The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1916-05-25


red savages drove the Toltecs in head
long flight. bringing death and desc
lation upon the land. And then th,
Spaniard came. and--thou knowest tn,
rest, senior.
II do but speak the empty vapor
ings Of age. am seventy-six yearf
of age. and I have tracked that stone
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ever since that
day when Zapata's men robbed the
shrine.
Those men who fed yesterday
across the line. and who found refuge
with thee have the stone. They took
1t in fair fight from the rebels, who
wero moving toward El Paso with II
In the hope Of selling it for gold with
which to purchase arms and ammuni.
tion for their cause.
And they in turn have lost the
stone to thee; for passing cowboy
told mo that these men had surren.
dered to the Amertcanos and guided
me the greater part Of the way TO thy
camp.
II am no rebel, senior. am a.
churchman, not soldier. Butt seek
the stone-I. now that my brother is
dead; L, the Blind Priest of rrecante.
am the lawful guardian of the shrine"
Just then the deep voice Of the SER
geant broke in.
Sir, If the lieutenant is ready I'll
bring up the packs an the lieutenant
can go through EN-"
Kynaston, called back to earth,
| looked up and nodded.
| oil In, 30
| tent, sergeant"
The three pack mules, tired and un-
groomed, were led up and their packs
decanted in front of the tent where
Dorothy and Mrs. Fame sat in inter
ested observation.
| There ought to be guns an re-
volvers an ammunition" commented
Kynaston. Button! Button! Who's
got the button? wonder what they've
got packed away in those aparejos."
He soon found out. for under the
quiet orders Of theOsergeant the guards
slipped the packs and opened them
IN front OF the wondering eyes OF the
little group.
Il thought at least we would find
that the arms manufacturers Of the
country had shipped rifles and pistols
to them across the border" comment.
ed Kynaston. And find nothing;
absolutely nothing. A petate-sleep.
ing mat-and lot of dried red pep.
pers, together with package of beans
-frijoles- Wait bit! What's thai
under your hand, Miss Upton?"
Miss Upton, startled, looked curl
ously at the package under her hand
which she had been resting upon the
pack. She gave it twitch, and a bun
die wrapped in rough, red blanket
rolled out on the ground. 'Kynastor
. promptly picked it up.
, Him! Three rifles that have NJ
business here and hundred rounds
OF ammunition. Wait bit! Sergeant
| look at the arsenal mark on thos,
rifles and see where they were made.
The sergeant scrutinized them care
fully in the early light.
Sir, there's some mark on 'em tha
l can't make out. 1t looks like some
sort of flower as well as can see.'
Kynaston took the gun. AS IA
as it's appearance was concerned
It resembled every other militar,
rifle that he had ever seen, but whe1
he turned the under side to the ligh
he saw stamped in the dark woode1
forehand Of the piece the full-blowl
chrysanthemum that was the emblem
Of only one nation.
Him! An Arisaka rife! Nov
how the deuce did that come here? l
was made as far east as one can ge
without tumbling over to the westwar,
again. How the deuce did japanese
rifle come into Mexican hands?"
He had no opportunity to solve tn
problem, for even as he spoke Doroth,
gave an exclamation and stepped bacl
q pace as the covering Of packag
broke and a food Of silver pesos ra,
out at her feet.
4 There's no proof Of stealing 1,
these" commented Kynaston. Ever
IL there were the stealing was don
r in Mexico, and the thief was not with
!, In our Jurisdiction. What is this?"
1t was plain, dirty canvas sacl
: perhaps foot In depth and it bor
the marks OF rough handling. H
picked 1t up and juggled it from han,
to hand. The officer Of the Carranz
forces was obviously uneasy at tn,
= scrutiny.
! THAT. senor," he said, "is the great
! est prize of all. It was stolen b,
these rebels across the line and wa
to be used by them to purchase arms
Without waiting for any explana
2 tion as to what the contents of th
sack might be, Kynaston cut the strin,
and poured the contents out upon tn
! saddle blanket which the sergeant ha,