Evening star., 1897-05-15
THE LATE
ERACuO SOILS, H|GHWAYMAN,
BY JOHN HEARD, JR.
Written for The Evening Star.
lCopyrightedD

J Written for The Evening Star.
lCopyrighted)
Among the many odd tribes which ]
have brought home from my travels is a
little gold bell the table before me
row. 1t was given to me some years age
as a souvenir by the only highwayman II
has been my chance to meet. and often
since then l have wondered what had be-
come of the interesting rascal to whom i.
belonged.
a few days ago / received a letter from
a friend in Mexico telling of mis- death.
How vividly 1t recalled our interview, In
the spring of 1884. l obliged to take
the tedious journey from Alamos to Mazat-
Ian. in the traditional stage coach-a pic
ituresque experience to remember. but an
agony of five nights and four days to en-
dure. At the time / chafed over the slow
progress Of our civilization. which forced
me to travel In a restless, tin-sheathed
wooden box: but today the perspective has
changed. and look upon the geographical
limitations of Yankee enterprise with a
decided feeling of satisfaction. There are
still some things to do that everybody has
not done; some sights that cannot be had
for the price of ticket. some men to
meet outside of offices and clubs
Eraclio Soils was one of these men. He
belonged to species unknown to the
railroad freighted Philstine. who naively
believes that lie is travelling. Two genera
tions hence the race of such men as Eraclio
will be extinct
years ne a more important factor in
the government of northwestern Mexico
than all the state governors combined. In
spite of detachment of cavalry stationed
in the neighborhood of Soy Hornitos. Era
clio held up every alternate stage coach.
within a mile. more or less. of the same
place. The soldiers always arrived upon
the scene a few minutes after his band
had 6iGar rod md yEh hoy q
corted the coach II was sure to be attacked
as soon as their protection was deemed
no longer necessary.
When we left Alamos. Ben Hill, the gam
bier, called out to me drove past his
house: Here's good luck to Eraclio: tell
him I'm all right" wheTeupon my neighbor
asked If l were going beyond Fuertie. 1
answered that l intended to- and then he
assured me that | should certainly make
the bandits acquaintance. as this was the
regular marked trip Shortly after leav-
ing Fuertie my last companion got out.
and / was left alone. The certainty of be-
ing stopped by the brgand had gradually
grown upon me during the past thirty six
hours. and as / sat there suspiciously scan
ming the cactus brush on either side of the
coach my rife between my knees, and my
revolver ready for Immediate use. / debated
with myself what course l ought TO pur-
Beyond my arms / had really nothing
to lose and il seemed foolhardy to at
tempt TO resist. single-handed. the attacks
of a band of trained highwaymen merely
because my Anglo-SaXon prejudices for
bade me to yield without a struggle.
did not wish TO- risk my life for the sake of
a mere prejudice but / rebeled at the idea
OF holding up my hands without making
use of them.
While / was thus undecided. the driver
settled the question by calling 10 to
take off my shooting irons and climb up
beside him. Don Juan he said to me as
i braced myself to the box at his side
you've got nerve enough. so may as well
tell you that Er&clio will stop us in few
minutes When We reach the top of this
grade you will see the arroyo hondo. and
on the rise beyond probably the horsemen,
too. but perhaps only Eraclio himself.
Now. for heavens sake. don't go shooting.
Ther" Will be thirty rifle sights leveled at
us from behind the cactus bush, and the
E'iur:te you pull the trigger we shall be
r.ddled- Did you ever hear now Ben Hill
was filled with lead? Well. j can tell YOU
for | was driving. Eraclio appeared in the
usual way. and L stopped. of course as
soon as he waved his rifle. but Hill jumped
out and fired Whew, How the bullets be
gan to come in. A perfect haiiJto"In. Three
of the mules were dead. besides the whip
per and one of the passengers. As for Hill
he was lying on the road with six bullets
under his skll-enough TO kill any ordinary
nlah-but there he lay. firing away at the
cactus.Wlih the blood running down over his
forehead, and mad as though he had
been eating papashes all the morning
Eraclio rad hard time preventing his
men from finishing him, but the gambler
was an old friend of his. and he kept the
coyotes off,
Ben said he. why did you shoo:? Are
YOU drunk"
Qaiet's sake the other answered I'm
picked now. anyway. Look here Eraclio
be generous with me. There are G.O0O pesos
in my valise. and that ought to satisfy YOU
But there's my wife. she has all her jewelry
along. and now that ] am laid up / think
You might look after her. Can't you take
her down TO Culiacan? / can scrape up 4
couple of thousand more when get home
and if you'll do that I'll send them to YOU
ard welcome Is 1t a ba argain%
'Eah' the other answered, laughing
Friend Ben. between thieves. the shortest
accounts are best. Ill take your money for
the men-but the sonora shall reach Cuiia-
car safely. III see to that myself" And
he did II. Don Juan. He put three of his
men inside. made me do the whipping and
Drove himself. right up to the hotel though
ne knew well enough that there was a big
slacdrd on the door, Two thousand e. OOO
leSos for the body of Eraclio Soils dead or
alive
You never saw him? Well senor he's
caballero. you will see, and 1 say we
ought TO have just such a man for gov
ernor. He knows what the poor people
need. and what is good for them. Vaya. If
he were governor for only one year thew
greatest man In Mexico senor and they are
irving to kill him."
But in spite of Martins predictions. and
apparently much to his disappointment we
drove on unmoiested, across the arroyo
hondo and into Los Harnitos
rhe little rancho was crowded. and / Or
dered my dinner served outside under the
porch, where / sat down alone to wait
The view from my seat was hot desolate
and depressing, typical of our dreary life.