Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1915-10-08
BORDER MAN HUNT
Correspondent Describes Bide
With Texas Rangers.
Pursuit of Mexican Bandits W..
Raded American Ranch condueted
in 6usinessIike Manner-"Got
Five" Is Quiet Report.
BY JOHN w. ROBERTS.
international News Service)


than to be soldier in the United
States army. For one thing, you must
be able to shoot 80 per cent average.
very few soldiers can do that. And
then, you have to be more than fva
feet ten inches tall. You must know
how to ride like cowpuncher and ba
skillful in handling the lariat. You
must be a man of unqualified nerve.
and be ready at all times to face dan.
ger without a finch.
1t was my good fortune to be one Of
a party of ten rangers who left
Brownsville early one evening in pur-
suit of some Mexican bandits who had
recently raided an American ranch in
the vicinity.
l rode beside tall, quiet. handsome
boy of about twenty-five years of
age. His face was as tanned as a
Mexican's, but his steel-blue eyes be-
trayed his Anglo-Saxon nationality.
We had entered that part of the
country which is covered with a net
work of mesquite brush, ten feet in
height, as thick as any African Jungle
ever could be.
l started to whistle an old familiar
tune
Shut up" said my partner quietly.
We came to a small clearing and
halted. The waters of the Rio Grande
were dotted with reflections of the
stars in the bright sky. Across the
river was Mexico, and her vast, ST.
lent prairies cleaned like silver in
the starlight. One of the rangers dis
mounted and examined the ground
closely
They have gone that way" he point
ed northward
How does he know that it is the
men we are after?" asked of my COM
panion.
by the footprints" he replied.
"Greasers never take the trouble to
shoe their horses. An Americans
horse is always shod-that's the diff
ference, and the hoof prints point
northward."
Here we left the road and took up
a trail through the chaparral, single
file The thud. thud of our horses
boots in the soft earth, and the occa
sional squeak of a saddle were the
only sounds which broke the stiffness
of the night.
Suddenly, without warning. the
crash of body dashing through the
dry mesquite to our eft was heard
In almost the same instant ten sad
tnI Cf-
ping Texans had dashed into the
brush like so many rabbits. The horses,
but for turning curious eyes toward
the brush in which their masters had
disappeared, remained absolutely still.
A minute later, however, the ten men
returned and remounted.
Coyote" explained my partner,
with a smile. THE damn critters are
always fooling US, because they sound
Just like a greaser trying to get away"
We had ridden out mile farther
along this trail, when the shrill
whinny of pony broke through the
stiffness. 1t halted our small band
like magic. Although no one said
word, each man knew what the other
thought, and they .cted together.
Each ranger dismounted AMI took his
rifle from the scabbard.
It's them, guess" my paAtner in
formed me. "You had better stay
with the horses and keep your head
under cover in case there is any shoot
ing. We will be back in little
while.'
Although every one of the tea
rangers who took into the brush were
big fellows, each wearing heavy boots
yet, when hey had gone but ten PAGES
from where / stood could not hear
sound-not even the breaking OF a
dry twig.
Five minutes later the sound of a
shot cracked through the air. | was
in a state of feverish excitement
Never before had | been in man
hunt. and this one, staged in stlll
night on the prairies bordering the
waters of the Rio Grande, made me
doubt, even then, that it was taxing
place on American soil. The shot
was followed by another one, then
third, then many, all at once, ana IN
| few seconds more the air rang WIZ
the cracks of rifles. / heard an oath
screamed in Spanish; sharp-volced
command to halt, in English. Heard
the pink of body jumping into the
Rio Grande, then another and another
one. Someone was crashing mady
through the mesquite brush TO my
right, then all was silence again
few minutes later, the ten rangers
returned unhurt. While | was trem-
bling in my excitement, the men our
city put their guns back into theH
scabbards, mounted their horses
turned around, and started back "
| Rrovnsvilla again Not a word was