The Ordway new era., 1914-10-09
tcesyr,ss. 1914 b, s..s a N..y9

your taxes and you can come out
then.- conceded Henry Kruger.
mo-" grumbled Hooker. "if ! 90 IN
stay with It." He glanced at his pard-
ner at this. but he. tor one. did not
seem TO be worried.
-Ill try anything-once!" be OBJ
served with . sprightly air. and Bud
grinned sardonically At the well-vorn
phrase.
WELL" said Kruger. gazing inquir-
ingly from one to the other. "is It .
GOT win you shake hands on itf"
"What's the propositionf" broke In
De LAncey eagerly.
"The deal II between me and
Hooker" corrected Kruger. I'll give
him three hundred month. or an
equal share In the mine, expenses TO
be shared between u.s.
MAKE It equal shares" said Hook
ar, holding out his hand, -and I'll give
half of mine to Phil"
All right, my boyi- cried the old
man. suddenly clapping him on the
shoulder. "In 90 you-and you'll never
regret It." he added significantly.
Then. throwing Oh the air Of guarded
secrecy which had characterised his
actions 70 far. he sat down and began
to talk.
-Boys." he said. "rm feeling lucky
today Or ia 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
It II. here's. my smelter receipts for
eight hundred pounds Of picked ore
ono thousand and twenty-five dollarsl
That's the first and last ore that's ever
been shipped from the old Eagle Tail.
! 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 blowed mp the
whole works with dynamitei
Yes. sir. clean a. q whistiel had
my powder stored away in the drift.
and the minute found out was
euchred laid q 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.
ri bet they've spent fvs thousand
pesos trying to ind that lead. but b.
ing nothing but . bunch OF ignorant
Mexicans, Of course they never found
nothing. Then Francisco Aadero
comes In and nres the agents mineral
Oh his Job and old Aragon lets the land
revert for taxes. I've got . Mexican
that keeps me posted. and ever since
he sent me word that the title had
lapsed I've been crazy to relocate that
claim.
well. now. that don't look 20 bad.
does 1T" he asked. beaming paternally
At Bud. There amt man In town
that wouldn't have Jumped at the
chance, II I was where could talk
about It, but that's Just what l couldn't
do. had to nnd some stranger that
wouldn't sense what mine I was talk
Ing about and then git him to 90 In ON
1t blind.
"Now here's the way I'm nxed.
boys" he exclaimed. brushing his un-
kempt beard and smiling craftily.
when dynAmited the Eagle Tail It
was 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 blowed up
their mine. and II ever showed mp
down there ! reckon they'd throw me
into Jail. And II at any time they fnd
out that you're working for me. Why.
| we're ditched-thats all! They'll put
you out of business. 30, after we've
made our agreement and I've told you
what to do, don't want to hear .
| ~f vrNst IN
come near me, nor even write me q
letter-just go ahead the best you can
until you win out or go broke.
"It amt hard proposition" he
continued, ''if you keep your mouth
shut, but If they tumble. it'll be a fight
to q finish. I'm not saying this for
you, Hooker. because I know you're
safe; I'm saying It for your pardner
here. You talk too much, Mr.. De Lam
cey." he chided, eying him with sud
den severity. I'm afraid of ye!"
"All right broke in Hooker good
naturedly, Il reckon we understand.
Now go ahead and tell US where this
mine is and who there II down there
to look out for
The man to look out for" an.
swered Kruger with venom, 'is Cipri-
ano Aragon. He's the man that bilked
me out Of the mine once, and he'll do
1t again II he can. When went down
there-it was ten years and more ago
IL wasn't on to those Spanish ways of
his, and he was SO dog-goned polite
snd friendly thought could trust
him anywhere
He owns . big ranch and mescal
still, runs cattle. works few placers
sends out pack-trains. and has every
Mexican and Indian In the country In
debt TO him through his store. 20 II he
Happens to want any rough work done
there's always somebody to do II
.weI, Just 70 show you how he did