Abbeville progress., 1914-08-22


reward for the service that he was to
! perform.
But Bud and Phil were not travelling
for any particular uplift society. and
one hundred pesos was a lot OF money
! 70 Cruz MendeZ More than that. if
they had offered him a thousand dol
lars for the same service he would
have got avaricious and demanded ten
| thousand.
He came to the hotel very early the
next morning and fingered around an
| hour or so. waiting for the American
gentleman TO arise and tell him his
! fate. A hundred dollars would buy
, everything that he could think of. in
cluding a quantity of mescal. Ills
throat dried at the thought of it.
Then the gentlemen appeared and
asked him many questions-whethe
he was married according to law,
whether mis- wife would sign the pa
pers with him. and If he believed In
hereafter for those who played false
with Americans. Having answered all
these in the affirmative. he was taken
TO the agente mineral and after sign
ing his name-his one feat in penman-
ship-to several imposing documents.
he was given the precious permit
Then there was another trip to the
grounds with a surveyor. to make re-
port that the claim was actually va
cant. and Mendez went hack TO his
normal duties as a packer
In return for this service as a dunn
my locator, and to keep him under
their eye, the Americans engaged El
Tuerto, the one-eyed, to pack out q
few tools and supplies for them: and
then, 10 keep him busy, they employed
him further to build a stone house.
All these activities were, of course,
not lost on Don Cipriano Aragon
Tres PalaciOs, since, by a crafty ar
rangement of fences, he had made It
impossible for anyone to reach the
lower country without passing through
the crooked street OF Old Fortuna.
During the first and the second trip
of the strange Americans he kept
within his dignity, hoping perhaps
that they would stop at his store.
where they could be engaged In con-
versation; but upon their return from
third trip, after Cruz Mendez had
gone through with their supplies. he
cast his proud Spanish reserve to the
winds and waylaid them on the street.
"Buenas tardes, senores," he salut-
ed. as they rode past his store. and
then, seeing that they did not break
their gait, he held up his hand for
them to stop.
Excuse me, gentlemen" he said. !
speaking genially but with an affected
Spanish lisp. Il have seen you ride /
past several tlmes-are you working
for the big company up at New For
tuna2"
No. senor," answered De Lancey
I'VE are working for our
selves"
Good" responded Aragon with fa- /
therly approval; "it is better so. And .
are you looking at mines?"
Yes" said De Lancey non-commit- |
tally; I'VE are looking at Mines" !
gon; and | wish you well, but since
you are strangers to this country and |
perhaps do not know the people as
well as some, | desire to warn you
against that one-eyed man, Cruz Men
dez, with whom | have seen you rid
ing. He is a worthless fellow-a very
pela'o Mexican, one who has nothing
and yet he is always seeking to i'm
pose upon strangers by selling them
old mines which have no value.
81 have no desire to speak i'll of my
but since he has moved
have lost several fine little pigs; and
his eye, as l know, was torn from his
head as he was chasing another mans
cow. | have not suffered him on nv
ranch for years, for he is such a thief
and yet he has the effrontery to repre-
sent himself to strangers as a poor but
honest man. / hope that he has not
imposed upon you in any way?"
mo; not at all. thank you," respond
ed De Lancey, as Bud raised his
bride reins to go. I'VE hired him
% pack out our tools and supplies and
ne has done it very reasonably. But
many thanks, sir. for your warning.
Adios!"
He touched his hat and waved his
hand In parting, and Bud grinned as
lie settled down to a trot.
You can't help palavering em, can
you, Phil?" he said. mo matter what
1ou think about 'em. you got to be
polite. haven't you? Well, that's the
way you get drawn in-next time you
20 by now the old man will pump you
lry-you see. No, sir, the only way
o get along with these Mexicans is
lot to have thing to do with 'em.
No savvy'-that's my motto!"