Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-07-15

All right, my b~oy!"8 cried the old
man, suddenly clapping him on the
shoulder, "Ill go2you-and you'll never
regret 1t" he added significantly.
Then throwing off the air Of guarded
secrecy which had characterized his
actions s Q far. he sat down and began
to talk. 81
Boys" he said, ""I'm feeling lucky
today or I'd never have closed this
deal. I'm letting you in on one OF the
biggest things that's ever been found
In Sonora. Just to show you how good
1t is, here's my smelter receipts for
eight hundred pounds OF picked ore
one thousand and twenty-five dollars!
That's the first and last ore that's ever
been shipped from the old Eagle Tail:
I dug It out myself, and sacked It
and shipped It; and then some Of them
crooked Mexican officials tried to beat
me out Of my title and / bowed up the.
whole works with dynamite!
yes, sir. clean as a whistle! ! q
my powder stored away in the drift,
and the minute found out ! was
euchred I laid a fuse to it and brought
the whole mountain down. That was
ten years ago, and old Aragon and
the agente mineral have had the land
located ever since. . I
i bet they've spent nvte, thousand.
pesos trying to find that lead. but be-
Ing nothing but a bunch Of ignorant
Mexicans,3of course they never found
nothing. Then Francisco Madero
comes, in and fires the agente mineral
on his Job and old Aragonsiets the land
revert for taxes. I've got a Mexican
that keeps me posted, and ever since
he sent me word that the title had
5lapsed 1,ye4been crazy to relocate that
claim. S sf$s 4 If
well, now, that don't look so bad.
does i? he asked. beaming paternally
at Bud. There amt a man in town
that wouldn't have jumped at the
chance, II / was where 1 could talk
about 1t, but that's just what / couldn't
do. + had to find some stranger that
wouldn't sense what mine I was talk
ing about and then git him to go In on
1t blind. t&EM
Now here's the way I'm fixed,
boys he exclaimed, brushing his UNI
ikesmpt beard and smiling crafty.
when i dynamited the Eagle Tail It
mine by rights, but Cipriano Ara
.gon-he's the big Mexican down at old
Fortuna-and Morales, the mineral
agent, had buncoed me out OF the title.
80, according to law, I bowed mp
their mine. and If I ever showed up
down thereeI reckon they'd throw me
into jail. Andsif at any time they find
out that you're working for me, why,
we're dftched-that's all! They'll put
you out Of business. So. after we've
made our agreement and-I've told you
what to do. l don't want to hear g,
word out Of; you--I don't want you to
come near ME. o even write me g
letter-just 60 ahead the best you can
until you win out or go broke.
1T amt a hard proposition" he
continued, 9.:if you keep your mouth
shut, but II they tumble, it'll be 9 tight
to ! finish. I'm not saying this for,
YOU, Hooker, because know you're
safe; I'm saying 1t for your pardner
here. You talk too much, Mr.. De Ian.
'cey," he chided, eying him with sud
den severity. I'm afraid Of ye!"
.All right, broke In Hooker good
naturally; Il reckon we understand.
Now 90 ahead and tell us where this
mine Ii and who there ID down their,
;too look out for"
1.-THE man to look out for" an
5swyered Kruger with venom. is Cipri:
ano Aragon. He's the man that btlked
n. me out OF the mine once, and he'll do
IL again Ii he can. When ! went down.
sthesre--it was ten years and more ago.
wasn't on to those Spanish ways Of.
his. and he was so dog-goned polite
and friendly I thought I could trust
him anywhere.
she owns a big ranch and mescal,
still, runs cattle. works . few placers.
sends out pack-trains,t and has every
Mexican and Indian in the country In,
debt to him through his store, SO II he
happens to want any rough work done
there's always somebody to do it.
".Well, Just to ehow.you how he did
l. got to- nosing round those old
Spanish workings east Of Fortuna and
finally I run across the ledge that I'm
telling you about, not far from an
abandoned shaft. But the Mexican
mining laws are different from ours.
and an American has lots of trouble
anyway, SO ! made a trade with old
Aragon that he should locate the claim
for me under ( power of attorney.
Didn't know him then like I do now.
The papers had to be sent to Mocte-
yuma and Hermosillo, and to the City
of Mexico and back, and while I was
waiting around / dug In on this lead
and opened up the prettieet vein of
quartz you ever saw in your life.
Here's a sample Of It, and It's sure
rich"
He handed De Lancey the familiar
piece of quartz and proceeded with his
story.
THAT ore looked SO good to me that
I couldn't waitI shipped 1t before I
got my title. And right there I made
my mistake. When Aragon saw the
gold in that rock he just quietly re-
corded the concession In his OWE name
and told me to go to blazes. That's
the greaser Of it! So I blew the whole
up and hit for the border. That's
the Dutch Of it, I reckon" he added
Anyway. my old man was
Dutch" o
He paused, smiling over the men,
DRY Of his misplaced credulity, and
Hooker and De Eancey Joined in a
hearty laugh. From the town bum
that he had first seemed this shabby
man had changed in their eyes
until now he was a border Croesus.
the mere recital Of whose adventures
conjured up in their minds visions of
gold and hidden treasure.
Times, was made by the manager OF ,
one of the largest hotels in London.