The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1914-06-19

sell; and prosperouslookin strangers,
riding through the country, are often
beckoned aside by half-naked paisanos
eager to show them the gold mines Of
the Spanish padres for hundred dol
lars Mex.
1t was only matter of time, they
thought, until Cruz Mendez would hunt
them up and try to sell them the Eagle
Tail; and 1t was their intention re-
luctantly to close the bargain with
him, for specified sum, and then
stake him to the announcement fees
and gain possession of the mine.
AS this was commonplace in the
district-no Mexican having capital
enough to work a claim and no Ameri-
can having the right to locate one-it
was very natural and inconspicuous
way of jumping Senior Aragon y Tres
Palacios' abandoned claim. II they
discovered the lead Immediately after
ward 1t would pass for case Of FOOLS
luck, or at least SO they hoped, and,
riding out little each day and sitting
on the hotel porch with Don Juan the
rest of the time, they waited until pa
tience seemed no longer virtue.
Don Juan" said De Lancey, taking
up the probe at last, II had Mexican
working for me when we were over in
the Sierras-one of your real, old
firaa xuorlyarc thof hod nouor hoon
spoiled by an education-and he was
always talking about La Fortuna l
guess this was the place he meant, but
1t doesn't look like it-according to
him 1t was Mexican town. Maybe
he's around here now-his name was
Mendez" s~
Jose Maria Mendez?" inquired Don
Juan, who was living directory OF
the place. Ricardo? Pancho? Cruz"
"Cruz!" cried De Lancey; that was
Iitm
"He lives down the river couple OF
miles," said Don Juan; down at Old
Fortuna"
"Old Fortuna!" repeated Phil. Il
didn't know there was such place."
"Why, my gracious!" exclaimed Don
Juan de Dios, scandalized by such
ignorance. do you mean to say you
have been here three days and never
heard about Fortuna Vieja? Why,
| this isn't Fortuna! This is an Ameri-
can mining camp-the old town is
down below.
That's where this man Aragon, the
big Mexican of the country, has his
ranch and store. Spanish? Him? No,
indeed-mitad! He is half Spanish and
half Yaqui Indian, but his wife is a
pure Spaniard-one of the few in the
country. Her father was from Madrid
and she is a Villanueva-a very beau
tiful woman in her day, with golden
hair and the presence of queen!
mo, not Irish! My goodness, you
Americans think that everybody with
red hair is Irish! Why, the most beau
tiful women in Madrid have chestnut
hair as soft as the fur of a dormouse.
1t Is the old Castilian hair, and they
are proud of it. The Sonora Aragon
married beneath her station-it was
in the City of Mexico, and she did not
know that he was an Indian-but she
is very nice lady for all that and
never omits to bow to me when she
comes up to take the train. / remem'
Der one time"
Does Cruz Mendez work for him :"
interjected De Lancey desperately.
mo, indeed" answered Don Juan
patiently; "he packs in wood from the
hills-but as was saying" and
from that he went on to tell Of the I'm.
failing courtesy of the Sonora Aragon
to gentleman whom, whatever his
present station might be, she recog-
nized as a member of one Of the oldest
families in CASTLE.
De Lancey did not press his in
quiries any further but the next morn.
ing, instead of riding back into the
hills, he and Bud turned their faces
down the canyon to seek out the elusive
Mendez. They had, of course, been
acting a part for Don Juan, since Kru-
ger had described Old Fortuna and the
Senior Aragon with great minuteness.
And now, in the guise Of innocent
strangers, they rode on down the river,
past the concentration with its multiple
tanks, its gliding tramway and noun
tains of tailings, through the village Of
Indian houses stuck like dugouts
against the barren hill-then along a
river bed that oozed with Stockings un-
til they came in sight of the town.
La Fortuna was an old town, yet not
as old as its name, since two Fortunes
before 1t had been washed away by
cloudbursts and replaced by newer
dwellings. The settlement itself was
some four hundred years old, dating
back to the days of the Spanish con-
quistadores, when 1t yielded up many
muleloads of gold.
The present town was built little
up from the river in the lee Of great
ridge Of rocks thrust down from the
hill and we'll calculated to turn aside
a glut of waters. 1t was comfortable
huddle of whitewashed adobe build
ings set on both sides Of a narrow and
irregular road-the great trail that led
down to the hot country and was worn