Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1910-01-19


his neighbOThood. me estrano" ct
surprises me), he exclaimed, that
such thing should have happened on
my camp. AS you know, Don Carlos, .
he continued, 81 am 'juez' (judge) of
this district, and, carramba! if l can
lay hands on the animal who has done
this, he will pay dearly for it. On
Sunday next there will be races at the
'pulperia.' You must meet me there
at, say, four o'clock in the afternoon,
and never fear but that l will 'arreg-
lar este Ignacio."
I promised to do as he suggested,
and after many assurances of good
will and so on, 1 was permitted to take
my departure.
As a result of the arrangement, on
the following Sunday afternoon can
tered over to the "pulperia" shortly
after four o'clock, fully expecting to
find Don Manuel there. I rode up to
the nearest "gaucho" and asked: SIS
Don Manuel in the 'pulperia p"
Isl, senior gringo'' (contemptuous
name applied to foreigners), the ma.
tive replied. with drunken swagger.
On pushing open the door of the hut
roar of laughter greeted me, fol
lowed by dead silence as the occu.
pants of the room saw 1 had entered
Only when my eyes became accus
toned to the smoke-laden atmosphere
could 1 distinguish the crowd of ruff
fianly faces. A moment later l saw
the bloodshot eyes Of Ignacio blazing
into mine; he had evidently been
drinking hard. In fact, the whole crew
were in more or less advanced stages
of intoxication. Evidently Rojas had
not arrived "Carramba, senores!
Hablar del diablo" (Speak of the
deviD, were the first words to break
the silence. Ignacio spoke, and his
Spanish version of the well-known
proverb was evidently connected with
my appearance.
1 saw his hand loosen in its sheath
the silver-handled "facon% or long
double-edged knife, with which he was
armed. Then 1 put my fingers into
my right-hand waistcoat pocket, where
l carried a derringer pistol, the two
barrels loaded with the usual heavy
ball cartridges. l thanked my stars
that I had taken the precaution to put
the small but effective weapon there
before starting. However, Ignacio
evidently had no intention of attack
ing me without having duly enjoyed
the situation.
"Senores!" he cried; oratorically,
this is the same 'gringo' of whom
have just told you, who left me plant
ed in middle camp, on foot, five
leagues from my house. 81, senores!' -"
he continued, with a drunken and dia-
bolical oath; $50 you can imagine
with what pleasure 1 shall shake
hands with him."
AS he spoke he advanced a grimy
paw as though to clasp mine
/ saw his ruse, however. A vision
of my severed hand lying on the floor
warned me to grip the butt of my der
ringer.
"You refuse me your hand, you -
gringol" he yelled. "Yo lie ensenare"
Gil teach you), he painted as he drew
his "facon"
Ignacio, with murder in his heart
and in his bloodshot eyes, stood in
the middle of the room, his finger feel
ing the point of the knife, the silver
handle gripped by his sinewy right
hand. The onlookers had withdrawn
to the sides of the room and out of
the line of fire in case ] should prove
to be armed; and am safe in saying
that the same lust for blood which en-
courages the torturing and final
slaughter of a helpless bull in the
ring, was in the heart of each. They
were on the tiptoe of expectation, and
no doubt already pictured me lying
bleeding on the floor.
"Ho! ho!" he cried, maliciously;
4'you wonder who it is that is trying
to smash up your - engines? Well,
we'll! this is going to be better sport
than derailing trains"
He balanced the knife in his hand
as if to throw it; but his jaw dropped
as 1 covered him with my derringer,
and
There was a movement amongst
those blocking the doorway, and the
jingle of spurred heel.
"Alto!" (HaltD
The one harsh word burst into the
strained silence with an Incredible
shock. Every eye in the room was
flashed in the direction whence it
came. There stood the commanding
figure of Don Manuel Rojas, his hand,
holding his "revenque" or short whip,
pointing in our direction.
"Seize that man." he commanded, in
dicating Ignacio, as two soldiers
pushed their way into the room.
Luckily Dan Manuel had overheard
the words in which Ignacio confessed
himself to be the perpetrator of the
attempts to wreck our trains, and sub
sequently, local paper announced
that the "gaucho" had been con-
demned to undergo five years impris-
onment, which l sincerely hope may
have a salutary effect on his revenge