Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-09-24

Moloch

said, "and we were delayed an hour OF
more by investigating the story of I
peon who said that strong body o.
rebels came north yesterday after
noon. They broke camp, however
about four o'clock and disappeared
through the Carroya canyon"
THE Carroya," repeated Markham
in puzzled tone, and Ills eyes and
the sergeant-major's forthwith sought
the same gap in the serrated noun.
tain ridge. That leads due SOU.
west?"
yes, sir" said the corporal
There's no doubt about it." he
added. we followed their track a
little ways
AT that he grinned, and the ghos,
ola smile fitted over the face Of each
of his hearers. There are times or
the frontier when neither officer moi
trooper is too communicative. Al
viewed from the standpoints Of
Washington and Mexico City, the
Rio Grande offers an impossible bar.
rier, but upon men charged with safe.
guarding the lives and property Of
American citizens who may be ex.
posed any day to outrage and muir.
der at the hands of robber halfcasts
holds more elastic opinions as tc
scouting areas.
"You are quite sure, Jones?" in.
-quired Markham eravely, after 4
slight pause.
Quite sure, sir"
Then that's all right Ser.
geant-major, see that this patrol il
relieved from duty for the next TWEEN.
ty-four hours, if practicable
The second mess call rang out, and
the camp assumed an even buster as,
pect. Markham's practiced eye took
in every detail. Things were going
smoothly, SO he turned and looked up
the main street of San Jose.
In front of the hotel, pretentious
building horribly at variance with the
Mexican aspect of the majority Of
the towns buildings, had gathered
some of the leading citizens. In hall
an hour he was due to dine with the
bank manager and couple Of ranch.
ers. His friends awaited him already
He knew quite well that they had
noted the return Of the patrol, and
would read the signs of an undis.
turbed evening in prospect. With q
sigh, for he hated the dull routine Of
office work, he dived under the flap
of the tent and plunged into figures
once more.
Suddenly, as though Medusa's teeth
had been sown in that arid soil, the
earth seemed to vomit forth horde
of galloping, yelling, death-dcalins
Mexican outlaws! They came, moi
from the river, an impossible direc-
ton in the circumstances, but from
a deep gully on the Texas side Of the
stream, through which trail led to
strip of barren country on the
northwest. Shouting like madmen
and in an uncomfortable frenzy, in.
spired partly by rye whisky and part
" by hatred of the "gringos, the
murderous band swept down on town
and camp.
Each alike was doomed. San Jose
numbered only 800 inhabitants, all
told, and of these barely two score
men were armed or physically ca
pable OF self-defense, while the sol
diers, as has been seen, were taken
at a, disadvantage, and might easily
be cut to pieces before they could Of
fer organized resistance. r
There could be no shadow Of doubt
that if the assailants had obeyed the
first law of military operations and
rushed the opposing force before Civ.
ing vent to their predatory instincts,
the story of the raid on San Jose
might have been told only by the
troopers. on duty at the bridge, al
ways provided, an unlikely thing in
Itself, that they mounted forthwith
and rode off at top speed. But, by
one Of those miracles which often
come to the aid of civilization in its
age-long struggle against barbarisn,,
the Mexican bandits were attracted
irresistibly by the sight OF the de-
fenseless town, with its rich loot OF
bank, hotel. some stores and pri-
vate residences.
They were thieves, one and all
This attack on an American com.
munity wore the thin disguise of pa,
triotic motive, but its true purpose
was revealed by the action Of every
marauders, both leaders and rank and
file, in not losing a second before
beginning the congenial task of plum
der. True, their recognized chief
none other than Sebastian Pancho in
person, contrived to urge on some OF
his followers in swift dash on the
camp. No doubt, out of the tail OF
his eye he marked for condign pun
ishment those rebels who thought
more of loot than of immediate VIC
tory. Even so, Pancho's innate saw
agery showed itself as he rode past
a small store from which an elderly
man was escorting screaming
woman carrying baby in her arms.
Raising a revolver, the Mexican
fred point blank, and the old man
fell, writhing in agony. The woman
stumbled over his body, shrieking in
mortal terror, yet striving to shield
the child; the accident undoubtedly
saved her life, because one of the
band, galloping close behind Pancho,
fred at her with rife and missed!
Markham, astounded BY the tor.
nado of yells and musketry, grabbed
a revolver and rushed bareheaded in
to the open. He took in the situation
at glance, and his soldiers heart
quailed momentarily in the natural
belief that the watch and ward his
troops maintained over the district
had failed most lamentably. But he
was made of stern stuff. No matter
what the prime cause of the disaster
his duty now was to try to rectify it.
He noted at a glance that the en-
envy had given him few most pre-
cious seconds of respite. Not more
than 101 men were racing down IN