Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-08-21
CHAPTER |.

The slow rolling winters sun rose
9oldly. far to the south. riding up
1Pun behind the saw-toothed Sierras
luf Mexico to throw a silvery halo on
Aednden. the border city. A hundred
sssxan Of desert lay in Its path--a waste
90 broken ridges. dry arroyos, and
ss1sdy plRins-and then suddenly, as
u Aw magic. the city rose cleaning In
In Mn.
n wa a big city. for the West, and
swarming with traffic and men. Its
ssuAd main street, lined with brick
Auildings and throbbing with automo-
hflns. ran from the railroad straight to
Tie south until, at a line, It stopped
-Ahnrt and was lost In the desert.
That line which marked the sudden
sAA OF growth and progress was the
border OF the United States; the desert
wa Mexico. And the difference was
mat In the land. but In the government.
AZ the morning air grew warm and
aAe hoar frost dripped down from the.
roofs the idlers Of the town crept
fprth, leaving chill lodgings and stale
saloons for the street corners and the
@un-
Against the dead wall of a big store
Che Kexicans gathered In ~sbivering
xr@uyG. their blankets wrapped around
fAssir necks and their brown ankles
hare to the wind. On another corner
o bunch Of cowboys stood clannishly
Aaoof. eying the passing crowd for 9TH
Sss Of their kind.
In this dun stream which flowed
nnder the morning sun there were min
ing men, with high-laced boots and
Suaging pockets; grnybeards, with the
gossip OF the town In their cheeks;
Aoboes, still wearing their eastern
caps and still rustling for a quarter to
eat on; somber-eyed refugees and sol
AdSoss Of fortune from Mexico-but
sdlsrs all. and each seeking his class
and kind.
IL any women passed that way they
walked fast. looking neither to the
right nor to the left; for they, too. be-
Ing 20 few. missed their class and
hind.
GadRden had become a city of men,
Augslimbed and powerful and with q
Qnesting look In their eyes; a city OF
Adyenturers gathered from the ends of
Ghe world. A common calamity had
saraTen them from their mines and
sanches and glutted the town with
ian, for the wal was on In Mexico
AsA from the farthermost corners of
Sonora they still came, hot from some
neg scene of murder and pillage, to
AAd TO the general discomfort.
n the day wore on the crowd on
aAe bank corner, where the refugees
made their stand, changed its com.
paaxion, grew big, and stretched far up
xhs street, Men stood In shifting
EFuups, talking, arguing. gazing mood.
ny at those who passed.
Herv were hawk-eyed Texas cattle,
.msn. thinking of their scattered herds
u nabaSI or El Tigre; mining men.
Nth Idle prospects and deserted mines
n Ear south as the Rio Yaqul; mill.
man. ranchers and men of trades; all
driven in from below the line and all
sha1lng at the leash. While a hundred
Setty chiefs stood out against Madero
and lived by ransom and loot, they
mast cool their heels In Gadsden and
wait for the end to come.
Into this seething mass of the dis.
possessed, many OF whom had lost a
3UHtune by the war, there came two
aEsFe. with their faces still drawn and
I'd from hard riding through the cold.
Thay stepped forth from the marble
satrance of the big hotel and swung
- down the street to see the town.
They walked slowly, gazing into the
strange faces In the vague hope OF
AnAing some friend; and Gadsden, not
10 b outdone, looked them over curl.
OSsly and wondered whence they had
1cxna
Tho bunch OF cowboys, etill lettering
- the corner. glanced scornfully at
Che smaller man. who sported a pair
at puttees-And then at the big mans
3sst Finding them encasSd In pros.
yeetor's shoes they stared dumhly al
has wind-burned face and muttered
szAong themselves.
He was tall. and broad across the
shoulders, with ~farseeing blue eyes
sna q mop Of light hair; and he walked
IN his toes. stifflegged, swaytng from
- hips like a man on horseback. The
Tnmble Of comment rose up again as
- racked past and then a cowboy
1aace observed:
N bet We he's a c~ow-punchi"
re big nan looked back at them
mae&tRgly out Of the corner OF his oys
- want q without a word