The Elbert County tribune., 1914-08-28
CHAPTER xill-contIausd-

OFtRf EN- NIlt-N0ukt00oos
II was slow work; slower than they
had thought, and the gang OF Mexi-
cans that they had hired for muckers
were marvels of ineptitude. Left to
themselves, they accomplished moth
Ing. since each problem they encoun-
tsred seemed to present to them some
eaement OF insuperable difficulty, to
solve which they either went into eau
Gus or waited for the boss.
To the Mexicans of Sonora Bernardo
Bravo was the personifcation of all
the maievoient qualitias-he being q
bandit chief who had turned first gem
leral and then rebel under Madero-
and the fact that he had at last been
driven QUE of Chihuahua and therefore
over into Sonora, made his malevo-
1ence 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,
and the raid would bring death to So
mora
He was a bad man, this Bernardo
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.
yor the first week Phil took charge
uf the gang. urging. directing and ca
5oling them. and the work went mer-
rfly on. though rather slowly. The
Aexicans 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 a man was by grunts and
signs and bending his own back to
the task Also, he refused to under
stand Spanish, and cut on all long
winded explanations and suggestions
BY an impatient motion to go 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 n rock, while Bud bossed the
unwilling Mexicans.
In an old tunnel behind their tent
they set a heavy gate. and behind II
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 UT
against 1t for protection. For II there
Il any one thing. next to horses. that
the rebels are wont to steal. 1t Is
giant powder to blow up culverts with
Or to lay on the counters of timorous
country merchants and frighten them
into making contributions.
As for their horses, Bud kept them
belled and hobbled, close to the house
and no one ever saw him without his
gun. In the morning. when he got up
he took It from under his pillow anc
hung It on his belt, and there II
stayed until bedtime.
He also kept sharp watch on the
trail. above and below. and what few
men did pass through were conscious
of his eye. Therefore It was all the
moro surprising when. one day. look
ing up suddenly from heaving at q
great rock. he saw the big Yaqui sol
der. Amigo. gazing down at him from
the cut bank.
Yes. Il was the same man. but with
a difference-his rifle and cartridge
belts were absent and his clothes were
torn by the brush But the same
good-natured. competent smile was
there. and after few words with Bud
he leaped nimbly down the bank and
laid hold upon the rock. They pulled
together, and the boulder that had
baked Buds gang Of Mexicans moved
'sasily for the two Of them.
Then Amigo seixod crowbar and
clipped II Into . Granny and showed
them . few things about moving rocls
For half an hour or more he worked
along. seemingly bent on displayins
his skin. then he sat down on the
bank and watched the Mexicans with
a,1arnuf half-auus,sd eyea