Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-05-29
CHAPTER l.

The slow-roufng winters sun rose
eoldiy, far to the south, riding up
from behind the saw-toOthed Sierras
ct Mexico to throw q EiIVery halo on
Gadsden, the border city. A hundred
miles OF desert lay In Its path waste
Ut broken ridges, dry arroyoa, and
sandy p1aina-and then suddenly, az
II by magic. the city rose cleaning In
the sun
It was q big city, for the West, and
gwAFming with traffic and men Its
broad main street, lined with brick
buildings and throbbing with autono-
hdles, ran from the railroad straight to
the south until at a line, It stopped
short and was lost In the desert
That line which marked the sudden
and Of growth and progress was the
border OF the United States; the desert
was Mexico. And the difference was
not In the land, but In the government
As the morning air grew warm and
<he boar frost drapped down from the
roofs the idlers Of the town crept
forth, leaving chill lodgings and stale
saloons for the street corners and the
sun
Against the dead wan Of big store
tbs Mexicans gathered In shivering
groups, their blankets wrapped around
their necks and their brown ankles
bare to the wind. On another corner
a bunch Of cowboys stood clannishly
aloOf, eying the passing crowd for 9TH
ers Of their kind.
In this dun stream which flowed
under the morning sun there we're min
ing men, with high-laced boots and
bullying pockets; graybeards, with the
gossip of the town in their cheeks; ;
hoboes, still wearing their eastern
caps and still rustling for quarter to
eat on; somber-eyed refugees and sol
diers Of fortune from Mexico-but
hdlers all, and each seeking his class
and kind
II any women passed that way they
walked fast, looking neither to the
right nor to the left; for they, too, be-
ling so few, missed their class and
kind
Gadsden had become a city Of men,
hugslimbed and powerful and with a
lQuesting look In their eyes; a city OF
adventures gathered from the ends OF
THE world. A common calamity had
driven them from their mines and
ranches and giutted the town with
men, for the war was on in Mexico
and from the farthermost corners OF
Sonora they still came, hot from some
new scene of murder and pillage, to
add to the general discomfort
As the day wore on the crowd on
the bank corner, where the refugees
made their stand, changed It's com
Dlexion, grew big, and stretched far VI
the street Men stood in shifting
groups, talking. arguing, gazing mood
Hly at those who passed.
Here were hawk-eyed Texas cattle
men, thinking of their scattered herds
at Mababi or Ell Tgre; mining men
with idle prospects and deserted mines
as far south as the Rio Yaqui; mill
men, ranchers and men of trades; al
driven in from below the line and al
chatting at the leash. While hundred
petty chiefs stood out against Maderc
and lived by ransom and loot, they
must cool their heels in Gadsden and
wait for the end to come.
Into this seething mass of the dis
possessed. many Of whom had lost g
fortune by the war, there came two
more, with their faces still drawn and
red from hard riding through the cold
They stepped forth from the marble
entrance OF the big hotel and swung
OF down the street to see the town.
They walked slowly, gazing into the
strange faces in the vague hope OF
finding some friend; and Gadsden. not
TO be outdone, looked them over curl
ousfy and wondered whence they had
come.
The bunch Of cowboys, et1H lettering
on the corner, glanced scornfuily al
the smaller man, who sported pail
OF puttses- and then at the big mans
fest. Finding them encased In pros
pector's shoes thsy stared dumbly al
11is wfnd-burned face and mutteret
among themselves
He was tall. and broad ACROSS ths
shoulders, with fareeeing blue eyes
and mop Of light hair; and he walket
on hta toes. sttn-legged. swaytng iron
Ais hips Ike q man on horseback. Ths
FAnhie of comment rose up again q
he racked pant and then . cowbo1
voice observed:
III bet ye he's q cow-punch!"
The big man looked back az then
Mockingiy out Of the corner Of his eys
and vent on without s word.