Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-11-27

truda But II Graeia sim femsAOsFod
that she vas an American girl at heart
she forgot to show It to him. To all
she was now the proud Spanish lady.
thrown with the common people By
the stress Of circumstances. but far
away from them In her thoughts.
The conference between the leaders
dragged OF and messengers came and
went with the ~news-then, after hours
Of debate, it broke up suddenly in q
row and the emissaries came back on
the run. Even at that they narrowly
escaped, for the rebels opened fire
upon them from the ridges. and before
they could get back to cover the
dandy, Manuel del Rey, received a bull
let hole through the crown of his hat.
A grim smile fickered across Buds
face as he saw the damage it had
wrought, for he knew that Amigo was
In the hills-and a bullet shot down
IA guys Al6As oOhlC law "a VA0s
was In his mind must have come to
Del Rey as he halted In the shelter OF
the house, for he regarded the Ameri-
can sternly as Aragon spoke rapidly
in his ear. But II they planned ven-
geance between them the times were
not right, for a rattle Of arms came
from the lower town and the captain
was up and away to marshal his men
to the defense.
So far In the siege Del Rey had kept
under cover, patrolling the streets
and plaza and letting the volunteers
fight, but now the war had shifted to
his territory and his ruraies were run.
ming like mad. For, matching treach.
cry against deceit, the rebel leaders
had sent men around to slip up near
the town and at the first fusillade from
the hillside they came charging up
the creek.
Then 1t was that the ever-watchful
rurales proved their worth. As the
rebels appeared in the open they ran
to the outlying houses and. fighting
from the fiat roofs. checked the ad.
vance until the miners could come to
their aid.
But In the confusion another party
Of rebels had rushed down the gulch
from the west, and while the fight wal
going on in the lower town they found
Judgment in a big adobe house. And
now for the first time there was fight
ing In earnest-the house-to-house
fighting that is seen at its worst in
Mexico. While women screamed In
the casa grande and the Americans
paced to and fro on the hill, the boom
of a dynamite bomb marked the begin.
ming of h~and-to-hand.
II there was to be a casualty list in
this long-looked for battle of Fortuna.
the time was at hand when they could
begin counting the dead.
With a f~earlessness born Of long IA
m~iliarity with explosives the Sonoran
miners advanced valiantly with their
hand grenades-baking powder a n
filed with dynamite and studded with
caps. Digging fercely
wall after wall they ap-
preached unperceived by the enemy |
and the first bomb, flung from a roof, |
filed the adobe with wounded and
dead.
A dense pail of yellowish smoke
rose high above the town and, as bomb
after bomb was exploded and the yells
Of the miners grew louder with each
success, the stunned invaders broke
from cover and rushed h~elter-skelter |
up the gulch. Then there was a prodi-
gious shouting from the Sonorans and
than n triumphant grenadier |
swung his can of giant powder by tho
sling and let 1t smash against the hill
In a terrific detonation.
In the big house all was confusion. |
Soon the cheers Of the defenders her
aid victory and. In spite OF all efforts
to restrain them, the wives of the
rushed into the open to gaze
upon the triumph Of their menfolk.
On the hilltops the ineffective rebel
riflemen rose up from behind their
stone wall to stare, until suddenly
they, too. we're seized with a panic and
ran to and fro like ants. Then, around
the curve below the concentration, q
tall man came dashing up on a pure
white horse, and behind him, charging
as he charged. anne the swarthy va
quis Of Alvarez, their new rifles CLEAN
Ing In the sun.
TO BE CONTINUED)