Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-07-17
CHAPTER xIII-continued.

CHAPTER XIII-Contlnued.
1t was slow work; slower than they
had thought, and the gang of Mexi-
cans that they had hired for muckers
we're marvels of ineptitude Left to
themselves, they accomplished moth
Eng, since each problem they encoun-
tered seemed to present to them some
@tement of ainsuperable difficulty, to
solve which they either went into eau
gus or waited for the boss.
To the Mexicans of Sonora Bernardo
Bravo was the personifcation of all
The malevolent qualities-he being a
bandit chief who had turned first gen.
eraI and then rebel under Madero-
and the fact that he had at last been
driven out of Chihuahua and therefore
over into Sonora, made his malevo-
renee all the more imminent.
Undoubtedly, somewhere over to the
east, where the Sierras lowered like
blue wall, Bernardo and his outlaw
followers were gathering for a raid,
and the raid would bring death to So
nora
He was a bad man, this Bernardo
Bravo, and If half of the current sto-
Yies were true, he killed men when
ever they failed to give him money,
and was never too hurried to take a
fair daughter of the country up behind
aim, provided she took his fancy.
Yes, surely he was bad man-but
chat did not clear away the rock.
For the first week Phil took charge
Of the gang, urging, directing and Ca
toIing them, and the work went mer-
Tiiy On, though rather slowly. The
Mexicans liked to work for Don Felipe,
Re was so polite and spoke such good
Spanish; but at the end of the week
it developed that Bud could get more
results out of them.
Every time Phil started to explain
anything to one Mexican all the 9TH
ers stopped to listen to him, and that
took time But Buds favorite way of
directing man was by grunts and
signs and bending his own back to
the task Also, he refused to under
stand Spanish, and cut off all long
winded explanations and suggestions
by an impatient motion to go to work,
which the trabajadores obeyed with
Ghrugs and grins.
So Don Felipe turned powder-man
and blacksmith, sharpening up the
drills at the little forge they had fash
toned and loading the holes with dy-
Mantle when it became necessary to
break a rock, while Bud bossed the
unwilling Mexicans.
In an old tunnel behind their tent
they set heavy gate: and behind it
they stored their precious powder.
Then came the portable forge and the
blacksmith shop, just inside the mouth
OF the cave, and the tent backed up
against it for protection. For If there
is any one thing, next to, horses, that
she rebels are wont to steal, it is
giant powder to blow up culverts with,
or to lay on the counters of timorous
country merchants and brighten them
into making contributions.
AS for their horses, Bud kept them
beIled and hobbled. close to the house,
and no one ever saw him without his
gun. III TIC 1nOAAA WASA AO 6OO Ups
ne took it from under his pillow and
hung it on his belt, and there 1t
stayed until bedtime.
He also kept sharp watch on the
srafI, above and below, and what few
men did pass through we're conscious
of his eye. Therefore it was all the
more surprising when, one day. look
ing up suddenly from heaving at a
great rock, he saw 'the big Yaqui sol
der, Amigo, gazing down at him from
the cut bank.
Yes, it was the same man, but with
a difference-his rife and cartridge
belts we're absent and his clothes wBre
sorn by the brush. But the same
good-natured. competent smile was
there, and after few words with Bud
he leaped nimbly down the bank and
laid hold upon the rock. They pulled
together. and the boulder that had
SRlked Buds gang of Mexicans moved
easily for the two of them.
Then Amigo seized crowbar and
slipped it into Granny and showed
them few things about moving rocks.
Fer half an hour or more he worked
E7ong, seemingly bent on displaying
his skill. then he sat down on the
bank and watched the Mexicans with
tolerant. halsAmused eyes.