Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-02

the mountains that l knew so we'll
This was our headquarters.
1 always believe in being prepared.
Today house is being built for me in
Chihuahua on the first plot of ground
ever owned in Mexico. and it is on a
hillside. i am going to live there
after Mexico is free and l am through
with this work. 1t has portfolios for
defense all along the top, and secret
stairways. {VNla never lived in this
house. that cost him half million dol
lars gold)
Those days around Parral were not
such bad days. We would steal mules
and drive them to the border, and l
your country often. I went as far as
Los Angeles once. You may ask how l
accomplished it. I was a Mexican.
had plenty of money. j had the right
to buy my ticket I could, get on
train and go where l wanted But L
always came back to my hills that pro-
tected me.
Never would I let my band attack or
prey on the poor II we robbed rich
hacienda, which are really small towns,
as you know, we would go into a viii
lage and divide the spoils with the poor
poems who had been crushed by the
cientificos. We would give dances and
festas. and even the rurales and regu-
lar Eendarmes lpolice) began to fear
Pancho villa. (His pride was evidenced
by the expansion of his chest when he
said this.) We could depend on the
populations of towns in the district
where we royed to protect us. No one
would tell on Pancho Villa.
After several years we changed our
headquarters from Parral. The be-
whiskered Carranza has said / had to
leave there because / stole girl, but
that is just another one of his lies. J
opened little butcher shop on the
outskirts of the town. The police
knew me. but they did not bother me
and I was getting along well enough
me to the rurales. That has been the
story of my life-one betrayal after
another-and l have always had to
fight to live. He was to get reward
to bring the rurales to my house.
Three times / watched this man
guide the federal police to my adobe
house at night. hoping to catch me
asleep. for even the rurales had
learned to fear Pancho villa then
They knew | was awake, for 7 never
really slept, and ! saw my old COM
panion. and now betrayer, jump down
through the garden, for he was AFRAID
l made up my mind that he must be
killed. l had one of my old compan-
ions living with me.
Compare" I said to him, I'VE mus
kill Jose He will betray u.s.
So we took our guns and pistols ano
cartridge belts and mounted our horses
one Sunday afternoon when all the
crowd was out in Chihuahua City an6
the band was playing on the plaza, as
always on Sunday afternoon. Almost
on the edge of the plaza | found the
traitor / was looking for. and l sho
him and killed him. Then my com
panion and | rode into the mountains
1t was bold thing to do. but before
the police could pursue us we hac
taken to the hills again and ! was bach
to the old life. I suppose you wonder
how / could live in Chihuahua City
The people there did not know me az
Pancho Villa, the bandit, and the police
were afraid of me. They even brlbet
this traitor to betray me. and the1
were afraid to come and take Pancht
Villa. Those days in Chihuahua City
in the little butcher shop. were thu
only peaceful ones of my life. / made
good money from my shop, and m,
brother Hipolito. now in charge a
Juarez, was a milkman there. When
finally fed from Chihuahua City 1t wa:
in July, 1910, just before the start o.
the Madero revolution, in which l tool