The Lakeland evening telegram., 1914-06-04

Hes on" muttered Phll, as they
drew near enough to see his face
What shall we do?"
do nothing" growled Bud through
his teeth; you jest let me do the talk.
ing!"
He Unanswered his horse adroitly
and, with a skilful turn, cut in be.
tween his pardner and Aragon.
IS dias," he greeted, gazing down
In burly defiance at the militant Ara
gon; and at the same moment he gave
De Lancey's horse a furtive touch with
his spur.
"Buenos dias, senores!" returned
Aragon, striding forward to intercept
them; but as neither of the Americans
looked back, he was left standing IN
the middle OF the street.
That's the way to handle 'im," OBJ
served Hooker, as they trotted briskly
down the lane. Leave i'm to mel"
It'll only make him mad" objected
De Lancey GROSSLY. What do you
want to do that for?"
Hes mad already" answered Bud.
II want to quarrel with him, so he
can't ask US any questions. Get him
SO mad he won't talk-then it'll be a
fair fight and none of this snake-in-the-
grass business"
yes, but don't put it on him." pro-
tested De Lancey. Let him be
friendly for while, If he wants to-"
Cant be friends" said Bud lacon-
ically; I'VE jumped his claim"
Maybe he doesn't want it." sug-
gested Phil hopefully. Hes dropped
lot of money on it."
"You bet he wants it," returned
Hooker, with conviction. I'm going
to camp out there-the old boy is
liable to jump US"
"Aw, you're crazy, Bud!" cried Phil;
but Hooker only smiled.
you know what happened to Kru-
ger" he answered. ''Ill tell you what,
we got to keep our eye open around
here"
They rode on to the mine, which
was only about five miles from For
tuna, without discussing the matter
further; for, while Phil had generally
been the leader, in this particular case
Kruger had put Bud in charge, and
he seemed determined to have his
way SO far as Aragon was concerned.
In the ordering Of supplies and the
laying out Of development work he
deferred to Phil in everything, but for
tactics he preferred his own judgment.
1t was by instinct rather than rea-
son that he chose to fight, and people
who follow their instincts are hard to
change. So they put in the day In
making careful measurements, ac-
cording to the memoranda that Kru-
ger had given them; having satisfied
themselves as to the approximate
locality of the lost vein, they turned
back again toward town with their
heads full of cunning schemes.
Since 1t was the pleasure Of the
Senor Aragon to make war on all
who entered his preserves, they check
mated any attempt on his part to
locate the lead by driving stakes to
the north Of their ledge; and, still fur
ther to throw him off, they decided to
mark time for while by doing dead
work on cut. Such an approach
would be needed to reach the mouth
Of their tunnel.
At the same time it would give
steady employment to Mendez and
Keep him under their eye, and as soon
as Aragon showed his hand they could
make out their final papers In peace
and send them to the City of Mexico.
And not until those final papers
were recorded and the transfer duly
made would they so much as stick
pick into the hillside or show a
lump of quartz.
But for Spanish gentleman, sup
posed to be all supple curves and sinu.
GUS advance, Don Cipriano turned out
somewhat of surprise, for when they
rode back through his narrow street
again he met them squarely in the
road and called them to halt.
by what right, gentlemen" he de-
manded in voice tremulous with
rage by what right do you take
possession of my mine, upon which |
have paid the taxes all these years,
and conspire with that rogue, Cruz
Mendez, to cheat me out of it? 1t
is mine, tell you, no matter what the
agente mineral may say, and"
Your mine, nothing!" broke in
Hooker scornfully, speaking in the
ungrammatical border-Mexican of the
cowboys. 1--WE meet one Mexican
he shows US the mine-that is all. The
expert of the mining agent says it is
vacant-we take it Stawano!"
He waved the matter aside with
masterful indifference, and Aragon
burst into torrent Of excited Span
ish.
Very likely, very likely" comment
ed Bud dryly, without listening to a
word; "si, senor, yo pienso!"
A wave of fury swept over the span-
iard's face at this gibe and he turned
suddenly to De Lancey.
"SenOr." he said "vou so,r, 4.