The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1915-06-05


h He stepped quickly over to the cor
H raj and turned with his back to the
gate. while the commander spat ou'
\ orders in Spanish and armed mer
came running.
4 "Senor." he said, advancing brusQue
ly upon the defiant Hooker. Il must
trouble you for that pistol"
mo. senor!" answered the cowboy
keeping his hand upon his gun. mot
to you nor no man-and I'll never give
1t up to a Mexican!"
Carat" exclaimed the ofncer impar
tiently, you are an Americano-no?' p
Not only that" rumbled Bud. draw.
Ing himself up In his pride. Il am q
Tejano also. and If any man touches
that horse I'll kill himl"
His voice trembled With anger, but
his hand was steady and the Mexicans
did not deceive themselves.
'Ha. un Tejano!" murmured the
men who stood about, and one or two
who had started to climb the fence
thought better OF II and dropped back
to the ground
Bud knew the fate OF several men
who had proclaimed themselves Amefi-
leans to the insurrectos-boastful
done. 1t was said to be the quickest
way there was Of drawing a Mexican
bullet. But to be Texan was differ
ent-somehow the very name suggest
ed trouble to their minds and an Ala
mo fight to the death. Hooker saw
that he had made an impression, and
he was not slow to follow 1t up.
III you need a horse" he said to
the general. let your man 60 up that
arroyo and he will find one hobbled on
the fiat. Then give me your receipt
for two hundred dollars gold and
will contribute a saddle"
1t vas a reasonable concession, un-
der the circumstances. and. best of all,
1t saved the generals face. The hid
eous frown with which he had regard
ed the American changed suddenly to
q look Of pompous pride. He jerked
an imperious head at his ragged re-
tainer and drew forth his receiptbook
with a flourish.
While he waited for the horse to ap-
pear he turned upon his shopping men |
and drove them to their mounts with |
curses. Evidently it was no sinecure |
to command in the army Of the liber- |
alton. and the yelled mutterings OF
bis followers showed that they were
little better than tigers in leash.
Mounted upon horses, mules, and
even burros: armed With every con-
ceivable weapon from . musket to
standard repeating rides. they were
characterization army, moro at for
treason. stratasems and spoils" than
tho sterner duties 81 war.
Bud looked them over closely, we'll
satisfied 70 have his back against q
wall. and when the low.browsd 70
tainer came hurrying back with the
horse hs quickly took the worthless
receipt and watched them ON their
way. Then. - the last camp.followe1
disappearsd, he rsn for his saddle and
ride and within . minute hs Wa
mounted and away.
There vero reoels below him-vesy
nkely there were moro TO come-the
only safe place for Copper Bottom
was over the hills at Fortuna. With
out stopping for path or trail, he head
Cd straight northwest over the ridges,
riding - the cowboys do when they
rake the range for cattle. Hardly had
he topped the 1rst high crest when
he came in sight of Amigo. loaded
down with his cartridge-belts and car.
rying his heavy Mauser.
In long, shambling trot the Yaqui
was drifting along the hillside with
the free grace of a wild creature. and
when Hooker pulled down his horse
to keep pace with him he laughed and
motioned him on. Taking the lead, he ,
loped on over hogback and barranca,
picking out the best trail by instinct
and setting such pace that Bud was .
hard pressed to keep up with him.
He had heard 1t said that in the
YaQui country no white man, no mat ,
ter how we'll he was mounted, could
outdistance the Indians on foot, and
now he knew It was true. But why :
his killing haste on the part of Ami ,
go? He had neither friends nor kin :
n town; why, then. should he run 30 ,
last to warn them Of the enemy?
They racked on. up one hill and ,
Town another. while the insurrectos i.
ollowed the canyon that swung to the .
south. and finally. in q last scramble,
hey mounted a rocky ridge and ,
ooked down upon old Fortuna.
Already the hard-driven poems we're ;
tut in the fields at work and smoke -
vas rising from the mescal still. Ara .
ION was busy, but his labors would be y
worse than wasted II the red-fiaggers =
ook him prisoner. AS Bud breathed =
lis horse he hesitated whether to ride :,