The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-01-24
THEaWORTHINGToN ADAvNCE
"About half an hour. "

BY this time I had begun to repen
of my truthfulness, and, hoping tt
hold the old man in play for awhile
and inwardly trusting that the
youth had had sense enough to take
to the brush. I asked the Don what
was the matter. He broke out into 8
fierce torrent of Spanish explosives.
"The ladron! The contrabandists.'
{The Don himself had not escaped the
suspicion of the river guards on &C
count of certain transactions in mes
cal "The horse thief! He is of thai
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 Mexico from
my bunch, and never could prove it.
The cursed snugglers! And this lizard
of Guadalupe had the audacity to
come and ask me for Anita! Anita,
who will have, when l am dead. the
lands, and the sheep, and the cattle,
and the mares! Dios milo! What eff.
! 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 be fore the
coming out Of the sun, he came to the
house while l was sleeping, and Anita
look you the faithlessness of the
girl!-stole softly from the house and
met with him. Caramba, if 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
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 smugglers shoes if Mauricio
catches him.
Il say" exclaimed Hensley. who
scented an agreeable variation to cook
ing and sweeping; lets follow them.
There'll be jolly row when the old
chap comes up with them"
Every jolly, ind eed," growled Edge
worth, who knew of what the Mexican
nature is capable. Pm not yearning
ito be 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 a panoramic view of
pursuers and pursued. a thousand
yards in front of us Don Mauricio and
his man were dashing furiously along,
numerically quitting their horses;
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,
we'll knowing that once he could reach
his kinsfolk on the other side, even
fierce old Mauricio would hardly at
tempt rescue. We saw that the
chase must soon be decided in favor of
worth and had now caught some of
Hinsleys 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
in the arroyo; SO, not to be
late for the denouement, we left the
road and took a short cut across the
plain to the bluffs overlooking the
ford. 1t was only 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
it's usual width, and the water flows in
q 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 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 |
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
IF welcome of several men, who came
running down the steep path from the
corral It was at this moment that
The pursuers galloped out of the AZ
,oyo 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
,he enemy. 1t was plain that he could
,Ot ovartalxa the f11UitiveS before thew