Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-08-20

!: It's a cinch he can't denounce tn
i claim himself"
!: Maybe he figures on letting us d
/ all the work and pay all the denounct
ment fees and then spring somethin
: big on old One-Eye." propounded But
: Scare i'm up or buy i'm off, and hav
: him transfer the title to him. That
: the way he worked Kruger"
/ We'll, say" urged Phil, Tets g,
! ahead with u announcement befor,
he starts something. Besides, the
warm weather is coming on now, ant
II we don't get a move on we're likel,
to get run out by the revoltosos."
Nope" said Bud; 81 don't put thi;
! INTO Mendez's hands until l know he's
u mainland if l ever do go ahead II
Keep him under my six-shooter unit
the last paper is signed, believe me.
know we're in bad somewhere, but
hurryfng up won't help none.
Now l tell you what we'll do-you
go to the mining agent and get copies
OF all u papers and send them up to
tnat Gadsden lawyer. I'm going to go
down and board with Mendez and see
If I can read his heart"
so they separated, and while Phil
stayed in town to look over the rec
ords Bud ate his beans and tortillas
with the Mendez family.
They were a happy little family,
comfortably installed in the stone
house that Mendez had built, and rap
idly getting fat on three full meals a
day. From his tent farther up the
canyon Bud could look down and
watch the children at play and see the
comely Indian wife as she cooked by
the open fire.
Certainly no one could be more in
noeent and c~ontented than she was,
and Ell Tuerto was all bows and pro-
testations of gratitude. And yet, you
never can tell.
Bud had moved out of the new house
to furnish quarters for Ell Tuerto and
a favored him in every way; but
this same consideration might easily
be misinterpreted, for the Mexicans
are slow to understand kindness.
So, while on the one hand he had
treated them generously, he had al
ways kept his distance, lest they be
tempted to presume. But now, with
Phil in town for a few days, he took
his meals with Maria, who was too
aWed to say a word, and made friends
with the dogs and the children.
The way to the dogs heart was easy,
almost direct, and he finally won the
attention of little Pancho and Josefa
with a well-worn Sunday supplement.
This gaudy institution, with its spicy
stories and startling illustrations, had
penetrated even to the wilds of Sonora.
and every Sunday as regularly as the
paper came Bud sat down and had his
laugh over the funny page.
But to Pancho, who was six year
old and curious, this same highly col.
ored sheet was a mystery Of mysteries,
and when he saw the big American
laughing he crept up and looked at it
wistfully.
Mira said Bud, laying his finger
upon the Sinking visage of n of the
comic characters, Took, and | will tell
you the story"
And so, with laborious care. he
the colored fun, while the
title Mendezes squirmed with excite.
nent and leaped with joy. Even the
souls of Ell Tuerto and Maria +,
yer moved by the comicas, and Men :
lez became so interested that he .
earned the words by heart, the better !,
o explain them to others.
But as for Mexican treachery, Bud I
ould find nom of it. In fact, finding l.
hem so supplemented and good.na- :,
ured, he became half ashamed of his |
arly suspicious and waited for the
eturn of Phil to explain Don Cipri.
nos complacency.
But the next Sunday, as Bud Law
in his tent, the mystery solved
self. Cruz Mendez came up from the
ouse, hat in hand and an ~apologetic
mile on his face, and after the GUS
omary roundabout remarks he asked
le boss as a favor if he would lend
i'm the page of comic pictures.
"Seguro!" assented Bud, rolling over
nd fumbling for the funny sheet.
len, failing to find it instantly, he in
lired: What do you want it for?"
"Ah, to show to my boy!" explained
| Tuerto, his n eye lighting up with =
ride.
"Who-Pancho?" G
"Ah, no, senor," answered Mendez
IMPLY, my boy in La Fortuna. the >
lie you have not seen"
Bud stopped fumbling for the paper
Id sat up suddenly, Here was a new
sht on their faithful servitor, and one
at might easily take away from his
due as a dummy locator. p;
Oil" he said, and then: How te
any children have you, CRUZ" SC
Cruz smiled deprecatingly, as par it
its will, and turned away. W
BY which woman?" he inquired, and be
Id became suddenly very calm, fear In
g the worst. For if Cruz was not OF
gally married to Maria, he could not at
the mining claim. II
BY all Of them" he said quietly. pr
Five in ALL" returned Cruz-"three
Maria, as you know-two by my ar
st woman-and m other. / do not
unit him." yo
Wen, you one-eyed old ~reprobate!" tel
Uttered Bud in his throat, but he ag
ssed it off and returned smiling to So
9 charge. m,
Where does your boy live now?" an
asked with ~fiattering solicitude, the sill
tier to make him talk, and is he da
J enough to understand the pic tai
CO