Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-09-25

was uduel LOT, anu the FuTdleS~
well, the rebels are the same" sug-
gested the superintendent Practically.
Let them fight it out-we need every
American we can get. so just forget
about being a Mexican"
"All right" agreed Bud, as he yield
ed reluctantly to reason. at amt be-
cause I'm a Mexican citizen-I just
want to stop that rush"
He walked back to the house, Jug
Cling his useless gun and keeping his
eye on the distant ridges. And then,
in a chorus of defiant yells, the men
in the federal trenches began to shoot.
In an airline the distance was some
thing ove a mile, but at the first scat
tering volley the rebels halted and
fired a volley in return. With a vicious
spang a few stray bullets smashed
against the reverberating steel tank
but no ono was hurt. and the defend
ers, drunk with valor, began to shoot
and yell like mad.
The bullets of the rebels, fired at
random, struck up dust-jets in every
direction, and from the lower part of
the town came the shouting of the o
combatant Mexicans as they ran here
and there for shelter. But by the
trenches. and in the real of the black
tank, the great crowd of onlookers
persisted, ducking as each successive
bullet hit the tank and shouting en-
enlargement as the defenders emptied
their rifles and reloaded with clip after
clip.
The rifles ratified a continuous vol
ley; spent bullets leaped like locusts
across the fiat; men ran to and fro,
now crouching behind the tank, now
stepping boldly into the open; and the
defiant shouts of the defenders almost
drowned the walls of the women. Elk
cept for one thing it was a battle
there was nobody hurt.
For the first half-hour the Ameri-
cans stayed prudently under cover,
busying themselves at the suggestion
of a few American women in providing
a f~irst-aid hospital on the sheltered
porch. Then, as no wounded came to
fill it and the rebels delayed their
charge, III man after another climbed
up to the trenches, o~stensibly to bring
down the injured.
AS soldiers and bystanders reported
no one hit, and the bullets flew harm
lessly past, their solicitude turned rap
idly to disgust and then to corr
Strange as it may seem, they were dis
appointed at the results and their re-
marks were derogatory as they com
mented on the bravery of pelones and
Mexicans in general.
From a dread of imminent attack, of
charging reb9,s and retreating defend
ers, and a fsht to the death by the
house, they came suddenly to a desire
for blood and battle, for dead men and
the cries of the wounded; and all fear
of the insurrectos left them.
Come away, boys" grunted the
burly roadmaster, who up to then had
led in the work; 1--WE wasted our time
on that hospital-there1l be no wound
ed. Let's take onfseTvdaFback Co tho
house and have a quieN Smoke"
Fright you are, Ed" agreed the mas
ter mechanic, as he turned upon his
heel In disgust. This amt war
them M~exicans think they're working
for a moving-picture show!"
II bet you l a go up on that
ridge" announced Hooker, land clean
out the whole bunch with my six
shooter before you could bat your
| eye."
But the superintendent was not 80
sure.
Never mind. boys" he said. Were
worth a lot of ransom money to those
rebels and they won't give up so quick.
And look at this now-my miners com
ing back Those are the boys that will
fight! Wait till Chico and Ramon
Mendoza get after them!"
He pointed as he spoke to a strag-
Cling band of S%enorans, led by the
m~uch-vaunted Mendoza brothers, as
they hurried to save the town, and a
cheer went up from the trenches as
the federals beheld achievements.
But a change had come over the fire.
eating miners, and they brought other
rebels in their wake.
AS they trudged YEARLY into town
and sought shelter among the houses
a great body of men appeared on the
opposite ridge. firing down at them as
they retreated. The battle rapidly
turned into a long-distance shooting
contest. with the rebels on the ridges
and the defenders In the valley, and
finally, IS the day wore on and a thun-
derstorm came up, II died out alto
gether and the rebels turned back to
their camp.
Except for one lone federal who had
shot himself by accident there was not
a single defender hurt, and If the
enemy had suffered losses it was only
by some such chance. But when the
Sonoran patriots, holding up their
empty belts, came clamoring for am
munition, the men by the big house