The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-06-03
BY DANE COOLIDGE
illustrations by DON J. LAWN
Author q.
Author Of
THE FIGHTING FOOL" "HIDDEN ,
'.THE TEXiCAN," Etc.

NHcH al UtIllf II Ol LtDStS Will JulIlD III
and tax. everything we've got"
We'll. You get IL title to 1t and pay
your taxes and you can come out,
then" conceded Henry Kruger
NO rru,nbled Hooker. "if / go I'll
stay with it," lie glunced at his pard.
ner at this. but he. for one. did not
seem to br worried.
''I'll try anything he OBJ
served with Ii sprightly air. and Bud
grnncd sardonically at the MelI.wUrn
phrase.
Well" said Kruger. gazing inquir-
!nRly from one to the other. "is 1t a
go? VIII you shake hands on t?"
What u the proposition?" broke In
DE l.anccy eagerly.
The deal IL between me and
Hooker" corrected Kruger. III give
Him three hundred a month. or All
equal share In the mine. expeIses to
be shared between U.s."
Make it equal shares said Hook
er, holding out his hand. "aEd I'll give
half OF mine TO Phil"
"Al right. my boy!" cried the old
man, suddenly clapping him OH the
shoulder IN 30 you-and you'il never
rcgie, it," he added significantly.
Then. throwing on the air OF guarded
secrecy "hich had characterized his
actions su far. he nat dawn and began
to talk
Boys" he said. Tin feeling lucky
today or I'd never have closed this
deal. I'm letting you In on one Of the
I,i, "a
In Sonora. Just to show you how goUd
il is. here's my smelter receipts for
eight hundred pounds Of picked ore
one thousand and twenty-five dollars!
That's the first and last ore that's ever
Eecn shipped from the old Eagle Tail.
dug IT out myself. and sacked 1t
ana shipped 1t; and then some of them
crooked Mexican officials tried to beat
me out of my title and blowed up tho
whole works with dynamite!
Yes. sir. clean as Il whistle! had
my powder stored away i'll the drift.
and the minute found out ] was
euchrcd laid u fuse to II and brought
the whole mountain down. That was
ten years ago. and old Aragon and
the aRente mineral have had the land
located ever since.
i bet they've spent five thousand
pesos trying to find that lead. but be-
Ing nothing but IL bunch Of ignorant
Mexicans. OF course they never found
nothing. Then Francisco MaderO
comes In and fires the asente mineral
on his job and old Aragon let's the land
revert IL. taxes. I've got u Mexican
that keeps mo posted. and ever since
he sent me word that the title had
!apsed I've been crazy to relocate that
claim.
Well. now. that don't look so bad.
does it?" he asked. beaming paternally
ut Bud. There alnt man III town
that wouldn't have jumped at the
chance, II l was where l could talk
about 1t, hut that's just what l couldn't
do. l had to find some stranger that
wouldn't sense what mine was talk
Ing about and then git him to 30 In on
1t blind.
Now here's the way I'm fixed.
boys" he exclaimed. brushing his un-
kempt beard and smiling craftily.
when dynamited the Eagle Tail it
was mine by rights. but Cipriano Ara
gon--he's the big Nr~ican down at old
Fortunn-and Mci- y, the mineral
agent, had buncoed NE out of the title.
$50. according to law. blowed up
their mine. and II ! ever showed up
down there I reckon they'd throw me
into Jail. And II at my time they find
out that you're VIC: ling for me. why.
we're 'ditched-th;. ) all! They'll put
you out OF busli 8. So, after we've
made our agree tat and I've told you
what to do. I. ut want to hear u
word out OF ynn 4 don't want you to
letter-just ;.head the best you can
until you wiz, out or 80 broke.
1T amt Il hard proposition" he
continued, I you keep your mouth
shut. but II hey tumble. it'll be fight
to tlnis.,. I'm not saying this for
you. Hooa.r. because know you're
safe: Pm suying 1t for your pardner
here. You talk too much. Mr.. De Ian
cey." he chided. eying him with sud.
den severity. I'm afraid of ye!"
"All right broke In Hooker good
naturedty. II reckon we understand.
Now go ahead and tell us where this
mine Is and who there Is down there
10 look out for
1.-The nun to look out for" an
swered Kruger with venom. "is Cipri-
ano Aragon. He's the man that biiked
me out Of the mine once. and he'll do
1t again II he can. When went down
there-it WAS ten years and more ago
Il wasn't on to those Spanish ways OF
his. and he was so dog.goned polite
and friendly l thought could trust
him anywhere