Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-07-31

Il
tain. they could turn it over to Kruger
and quit the accursed country.
AS for the girl, Bud decided that
she could take care of herself without
any assistance from him, and dis
! missed her from his mind.
/ Back at the mine he found Amigo
guarding camp from the hilltop. and
after telling him the gist of his trou-
bles, the two Of them went to Work.
Every day, while one of them dug out
| the ore. the other crushed and washed
/ it and watched as he horned out the
| gold. Their rifles they kept beside
them and pistols in their belts; and
every time a Mexican dropped into
camp. as one did now and then In the
general unrest he felt the silent men
ace OF arms In readiness and continued
on his way.
For week they labored on together,
grim, watchful, experimentation, at
| the break of day, they heard distant
rattle of arms, like the tearing OF
cloth, and knew that the battle was
/ on.
| The great whistle at Fortuna opened
with it's full, bass roar, and Amigo
snatched up his gun and went Looping
| down the canyon, drawn irresistlbly
| by the sound of conflict. Bud fingered,
climbing higher and higher to get
view of the country. But his young
blood clamored for action too, and
soon he was mounted and gone.
The fighting was not at the Ameri-
can town, but down the valley by Old
Fortuna, and as Hooker galloped on
| toward the sound OF the firing he mo-
| Giced that it was on the move. Al
ready the cowardly rebels were re-
treating-the volunteers from Fortuna
were hurrying to get closer to them.
| the ruraIes were riding to flank them;
and when Bad jumped his horse up
the last hill and looked down into the
broad, cultivated valley he saw the
dust Of their fight.
Down the fenced trail that led to the
lower country the mounted insurrectos
were squirting in rout; across the
newly plowed field. OF Aragon the men
on foot were making short cut for the
| hills; and all about them, like leaping
grasshOppers. sprang up puffs OF dust
Now they plunged into the willow
brush along the river, where It swung
| in against the ridge; and as their pur-
suers broke into the open they halted
and returned the fire. The bullets
struck up the dust like hailstones in
! front Of the, oncoming irregulars, q
man or two in the lead went down,
and they faltered. Then, as frantically
as the rebels, they turned and ran for
! cover.
| While defenders and invaders shot
back and forth across the broad field.
Bud put spurs to his horse and rode
closer, and when he came out on an
other hilltop he was just in time to see
| the rurales come pelting in from the
west and take the revoltosos on the
flank There was great deal Of long
distance firing then. while the rebels
slowly retreated, and finally, with a
last defiant volley, the defenders
| turned back from their pursuit and
marched triumphantly to Old Fortuna.
There, amid numerous vivas, Don
| Cipriano rolled out cask Of meecal
and, after q fiery speech, invited the
victors to help themselves. So they
fell to drinking and carousing, and the
one defender who had been wounded
| was bandaged and made much of,
while a great crowd from the upper
town looked on in awe and admiration.
| At last Manuel del Rey and his
rurales returned from harassing the
enemy and with several wounded pris-
oners In their midst, the valor-drunk
Mexicans formed riotous procession
and went marching back to town.
Every horse and mule was carrying
double, guns were being dropped,
broad hats knocked of, and ever, as
they marched, they shouted:
viva Madero! Viva Mejico! Muerte
a los revoltosos!"
It was an edifiying spectacle to an
/ American, and with the rest Bud
/ tagged along to the plaza, where they
bad speeches and cheers galore and
more mescal at the company's cantina.
But in the midst of 1t, while he sat
laughing on his horse by the hotel,
Bud felt gravel strike his broad
hat from above and, looking furtively
up, he beheld Gracia Aragon smiling
/ down at him from the balcony.
She beckoned him with a swift
movement and gazed out over the as
semDlage again, and after few mo-
ments Of deliberation Hooker tied his
horse and wandered into the hotel.
A tingle of excitement went over
| him as he tramped up to the ladies'
parlor, for he had never met Gracia
face to face. But he disguised his
/ qualms by assuming masklike grim
ness of countenance and. when the
/ glorious Gracia glided out of her room
to meet him. he only blinked and stood
pat.
|