Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-09-19
CHAPTER Xlll-Continued.

IL was slow work: slower than they
had thought. and the gang of MeXi-
cans that they had hired for muckers
were maryels of ineptitude. Left to
themselves, they accomplished moth
ing, since each problem they encoun-
tered seemed to present to them some
element of insuperable difficulty, to
solve which they either went into eau
Gus or waited for the boss.
To the McXicans of Sonora Bernardo
Bravo was the personification OF all
the maleyolent qualities-he being a
bandit chief who had turned first gen.
eral 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-
lence all the more imminent.
Undoubtedly, somewhere over to the
east, where the Sierras lowered like a
blue wall, Bernardo and his outlaw
followers were gathering for a raid.
ana the raid would bring death to So
nora
Bravo, and If half of the current sto-
ries 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
him. provided she took his fancy.
Yes, surely he was a bad man-but
that did not clear away the rock.
For the first week Phil took charge
of the gang, urging, directing and ca
ijoling them, and the work went mer-
rily on, though rather slowly. The
Mexicans liked to work for Don Felipe.
he 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 90 to work.
which the trabajadores obeyed with
shrugs 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 IL
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 II for protection. For IL there |
is any one thing, next to horses. that |
the rebels are wont to steal, il is |
giant powder to blow up culverts with.
or 20 lay on the counters of timorous |
country merchants and brighten them
into making contributions.
AS for their horses, Bud kept them
bel'ed and hobbled. close to the house
and no one ever saw him without his
gun. In the morning, when he got I'D.
he took it from under his pillow and
hung 1t on his belt. and there it
stayed until bedtime.
He also kept a sharp watch on the
trail. 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, 1t was the same man, but with
a difference-his rife and cartridge
belts were absent and his clothes were
torn by the brush. But the same
competent smile was
there, and after a few words with Bud
he leaped nimbly down the bank and
iaic hold upon the rock. They pulled
together, and the boulder that had
baked Buds gang of Mexicans moved
easily for the two of them.
Then Amigo seized a crowbar and
slipped It into Granny and showed
them few things about moving rocks
For half an hour or more he worked
along, seemingly bent on displaying
his skill then he sat down on the
bank and watched the Mexicans with
half-amused eyes.
If he was hungry he showed It only
by the cigarettes he smoked, and
Hooker. studying up the chances he {
would take by hiring a deserter, let !
linn wait until he came to decision.
"Oyez. Amigo" he hailed at last, {
md. rubbing his hand around on his I
he smiled questioningly.
shereat the Yaqui nodded his head {
wildly. s
"Stawano!" said Hooker, wen" And I
le left his Mexicans to dawdle as they .
would while he led the Indian to camp. 9
there he showed him the coffee-pot {
nd the, kettle of beans by the fire, set G
ut a slab OF Dutch-oven bread and a v
ack Of ierked beef. some stewed fruit t