The Benson signal., 1916-07-29

them the countless thousands of the
red savages drove the Toltecs in head.
long flight, bringing death and desc.
lation upon the land. And then the
Spaniard came, and-thou knowest the
rest, senior.
II do but speak the empty vapor
ings of age. I am seventy-six years
of age, and I have tracked that stone
northward-northwar 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
it in fair fight from the rebels, who
were moving toward Ell Paso with it
in the hope Of selling it for gold with
which to purchase arms and ammuni-
ton for their cause.
And they in turn have lost the
stone to thee; for a passing cowboy
told me that these men had surren.
dered to the Americanos and guided
me the greater part of the way to thy
camp.
II am no rebel, senor. am a
churchman, not a soldier. Butt seek
the stone-I. now that my brother is
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
Bring 'em all up in front of my
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? l wonder what they've
got packed away in those aparejos."
He soon found out, for under the
quiet orders of the sergeant 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 a lot of dried red pep
pers, together with package of beans
-frijoles- Wait a bit! What's that
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 bun
die wrapped in a rough, red blanket
rolled out on the ground. Kynaston
promptly picked it up.
HIN! Three rifles that have no
business here and hundred rounds
of ammunition. Wait bit! Sergeant,
look at the arsenal mark on those
rifles and see where they were made"
The sergeant scrutinized them care
fully in the early light.
Sir, there's some mark on 'em that
can't make out. It looks like some
sort of flower as well as can see."
Kynaston took the gun. AS far
as it's appearance was concerned
it resembled every other military
rifle that he had ever seen, but when
he turned the under side to the light
he saw stamped in the dark wooden
forehand Of the piece the full-blown
chrysanthemum that was the emblem
Of only one nation.
Hin! An Arisaka rife! Now
how the deuce did that come here? 1t
was made as far east as one can get
without tumbling over to the westward
again. How the deuce did Japanese
rife come into Mexican hands?"
He had no opportunity to solve the
problem, for even as he spoke Dorothy
gave an exclamation and stepped back
q pace as the covering of a package
broke and flood of silver pesos ran
out at her feet.
There's no proof of stealing in
these" commented Kynaston. Even
if there were the stealing was done
in Mexico, and the thief was not with
in our jurisdiction. What is this?"
1t was a plain, dirty canvas sack
perhaps a foot in depth and it bore
the marks of rough handling. He
picked it up and juggled it. from hand
to hand. The officer of the Carranza
forces was obviously uneasy at the
scrutiny.
"That, senor," he said, "is the great
est prize of all. 1t was stolen by
these rebels across the line and was
to be used by them to purchase arms"
Without waiting for any explana
ton as to what the contents of the
sack might be, Kynaston cut the string
and poured the contents out upon the
saddle blanket which the sergeant had
spread upon the ground. Certainly
there was nothing in the roll of rags
| that rolled out to presage great value
D1,4 Il Il,