge of the range
and were beginning to descend the
homeward side of the decline, having
fallen probably about mile behind the
mounted Mexican servants
Our rifles were balanced over the
knobs OF our sad lies. and we were
pIodding along in silence, drinking in
the magnificent view OF scenery which
stretched away on every hand. when
suddenly my guide gave a low eXcla-
nation of surprise
u glanced up in time To see a couple
of uniformed Mexicans step into the
trail a few rods in front of Us, and
cover Us with their rifles
Their uniforms at once suggested 10
me a hopeful possibility Were they
not the revenue patrols OF the Mexican
government. who suspected US of being
smugglers?
Il whispered in English my hopes to
Sam, but he shook his head with a
hanr-dng, defeated air, and sententious-
ly replied:
They're ContrereS' men. Hes the
biggest bandit in the range. But I've
"A powerful notion to try fling at en-
Ia ruthcr be shot in AN uneven fight
than To- be stripped. tied to a tree and
left to- be chawed up piece-meal by
mountain lions and coyotes
''IIe was on the point of opening a
spirited conversation with the 'Grcas-
ers,' in verification of his nickname,
when i summarily silenced him, and
asked him to remain passive and trust
to me To see ourselves out of the Scrapc
by stratagem-of what sort | had not
the slightest idea
However, as our interceptors. keep
ing US under cover of their carbines,
conducted us down the trail. l still
chcri bed the hope that Sassy sam
was in error, and that we were in the
hands of government agents instead OF
Contrcrcs. the bandit
But a sharp turn in the trail, which
brought us in view OF ravine below.
speedily dispelled that illusion. for
there were our Mexican servants.
stripped To the skin, while their cloth
ing was being rummaged by groupof
highV aymen-
I'm marching the intervening dis
tance did more doui,le-dis:illed think
ing than had done in the whole jour
ncy before might say in my whole
life-but to no avail; for. think as l
might, all plausible plans of escape
eluded me with fatal pcrversity. and
as we were marched up To the group of
men was about giving up all hope OF
connecting scheme of escape. and
wished that we had followed Sans
reckless impulse and made bold break
for liberty while we had only couple
of captors to deal with, instead OF 4
score of them
I'VE halted, and a tall, athletic,
handsome young fellow stepped from
the posse and called out:
- strip
Il confess that the fellows imperi-
ous but almost Indifferent manner. as
he gave the brief command, crossed his
legs, leaned the tip of hIs elbow against
the perpendicular face of the mountain.
ana rested his left hand @ the knot Of
his rich saIl;',o ztrdpc, while his right
hand toyed with the jeweled hilt of ais
cWcAillO. inspired me with a desir., to
accommodate him as quickly as possi-
bic. and my hands sought my vest bnt-
tons with spontancous obedience.
knocking my knucklcs soundly against
the specimens of quartz, with which
nv every pocket WAS bulrinrr