Marble Hill press., 1914-08-13

NO, grumbied Hooker, IF l go III
stay with It." He glanced at his pard'
ner at this. but he, for one, did not
seem to be worried.
"Iu try anything-once!" be OBJ
served with sprightly air. and Bud
grinned sardonically at the well-worn
pfnase.
Well" said Kruger, gazing inQuir-
ingly from one to the other, lis 1t .
go! VIII you shake hands on it!"
whats the proposition!" broke In
De Lancey eagerly.
The deal is between me and
Hooker" corrected Kruger. "Ill give
him three hundred q month. or an
equal share In the mine, expenses to
be shared between U.s."
Make It equal shares said Hook.
er. holding out his hand, -and III give
half Of mine to Phil"
"All right, my boy!" cried the old
man, suddenly clapping him on the
shoulder. "r'n 60 you--and you'll never
regret It." he added significantly.
Then. throwing Of the air OF guarded
secrecy which had characterized hts
actions 30 far. he sat down and began
| to talk.
~Boys." he said. I'm feeling lucky
today or I'd never have closed this
deal. I'm letting you In on one Of the
biggest things that's ever been found
In Sonora Just to show you how good
it Ia here's my smeiter receipts for
eight hundred pounds Of picked ore
one thousand and twenty-five dollarsl
That's the hrst and last ore that's ever
been shipped from the old Eagle Tail
dug it out myself, and sacked It
and shipped 1t; and then some OF them
crooked Mexican officials tried TO beat
me out Of my title and blowed UP the
whole works with dynamital
Yes, sir, clean as whistle! had
my powder stored away in the drift.
and the minute ! found out | was
euchred ! laid fuse to It and brought
the whole mountain down. That was
ten years ago and old Araxon and
the agente mineral have had the land
iocated ever since
I bet they've spent FIVE thousand
pesos trying to nnd that lead, but be-
ing nothing but q bunch Of ignorant
As1icans, Of courss they never found
nothing. Then Francisco Madero
comes In and fires the ngente mineral
on his Job and old Aragon lets the land
revert for taxes. I've got a Mexican
that keeps me posted. and ever since
he sent me word that the title had
lapsed I've been crazy to relocate that
claim.
Well. now. that don't look so bad.
does II 2" he asked. beaming paternally
at Bud There aint q man in town
that wouldn't have jumped at the
chance. II was WHARF l could talk
about It, but that's just what ! couldn't
do had to find some stranger that
wouldn't sense what mine | was talk
ting about and thsn git him to go In on
1t blind
Nov here's the way I'm fixed.
boya,- he exclaimed. brushing his un-
kempt beard and smiling craftiiy.
When I dynamitsd the Eagle Tail It
was mine by rights. bat Cipriano Ara
son-hes the big Mexican down at old
Fortuna-and Morales. the mineral
agent, had buncoed me out Of the title.
so, according to Law, hloved up
their mine. and II ever showed up
down there I reckon they'd throw me
into Jail And II At any time they and |
out that you're working for me. why, |
we're ditchsd-thats all! They'll put |
you out OF business So. aftar we've |
made our agreement and rye told you |
what to do. / don't want to heAr .
word out Of you-I don't want you 10 |
come near me, nor even write ne .
letter-tust 80 ahead the best you can
until you win out or so broke.
TT amt q hard proposition" he
continued. IF you keep your mouth
shut but II they tumble. It'll be . fight
to a finish. I'm not saying this for
you, Hooker, because I know you're
safe; I'm saying II for your pardnsr
here. You talk too much. Mr.. De Ian.
cay" he chided. eying him with sud
den severity. I'm afraid of ye!"
IAN right broke In Hooker good
naturedly. II reckon We understand.
Now go ahead and tell us where this
mine Is and who there In down there
to look out for"
The man to look out for an
swered Kruger with venom, SIS Cipri-
ano Arason. He's the man that bilked
me out OF the mine once, and he'll do
Il again II he can when I went down
there-it was ten years and more ago
Il wasn't on TO those Spanish ways OF
his, and he was so dogeoned polite
and friendly | thought could trust
him anywhere.
He owns big ranch and mescal
still, runs cattle. works q few placers.
sends out pack-trains. and has every
Mexican and Indian In the country IN
debt TO him through his store. 20 n he
happens to want any rough work done
thsres always somebody TO 10 n
wen. Just TO show yoa hev - liS
ne. ] got 10 nosins round those old
Spanish w0rkmgs east Of Furtsna end
lnaliy run across the lsAgs that Tn
tsiiing you sbout. not fnf frva -
lhandooed shaA But he Nm3caa
mining laws afS ei2srsat fspU suSu.
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