Williams news., 1914-10-15
CHAPTER xlIHcontinoed

CHAPTER xlIHcontinued
 It 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 noth- ing, since each problem they encoun- tered seemed to present to them some clement of insuperable difficulty, to solve which they either went into eau GUS or waited for the boss.
 To the Mexicans of Sonora Bernardo the malevolent qualities-he being bandit chief who had turned first gen. eral and then rebel under Madero-i and the fact that he had at last been driven out of Chihuahua and therefore over into Sonora, made his malevo- aence all the more imminent
 Undoubtedly, somewhere over to the east, where the Sierras lowered like blue wall, Bernardo and his outlaw followers were gathering for a raid, and the raid would bring death to So nora.
 He was a bad man, this Bernardo Bravo. and if half of the current sto- rias 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 bad man-but that did not clear away the rock.
 For the first week Phil took charge of the gang. urging. directing and ca 3oling them, and the work went mer- rily 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 oth- CTS 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 oil all long, winded explanations and suggestions by an impatient motion to go to work. which the trabajadores obeyed with ehrugs and grins-
 So Don Felipe turned powder-man and blacksmith. sharpening up the drills at the little forge they had fash nbned and loading the holes with dy- Aamite when it became necessary to break rock. while Bud bossed the unwilling Mexicans.
 In an old tunnel behind their tent they set a heavy gate, and behind it ehey stored their precious powder. Then came the portable forge and the baaekHmith shop. just inside the mouth ef the cave, and the tent backed.up against it for protection. For if there fs any one thing, next to horses, that the rebels are won't to steal, it is giant powder to blow up culverts with, pr to lay on the counters of timorous country merchants and frighten them into making contributions.
 As for their horses, Bud kept them beIled and hobbled, close to the house. and no one ever saw him without his gun. In the morning, when he got up. he took 1t from under his pillow and I hung it on his belt, and there 1t stayed until bedtime.
 He also kept sharp watch on the traA, above and below, and what few men did pass through were conscious of his eye. Therefore 1t vvas all the more surprising when, one day, look ing up suddenly from heaving at a great rock, he saw the big Yaqui sol dier, Amigo, gazing down at him from the cut bank
 Yes, it 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 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 easily for the two of them.
 Then Amigo seized a crowbar and slipped it into a cranny 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 Medcans with tolerant. halfamused eyes.