The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-11-08
.-rne ladrom Tne contran.ndists.,

| tine UOn nlESelf had not escaped the
suspicion of the river guards on &C
count of certain transactions in mes
cal THE horse thief! He is of 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 fine
mare have they driven to Mexico from
my bunch, and I never could prove it
The cursed smugglers! And this lizard
of a Guadalupe had the audacity to
come and ask me for Anita. Anita,
| who will have, when / am dead. the
lands, and the sheep, and the cattle,
and the mares! Dios mio! What ef'
| frontery! / told him | would kill 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
! girll-stole softly from the house and
! met with him. Caramba, Il ! catch him.
! Jose, here. who had got up to let out
| the goats from the corral, saw them
! go and told me, and we mounted and
1 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. II shouldn't care to be in that
young smuggler's shoes if Mauricio
catches him"
81 say" exclaimed Hensley, who
scented an agreea bic variation to cook
ing and sweeping; lets follow them.
There'll be a jolly row when the old
chap comes up with them"
"Very jolly, indeed" growled Edge
worth, who knew of what the Mexican
nature is capable. '1'm not yearning
to be a witness in the next term Of
court"
But the kid" was off at 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 un-
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 of 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,
well knowing that once he could reach
his kinsfolls 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 had now caught some of
Hinsley's curiosity, we all pushed for
ward at 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 channel for itself seventy feet
below the surrounding country, and
the trail along which the smuggler
was flying came down to the water
through one of the numerous arroyos
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 few minutes gal
lop, and when we reined 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
60 a smooth stretch of stream several
hundred yards below. Upon the Mex
acan shore, at the other end of the
rifle, was 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 its 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 bis hat in answer to the shouts
of welcome of several men, who came
~ he ath frnr~1 fhA
corral It 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 spurred 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 l felt
a cheer for his gallantry.
when Edgeworth suddenly cried out in
s strange, sharp voice:
Great God, he's going to shoot
Surely the old scoundrel won't"
Edgeworth never finished the sem
tence. Mauricio had suddenly stopped
his horse, jerked his rifle from its
scabbard es ne rose in his stirrups. and
before our tongues could frame shout
OF warming we saw the blue smoke
spurt from the levelled barrel, and
quick following the report there broke
upon our cars the awful scream of a
woman in agony. We saw the horse
by the white rocks rear and Olu0pe
and then dash with empty saddle to