The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-06-10
CHAPTER ".

o"Ol ~ 2i3SL2oSA1P AIN SSA
venture in pairs. "Pardners," they call
them in the west, and though the word
has not crept into the dictionary yet,
it is as different from partner" as a
friend is from a business associate.
They travel together, these pardners
of , West, and whether they be cow
boys or Cousin Jacks" the boss who
fires one Of them fires both Of them,
and they go share and share in every.
thing.
Bud Hooker and Philip De Lancey
had met by chance in Ell Paso when
the revolution was just beginning to
boil and the city was swarming with
adventures. The agents of the rebels
were everywhere, urging Americans to
join their cause. Military preferment,
cash payments, and grants of land
were the bats they used, but Hooker
stood out from the first and took De
Lancey with him. A Mexican promise
did not pass current where he was
born and they went to the mines in
stead. ..
Then the war broke out and, while
fugitives streamed out of stricken
Chihuahua, they finally struck out
against the tide, fighting their way to
a certain mine far back in the Sierra
Madres, where they could dig the gold
on shares.
Behind them the Battle waged;
Casas Grandes was taken and retaken:
Juarez, Aqua Negra and Chihuahua
fell; Don Poririo, the Old Man of Mex
leo. went out and Madero took his
place; and still they worked for their
stake.
Then new arms and ammunition
flowed in from across the border;
Orozco and his rebel chiefs went out.
and the breath Of war famed higher
against the hills. At last the first
broken band Of rebels came struggling
by, and, reading hate and envy
in their lawless eyes. the Americans
dug up their gold at shutdown and rode
all the night for their lives.
i And now, welded together by all that
toll and danger, they were pardners.
cherishing no decisions as to each
others strength OF weaknesses, but
Joined together for better or worse.
It was the last thing that either Of
them expected, but three days after
they fed out of Mexico, and with all
their money unspent, the hand Of fate
seized upon them and sent them back
10 another adventure.
1T was early morning again, with
crowds along the street, and as they
ambled slowly along coward the line
the men on the corner stared at them.
The bunch Of cowboys gazed at Bud.
who sported a new pair of high-heeled
boots. and knew him by the way he
rode; and the mining men looked
~searchingly at De Lancey, as If to
guess the secret Of his quest.
A squad of mounted troopers, riding
out on border patrol, gazed after them
questioningly, but Bud and Phil rode
on soberly, leading their pack. and
headed for Aqua Negra across the line.
1t was a grim place TO look at, this
border town of Aqua Negra, for the
war had swept 1t twice. A broad waste
Of level land lay between it and the
prosperous American city, and across
this swath, where the Mausers and
machine guns had twice moved, lay
the huddle Of low houses which
marked the domain of Mexico.
Pussy little customs officials, lurk.
ing like spiders in their cooped-up
guardhouses, rushed out as they
crossed the deep trench and demanded
their permit to bear arms. The mo-
ment they crossed the line the air
seemed to be peryaded with Latin ex-
citability and Indian jealousy, but De
Lancey replied in ford Spanish and
before his polite assurances and full
some compliments 1t was dissipated in
a moment.
Good! Pass On. AMIGOS" cried the
b~eady-eyed little jefe, pasting a label
on their pack. "Adios, senor." he
added, returning Phil's salute with a
military flourish, and with a scornful
glance at Bud he observed that the
gentleman was muy caballero.
HUH" remarked Bud, as they rode
on through the town, we're in Mexico
all right, all right. Talk with both
hands and get busy with your eye
brows-and holy Joe, look at them
%pelones!"
TIE pelones referred to were a
squad Of Mexican federal soldiers, So
called from their heads being shaved,
and they were marching doggedly to
and fro through the thorny mesquit
bushes in response to shouted orders
from an officer. Being from zacatecas,
where the breed is short, they stood
about as high as their guns; and their
crumpled linen suits and Tapping SAN
dals detracted sadly from the soldierly
effect.
Big and hulking, and swelling with
the pride Of his kind, Hooker looked
them over slowly, and spoke his hid
den thought.
81 WONDER" he said, turning to Phil,
"how many of them 1 could lick with
one hand?"
We'll, they're nothing but a lot Of
petty convicts, anyway" answered De
Lancey, but here's some boys ahead
that III bet could hold you, man for
man, husky as you are, old fellow"
They were riding past a storej now
serving as an improyised barracks.
| and romDing about in the streets were
~