The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-10
SAVED BY ALUCKY BULLET.
DON FAUSTINO oRTEGA T. THE
STORY OF MS TALIsMAN.

NOE NNn
Three Escape from n P4ttie.nnLe, n
Desperate. and = D~c.trtttive Explosion.
This silver bullet three Hfnes has saved my
life, and 1t had a histor5M 1t came into my
possession. DO you wghdcr that / wear 1t as a
talismanf' said SeY6r Don Faustino ortcga
of Sinaloa, MeNicof Talking with two friends In
Ihe reading room Of an uptown hotel. lilo
speaks excellenT English, and us he said this he
held up to vfw the battered silver ball which
he carries 9fways strung by a gold wire to his
watch guyfd.
at Weighs just an ounce the Senior Don con-
ttnued. 1T was given me by my grandfather,
who told me the story of 1t when he put il into
my hands on his dying bed. lie was clear Of
mind, and l could not doubt u word of his
story, strange as 1t may sound to you. 1t was
more than fifty years ago. my grandfather said,
that a monster wolf appeared at my ranch on
the San Ysidro and destroyed many sheep and
calves and colts. My herders chased the crea.
ture with lassos and fired at IL to no purposes;
1t was 30 fierce that It would not retreat before
one man. My major domo sent word of these
things TO me, and went TO the ranch. Three
different times l fired at that wolf, feeling sure
every time that / must have hit the creature.
but it trottcd away with no sign of hurt. When
after my third trial | found the nattened bullet
at the place where the wolf had been when l
hr'i, / gave up trying to kill the beast with
powder and lead, and l rode 100 miles to con.
suit with a man who was learned in such mat
tiers. He heard my story.
make a bullet from tho first silver YOU
find he said. Scratch upon it a Christian
cross, and try the wolf with that. II your.aim
be true, the bullet will not fall flat like the other.
The rest Of the story l will tell in my own
words. My grandfather made the wise man a
present and started back for the ranch. Cross.
ing the channel OF the San Ysidro, at that sea-
son of the year nearly dry, his horse stumbled,
and where its hoof had disturbed tho sand and
pebbles there lay exposed q nugget of pure sill
yer, such as often is found in the bed OF this
stream, washed down from the mountains.
Dismounting, my grandfather picked up the
nugget, and after his arrival at the ranch ham
mered 1t into the bullet you see. The next night
he watched for the wolf, which came with the
rising moon, and he killed tho creature with
this silver bullet. His focks and herds were
troubled no more by any wolf, and he kept the
bullet until the last day Of his life.
keep 1t, my dear grandson were his last
words TO me concerning the bullet. 1T has
been incky Tor me, and it may succor you in
For six years l carried the silver bullet in
my pocket before the chance came to demon.
house at my hacienda, like Mexican houses in
general, Is oil one story, SO that all its rooms are
vi u ground MOOT. My Sleenlnk room opened
upon a long, narrow hallway with a door open.
Ing upUa the courtyard. | had occasion one
morning TO 20 to the further end OF this hall.
way to get some business papers that l kept
there on a shelf. A snake must have crawled
into the hallway the day before when the outer
door was open. l passed where it lay without
seeing or arousing 1T. for the first that | knew
OF Its presence was the loud buZzing OF its rat
tie behind me as l rummaged among my papers.
l turned TO see a siN-fooG rattlcsnake cooled be
tween me and both the doors. 1t was thor.
oughly angry and was advancing upon me az .er
nts fashion n "a rA lpl IN L that 20 20
tackIlunEing forward a third OF its length and
then bringing. its COILS up the same distance
"h4e It's rattle in the closed and narrow pas
sage nAed the place with It's sound.
Ill was clad only in nightshirt. trousers and
which to defend myself. The reptile was all
the time drawing nearer, and bad covered half
The distance to me before | thought OF the silver
my one chance OF stopping the snake lay in my
striking, its head with tie bullet. l was ia
stone, and the art has never left me. A thing
that made my chance a little better than it
ner OF meeting an attack. IL does not try TO
avoid. but contronts whatever threatens it,
always turning Its head so as to face the Oh.
Ject- l chose a time when, after a forward
iunse. 1t drew forward into coil and, at six
feet away threw the bullet at its head with ali
strengthened it's coils and writhed upon the
noor stepped safely past 1t into my room.
end OF the snake with my pistol.
The silver bullet had certainly been my
siIVaIIon IN THIS case. Ii was less than two
years attcrward that il was the means OF saw
ms my life in another and very surprising way.
l was IN chihuahua visiting the Las QuCsadas
riAcs, In which ! held an interest, anu on the
day after my arrival rode in from the hacienda
sN miles away, where ! was staying, TO zee the
mine superintendent. lie was in the magazine
where the explosives used in blasting were
kept II was Il stone house, or dugout, built
IN the side OF a hill. and was reached from the
tOOt OF the slope by a steep path. | started
there to ind HIM, and had climbed the hill to
The very step OF the house when in taking my
tgF Fr1NENN my Vn,lrAF .t1n - 81
Yer bullet out and il fsII and rolled down the
slope. turned and ran back after it, keeping
my eye on IL as IL rolled. for | knew that IL |
once lost sight OF the bullet my chances OF ind
Ing IL were small.
\ followed it TO the foot of the hill and saw
II roll INTO a ditch that once had been used in
draining a mine working. The ditch was about
four feet deep, and just, as, l Jumped into il and
stopped TO PICK up the bullet there came a roar
Ike The bursting of a hundred cannon and a
shock that sent me fiat on my face, stunned. in
senses l found myself half buried in dirt. l
got clear OF that and upon my feet, so that !
%%nld look around 10 see what had happened.
Where the magazine had been there WAS n
q great hole in the hillside, with smoke float
ing about II, and not SO much as one stone OF
the building to be seen.
The wreck was caused by the explosion OF
haii a Ton OF giant powder that had been stored
for not n trace OF the superintendent, the fore
man, and Two MrNivans who had been with
r 1aSH w was syfF h iSqn Sbe G 6hiIa inSsk a. and ,bo f Sins
camp and several persons there were hurt.
fou can judge for yourselves what my chance
would. have been Of ever telling this story Ia
YOU IL had gone on into the magazine II
the bullet, falling from my packet, had not been
the cause OF my turning hack down the hill and
gol'lE into the shelter Of the ditch just as the
explosion came.
This silver bullet Is the bullet that killed
The bandit Tomas Niejada. who. for several
years following the ian and Punishment OF
President Lcrdu, trrroriGct slualon and several
OF The adjoining states OF the Mexican rCpuh.
lie. lie had been one Of LCrdo's ptrtisans and
was very bitter toward whoever was prului-
hcni a. a supporter OF the DiaZ Government.
III, best mat one who was 80 unfortunate a. 10
IAN into his power could hope was to he held
Tor ransom. ! WAS "t ny WAY 10 my ranch, a
journey of two fun days on horseback, carry.
iIs money vita which 10 pay my men. Being
delayed by the difficulty III crossing II flooded
stream, | WAS not able 10 sct 10 the cstanc!a
the home ranch, Americans would suy-by
daylight on The second day, but stopped in the
early evening al the hut Ut one Of my shepherds
Tor supper and 10 r,~t IA! horst. The man,
Antonio B"ltd", an Cd and faithiu! en-.
PIC! g., nad snuIvlit.lS IMPORTANT To tell uic.
" Tomas Viejada has. planned 10 waylay You
in the fuerte del Leon the shepherd said, TO
rob and Kill you, or hold you captive for q ran.
som. l learned of il only tonight. How l