Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-09-30
CHAPTER XXI.

laughed at the comic paper ana oeciu-
"a that all the world was fair, Hooker
and Amigo were squatting by the fire
and eating q man's-size breakfast. r
The creek, swollen by yesterdays
%torrential rain, had settled to a r1vu-
let. The wind had not risen and the
u was Just over the hill when, with
4 a&rush and q scramble, Amigo threw
down his cup and was OF in a fash for
the rocks.
Aymoment later two men rode down
the canyon, and then two more, n
two more. It was "a column Of men,
all armed with rifles, and they cast
envious eyes at Copper Bottom as they
halted before the camp. As for Bud.
he saluted gravely, for, he knew them
for what they were. + sSassiss
These were the lost forces of Der.
nardo Bravo and Sa1axar, Rojas and
the other bandit chiefs, and they
marched, as he well knew, upon For
tuna. They marched quietly, and the
great whistle had not blown
It would make aHrich}prize. Fortuna.
II they could take It by surprise! The
ransom for the Spanish haciendados
alone would amount to thousands OF
dollars, and the mine-owners could
afford to,spay anything In order to save
their works. III
"A box Of dynamite under the giant
concentrator! and the money would be
produced at once, and yet the, scoun-
drels halted at aHone-man camp to
steal single horse.
"A flicker OF scorns passed over Hook
er's face as the leader came dashing
up, but the Texan greeted him with :
slow smile,
"Buenos dias, general" he said;
you have many$.men."
"Enough!"' observed the general
hurrtedly, but some In the rear are
on foot. ASH suppose you are in sym.
pathy with our great cause, l will ask
you for that horse, OF course. will
give you q receipt" q $s$&H
spoke and motioned to a ragged beg
gar at his heels. Bud checked the
mans rush with a look.
"One moment" he said, and as the
soldier turned back his general glanced
mp sharply:
"Only this. Senior General" an
swered Bud. You are welcome to
anything r have--food, blankets. mon
ey-but I cannot give you that horse"
~But, senor!!"" protested the general.
regarding him with arrogant pig eyes
that xlinted wickedly, this poor sol.
d~iersS,feet are o Surely you would
not make him walk. Only name your
price and ! win give you : receipt for
him. but my man must have the
horse" y
There was a pause and men began
to dismount and move in closer. At
q word from their commander any
one of them would draw and kill him.
a. Hookep very we'll knew. but his
love for Copper Bottom made him OBJ
durate. Ets&a. Z HI
III the man IL lame." he: said, II
will give him another Shorse-but he
cannot have this sorrel."" +
He stepped quickly over to the cor
raj and turned with his back to the
gate. while the commander spat out
orders in Spanish and armed men
came running. ; a"7 u.&Ih,&5 q %@&st
"Senor."" he said, advancing brusque;
~ upon the defiant Hooker Il must
trouble you for that pistol. -
"No, senor!" answered the cowboy
keeping his hand upon his gun. mot
to you nor no mainland I'll never give
it up to a Mexican!" T : Z -
"Carail" exclaimed the officer impa'
tiently, '"'yol are an Americano-no?"'
mot only that" rumbled Bud, draw.
ing himself up. in his pride, am "a
d Tetano also, and II any man touches
that horse I'll kill him!"l
His voice trembled with anger, but
his hand&was steady and the Mexicans
did mot deceive themselves.
"Ha, .un, sTejano!" murmured the
men who stood about, and one or two
who had started to climb the fence
thought better OF 1t and dropped back
to the ground.
Bud knew the fate of several men
who had proclaimed themselves Ameri
leans to the MISUNDERSTANDING
done, it was said to be the quickest
way there was of drawing a Mexican
bullet But to be a Texan was diner
ent-somehow the very name suggest
ed trouble to their minds and an Ala
mo fight to the death. Hooker saw
that he had made an impression. and
he was not slow to follow 1t up.
"h you need a horse" he said to
the general, "let your man 60 up that
arroyo and he will find one hobbled on
the fat Then give me your receipt
for two hundred dollars gold and /
will contribute a saddle"