The Huttig news., 1914-08-08
CHAPTER xI.

The plaza at Fortuna, ordinarily so peaceful and sleepy, was alive with hurryipg men when Bud and Phil , reached town. Over at the station special engine was wheezing and blow- Ing after its heavy run and, from the train Of commandeered ore cars be- hind, swarm of soldiers were Ieaping to the ground. On the porch of the hotel Don Juan de Dios Brachamonte was making violent signals with his hands, and as they rode up he hurried out to meet them
 My gracious, boys" he cried, tits a good thing you came into town. Ber- nardo Bravo has come over the noun tains and he's marching to take Moc- tezuma!'
 Why, that doesn't make any differ ence to usi" answered Phil. sMocte- zuma is eighty miles from here-and look at all the soldiers. How many men has Bernardo got?'
 We'll, that I do not know" respond ed Don Juan: some say more and some less, but if you boys hadn't come in I would have sent man to fetch you. Just as soon as a revolution be- gins the back country becomes unsafe for Americans. Some of these low characters are likely to murder you if they think you have any money 5
 Well. we haven't" put in Bud: "but we've got mine-and we're going to keep it, too.'
 "Aw. Bernardo Bravo hasn't got any men,n scoffed Phil; "i bet this is a false alarm. He got whipped out of | his boots over i'll Chihuahua last fall, and he's been up in the Sierra Madres ever since. Probably come down to steal little beef
 l Why. Don Juan, Bud and lived right next to a trail all last year and If we'd listened to one-tenth of the revoltoso stories we heard we wouldn't have taken out an ounce of gold I'm going to get my Announcement papers tomorrow, and I'll bet you we work that mine all summer and never know the difference. These rebels won't hurt you any, anyhow!"
 No! Only beg little grub," added Bud scornfully. Come on, Phil; let's go over and look at the soldiers-it's that bunch of Yaquis we saw up at Agua Negra'
 They tied their horses to the rack and, leaving the solicitous Don Juan to sputter, hurried over to the yard From the heavy metal ore cars, each roll ing fortress in itself, the last of the active Yaquis were helping out their women and pet dogs, while the rest, talking and laughing in high spirits, we're strung out along the track in . perfunctory line.
 If the few officers in command had ever attempted to teach them military discipline, the result was not appar- ent in the line they formed; but any man who looked at their swarthy faces, the hawklike profiles, and deep- Set, steady eyes, would know that they were fighters.
 After all, a straight line on parade has very little to do with actual war fare and these men had proved their worth under fire.
 To be sure. it was the fire of Mexi. can guns, and perhaps that was why the officers were so quiet and unassert- i've; for every one of these big, up- standing Indians had been captured in the Yaqui wars and deported to the henequen fields of Yucatan to die in the miasma and heat
 But they had come from a hardy breed and the whirligig of fortune was flying fast-Madero defeated Porfirio Diaz; fresh revolutions broke out against the victor and, looking about in desperation for soldiers to fill his ranks, Madero fell upon the Yaquis.
 Trained warriors for generations, of race so fierce that the ancient Az tees had been turned aside by them in their mpire-founding migration, they were the very men to whip back the rebels, if he could but win them to his side
 So Madero had approached Chief Bule, whom Diaz had taken under a flag of truce, and soon the agreement was made. In return for faithful serv- ice. Mexico would give back to the Indians the one thing they had been fighting a hunrded and sixty years to attain, their land along the Rio Yaqui; and there they should be permitted to live in peace as their ancestors had done before them.
 And so. with thousand or more of his men, the crafty old war chief had taken service in the federal army, though his mind, poisoned perhaps by the treachery he had suffered. was not entirely free from =uile.