The Glenwood post., 1914-05-30
The Land of Broken Promises
BY DANE COOLIDGE
illustrations BY DON ]. LAWN
Aoso~ -
THE FIGHTING FOOL HIDDEN WATERS
THE TEXnCAN," Etc.

Now go ahead and tell US where this
mine is and who there Is down there
to look out for"
The man to look out for" an
swered Kruger with venom. lis Cipri-
me out of the mine once. and he'll do
1t again II he can. When ! went dowA
there-it was ten years and more ago
Il wasn't on to those Spanish ways Of
his. and he WAS SO dOg-goned polite
and friendly l thought l could trust
him anywhere.
"He owns . big ranch and mescal
still. runs cattle. works q few placers.
sends out pack-trains. and has every
Mexican and Indian in the country in
debt to him through his store, SO IL he
happens to want any rough work done
there's always somebody to do it.
well. just to show you how he did
me. l got to nosing round those old
Spanish workings east of Fortuna and
finally run across the ledge that I'm
telling you about, not far from an
abandoned shaft. But the Mexican
mining laws are different from ours.
and an American has lots of trouble
anyway, SO l made q trade with old
Aragon that he should locate the claim
for me under a power of attorney.
Didn't know him then like l do now.
The papers had to be sent to Mocte-
yuma and Hermosillo. and to the City
of Mexico and back. and while l was
waiting around l dug in on this lead
and opened up the preetiest vein of
quartz you ever saw In your life.
Here's . sample of it, and its sure
rich"
He handed De Lancey the familiar
piece Of quartz and proceeded with his
story.
THAT ore looked so good to me that
l couldn't wait-I shipped II before
got my title. And right there made
my mistake. When Arason saw the
gold in that rock he just quietly re-
corded the concession in his own name
and told me to go to blazes. That's
the greaser Of It! So blew the whole
mine up and hit for the border That's
the Dutch of it, l reckon" he added
grimly. Anyway, my old man was
Dutch"
He paused, smiling over the men,
ory of his misplaced credulity, and
Hooker and De Lancey Joined in
hearty laugh. From the town bum
that he had first seemed this shabby
little man had changed in their eyes
until now he was . border Croesus,
the mere recital of whose adventures
coniured up in their minds visions Of
gold and hidden treasure.
The rugged face Of Bud Hooker.
the first. relaxed as the tale proceeded
and his honest eyes glowed with ad-
miration as he heard the well-planned
scheme. As for De Lancey. he could
hardly restrain his enthusiasm. aud,
drawn on by the contagion, Henry
Kruger made maps and answered ques-
tions until every detail was settled.
After the location had been marked.
and the lost tunnel charted from the
corner monuments, ne Dade them re-
member 1t well and destroyed every
vestige Of paper. Then. As . final ad-
monition. he said:
Nov go In there quietly, boys
dont hurry. Prospect around q little
and the Mexicans will all come to you
and try to sell you lost mines. Cruz
Aendes 10 the man you're looking for
he's honest, and he'll take you to the
Eagle Tail. After that you can use
your own judgment So good-by"-he
took them by the hands-"and don't
tAlk!"
He held up . warning finger as they
parted. and Bud nodded briefly in
reply. Silence was a habit with him,
desert-bred. and he nodded his head
for two.