The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-09-26

trimmer. a man who tried 70 be All
things to all peoples a good hotel
keeper Shouldn't now he altered his
opinion a little, for the letters were
from Phil. He read them over in the
crowded plaza, into which the first
refugees were just beginning to pour.
and frowned as he skinned through
the last
OF Gracia and vain protestations of
devotion there was enough and to
spare, but nothing about the mine.
Only in the first one, written on the
very day he had deserted. did he 50
much as attempt an excuse for so pre-
cipitately abandoning their claim and
his Mexican citizenship Phil wrote:
Ny mail was being sent through head
quarters and looked over by Del Rey. 50
l knew would never receive the papers.
even il they came / hope you don't feel
hard about IL, pardner. Kruger says to
come out right away I would have
stayed with it. Sut it wasn't any use
| And now, Bud. I want to ask you some
thing When yoS come out. bring Gracia
with you. Don't leave her at the mercy
/ of Del Rey. I would come myself II II
wasn't sure death Be quick about 1t
/ Bud; count on you
The other letters were all like that,
but nothing about the mine. And yet
| it was the mine that Bud was fighting
| for-that they had fought for from the
I first The railroad was torn up now,
and a fight with Gracia was hopeless,
but it was just as well, for he never
would abandon the Eagle Tail
In two months, or three, when the
rebels were whipped on. his papers
might come. Then he could pay his
taxes and transfer his title and con-
slider the stealing of Gracia- But since
he had seen her and touched her hand
something held him back-a grudging
reluctance-and he was glad that his
duty lay elsewhere If she was his
| girl now he would come down and get
her anyway.
But she was not his girl and, gazing
back grimly at the seething plaza and
the hotel that hid her from sight, he
rode somberIy down the road After
all, there was nothing to get excited
about-every revoltosO in the country
was lined up around Aqua Negra and.
with four hundred soldiers to oppose
them and artillery to shell their ad-
vance, it would be many a long day be-
fore they took that town
Twice already Aqua Negra had
fallen before such attacks, but now it
was protected by rife-pits and ma
chine guns set high on mud roofs And
then there were the Yaquis, still faith
full to Madero. They alone could hold
the town, If they made up their minds
to fight So reasoned Hooker, mulling
over the news that he had heard But
he watched the ridges warily, for the
weather was good for raiders
A day passed, and then another, and
the big whistle blew only for the
shifts; the loneliness Of the hills op-
pressed him as he gazed out at the
oufYering heat And then, like toad
after a shower, Amigo came padding
into camp on the heels of a thunder
storm. his sandals hung on his hip and
his big feet sQuelching through the
. mud
Across his shoulders he wore q gay
serape, woven by some patient woman
of his tribe; and in the belt beside
Buds pistol he carried a heavy knife
: bIacksmithed from a ten-inch file by
some Yaqui hillman- All in all, he
was a fine barbarian, but he looked
, good to the lonely Bud
'OIa, AmigoI" he hailed, stepping
, out from the adobe house where be
had moved to avoid the rains; and
} Amigo answered with his honest smile
which carried no hint Of savagery OF
: deceit
Try as he would, Bud could moi
bring himself to think of his YaQui as
t dangerous; and even when he bal
anced the Indians murderous bowie
knife in his hands he regarded it with
: a grin. 1t was a heavy weapon, broad
2 across the back, keen on one edge
and drawn to a point that was both
sharp and strong. The haft was
: wrapped with rawhide to hold the
J clutch of the hand.
5 What do you do with this?" querieC
/ Hooker. Chop wood? Skin deer?'
Yes, chop wood" answered Amigo
r but he replaced it carefully in his belt
CTO BE CONTINUED)