The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1915-07-17

the bandits he would make a break for
the line and civilization with the girl
It would be a hard ride, and alone he
would have no fear of the results, but
he would chance it even with the girl
rather than leave her.
The boy lieutenant, the brothers
Mendoza, the superintendent, and Man
uel del Rey, all were out on the hill
side talking terms with Bernardo
Bravo and his chiefs. With the rebels
it was largely a bluff, since field
glasses had shown them to be short Of
cartridges; but they had over thou
sand men massed along the ridges
and, with courage, could easily take
the town.
Bud knew that courage was the one
thing lacking. 1t was the one thing
that was always lacking In these Mex
lean fights. The Mexican bandit takes
but little chance when he goes to war.
AS for the Mendozas and their So
moran miners, they were properly
chagrined at their waste Of ammuni-
| ton and swore by Santa Guadalupe to
| fight 1t out with hand grenades. Even
as their leaders wrangled the Mexican
powder men were busily manufacture
| ing bombs. and all the while the SUI
| perintendent was glancing to the
south, for swift couriers had been sent
to Alvarez, the doughty Spanish ha-
ciendado of the hot country. to beg
him to come to their relief.
Twice before Alvarez had met the
rebels The first time he spoke them
we'll and they ran off all his horses.
| The second time he armed his YaQuis
and Yaqui Mayo rancheros against
them and drove them from his domain,
inflicting sanguinary punishment.
Since then he had been itching to
engage them in a pitched battle, and
when the word reached him he would
come. Two hundred and forty Yaquis,
all armed with repeating rifles, would
follow at his back, and even with his
boosted thousands Bernardo Bravo
could hardly withstand their valor. SO.
while the rebels parleyed. demanding
ransom of millions and threatening
to destroy the town, the defenders
argued and reasoned with them,
hoping to kill the time until Alvarez
should arrive.
In the open space in front Of the
house the refugees gathered In an anx-
ious group, waiting for messengers
from the front, and as Hooker walked
among them he was aware Of the ma
lignant glapces Of Aragon. There were
other glances as well, for he had won
great favor with the ladies by ditching
the powder train, but none from Ora
cha or her mother.
Bud would not have admitted that
he resented this lack of appreciation
on the part Of Gracia. In fact he hard
ly knew that he did resent it, but he
watched anxiously for any sign Of ap-
prevail from this girl who was to be
his pardner's bride should he conduct
her safely to the border.
From the beginning the Sonora Ara
gon had treated him as stranger. &C
cording to the code Of her class, and
Hooker had never attempted to In
trude. But IL Gracia still remembered
that she was an American girl at heart,
she forgot to show 1t to him. To all
she was now the proud Spanish lady,
thrown with the common people by
the stress Of circumstances. but far
away from them in her thoughts.
The conference between the leaders
dragged on and messengers came and
went with the news-then, after hours
of debate, it broke up suddenly In q
row and the emissar1es came back on
the run. Even at that they narrowly
escaped. for the rebels opened fire
upon them from the ridges. and before