Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-08-28
CHAPTER XVII.

There was q world of Mexicans in
the plaza when Hooker rode down
through the town. Never, it seemed to
him, had he seen so many or liked
them less.
To the handful of Americans who
remained to man the mill and mine,
they were easily a hundred to one;
and though their eyes were wide with
fear of the imminent rebels, they had
an evil way of staring at him which
he did not relish.
Even at the hotel, where the Span
ish-Mexican aristocracy was massed
ten deep, he sensed the same feeling
of yelled hostility and wondered vague
ly what it might portend. If Philip De
Lancey, for making love to a girl. was
drafted into the army, what would
happen to him if these people should
aver break loose? And did they have
othe courage to do their worst?
He fingered around the door for a
while, hoping to meet Don Juan or
some American who would tell him
the news; then, disgusted with every
thing, he flung away and left them to
themselves. Fortuna was not a white
mans country-he could see that with
out a diagram-but at the same time
he intended to hold his mine until he
could hear from Phil.
Let the tides of insurrectioa come
and go, let the red-fiaggers take the
town and the federals take 1t back
again-at the end he would still be
found at the Eagle Tail, unless Phil
received his title to the mine.
AS for Aragon, whose fine Italian
hand he perceived behind the sudden
taking off Of Phil, let him make what
trades he would with the rurales and
Manuel del Rey, even to the giving of
his daughters hand; but If, taking ad-
vantage of the unsettled times, he
dared to try to steal their mine, then
there would be wal to the knife.
1t is a fine, comforting thing to be
single-minded and of one purpose. All
the rest of life is simplifed and or
dered then. and a man knows when to
raise his hand and when to hold 1t
back.
In his letter Phil had said nothing
about their mine, but he was a Mexi-
can citizen still, and the mine was in
his name. Bud was his pardner and
free to hold it in his stead; and that
he determined to do-not only hold it,
but work it for a stake. Then, when
the tide was passed and all made GER
tain, they could turn it over to Kruger
and quit the accursed country.
AS for the girl, Bud decided that
she could take care of herself without
any assistance from him, and dis
missed her from his mind.
Back at the mine he found Amigo
after telling him the gist of his trou-
bles, the two of them went to work.
Every day, while one of them dug out
the ore, the other crushed and washed
1t and watched as he horned out the
gold. Their rifles they kept beside
them and pistols in their belts; and
every time a Mexican dropped into
camp, as n did now and then in the
general unrest, he felt the silent men,
ace of arms in readiness and continued
on his way.
For a week they labored on together,
grim, watchful, experimentation, at
the break of day. they heard a distant
rattle of arms, like the tearing of a
cloth, and knew that the battle was
on
The great whistle at Fortuna opened
with its full. bass roar, and Amigo
snatched up his gun and went looping
down the canyon, drawn irresistibly
by the sound of conflict. Bud fingered,
climbing higher and higher to get a
view of the country. But his young
blood clamored for action too, and
soon he was mounted and gone.
The, fighting was not at the Ameri-
a town, but down the valley by Old
Fortuna, and as Hooker galloped on
toward the sound of the firing he no
ticed that 1t was on the move. AL
ready the cowardly rebels were re-
treating-the volunteers from Fortuna
were hurrying to get closer to them,
the rurales were riding to flank them;
and when Bud jumped his horse up
the last hill and looked down into the
broad. cultivated valley he saw the
dust Of their fight.