The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-05-21

on the back Of his neck.
1T happened when / was young in
the service, and it was due to my am
bition and foolhardiness, a combina-
ton that is dangerous in any ones
system. The adventure came near
costing me my life. l have always
connected that affair with a Panama
hat. A Panama hat got me into trouble
and got me out again, in the end
saving my life"
1.-THE Chinese exclusion act has Civ
en- a lot of trouble to the government
in one way and another, but the con
sequence l am most familiar with is
the smuggling of coolies into this
country through Mexico and Canada.
Coolie labor is cheap, and it is a profit
able job to slip a bevy of them across
the frontier.
Things began to take a lively turn
as soon as l reached Preside, my
headquarters, a village of mud huts
and rambling shanties on the Rio
Grande. / left the Southern Pacific at
Nopal and rode many weary miles
across country. Over the river, in
Mexico, was the dirty village of Presi-
dio del Norte. 1t is impossible to
imagine a more forsaken looking place.
The Rio Conchos, a river of uncertain
habits, flowed into the Rio Grande
here. 1t was by means of this river
that coolies were brought to Preside
del Norte.
II had arrived in Preside wearing
a heavy Scotch hat. 1t had been cool
when I left Washington and this was
my first trip to the Texas border. /
saw at once that my hat was a back
number. Jarrall, the customs officer,
suggested that l get a Panama, telling
me that l could secure a struggled one
at a reasonable price from a dealer in
the village.
"He said he knew they were snug
gled, but that there was no remedy
for it as the government didn't think
it of sufficient Importance to put it's
agents on the case, and he was pow
erless without them. | took his adj
vice and bought n Panama, the largest
and whitest and most conspicuous one.
liz hCAt IloiHlu6 dltSl lily dlllfdl
I crossed over to the Mexican village,
to look around a bit and see if I
couldn't pick up some valuable infor-
nation. / was wandering about, star
ing at the crude hats and the naked
babies, when l encountered an Ameri-
a wearing a hat that was a dupli-
cate of my own, only his showed
marks of hard usage.
"Hello!' he said, when did you get
in?'
Il was on the point of telling him
that he had made a mistake, but
something prompted me to play him
along and see what he was up to. I
merely replied:
yesterday
"'Where is Munson?' he queried,
looking me over carefully.
"He will be here later 1 replied at
a venture.
"Now let's get down to business
he began.
"All right / replied.
1--WE have 800 coming down to-
night he said, and 200 more in three
days. The boats are ready and Man
uel is in charge at Huataz so there
isn't a chance for anything to go
wrong at that end of the line
He paused a moment to mix an
other highball which he swallowed at
a gulp.
"'You know where to meet us to-
night?' he queried.
1.-The instructions haven't been too
plain I replied.
BLAINE that authenticated Indian
he swore. I might have known that
he couldn't get anything straight.
Well, ! will have to tell you all over
again. You and Munson be at the cot
tonwood towhead two miles above
town at 1880 tonight to check up the
cattle and pay over the money. Take
the north trail from Preside and turn
to the left at the giant cactus. You
can't miss the wa. 1t is about two
miles. The ~cattle-path at the cactus
will lead you out to the landing at the
towhead. Andrews and / will come
over with the first boat and we can
check up as they land. I suppose you
have the papers, he concluded.
"rNo, Munson has Them | ventured,
feeling sure that If Munson didn't
have them l did not know where they
were.
well, be sure than Munson brings
them along he admonished.
This concluded the interview and
I lost no time In getting back across
the river to tell Jarrall OF my adyen-
ture. He was delighted at my luck.
AT five minutes after ten / heard
horses hoofs pounding the sand to
the south. ! could almost have shout
ed, for l was sure that 1t was Davis
and his rangers. It was only the mes
sengar whom we had dispatched IN
the morning. He was covered with
gray dust and his throat was SO
choked he couldn't speak. EJe literally
fell from his horse before Jarralla
door. and we had to support him a he