The Snowflake herald., 1917-09-07
CHAPTER XII.
The cuzman Incident.

teriOuSIy. At first the facts appeared
plain: a citizen of the United States
had been lured across the border and
done to death by Mexican soldiers-for
1t soon became evident that Ricardo
was dead. The outrage was a casus
beln such as no self-respecting people
could ignore; so ran the popular ver-
dict. The Ominous mailed serpent
which lay along the Rio Grande stirred
itself.
OF course, the people Of Texas were
delighted that the long-delayed hour
had struck; accordingly, when the
state department manifested it's will
ingneSs to allow Don Ricardo ample
time in which to come to life in pref
erence to putting further strain upon
international relations they were both
surprised and enraged. Telegraph
wires began to buzz; the governor of
the state sent a sarcastic message to
the national capital, offering to dis
patch a company of Rangers after
Guzman's body, just to prove that he
was indeed dead, and that the Mexi-
can authorities were lying when they
prOfessed ignorance of the fact.
This offer not only caught the popu-
lar fancy north of the Rio Grande, but
it likewise had an effect on the other
side Of the river, for on the very next
day General Luis Longorio set out for
Romero to investigate personally the
rancher's disappearance.
Now, throughout all this public
clamOr, truth, as usual, lay hidden at
the bottom of it's well, and few even
Of Ricardo's closest friends suspected
the real reason for his murder.
JOnesville, of course, could think or
talk of little else than this outrage,
and Blaze Jones, as beftted its lead
ing citizen, was lOudest in his criticism
Of the governments policy. Blaze's
conception of diplomacy was peculiar.
eff PotOsi didn't talk straight that
consul Oughta bent a gun barl over
the old ruffian'S bean and telephoned
for a couple hundred battleships. We
Americans are cussed with notions of
brOtherly love and universal peace.
some day or other"
Dave nodded his agreement. eyes.
But-everybody has the wrong idea of
this Guzman killing. The federal off
GERS in Romero didn't frame it up."
"NO? Who did,"
"Tad Lewis" r.
Jones started. "What makes you
think thatT"
Listen! Tad was afraid to let Ur-
bina come to trial. Ricardo's dead and
the other witness is gone. Now draw
your own conclusions"
Jones was amazed. "Say, Dave" he
cried, "that means your case has blown
up, eh?"
Z Absolutely. Lewis has been selling
wet stock to the federals, and he
probably arranged with some of them
to murder Ricardo"
Blaze cursed eloquently. "Td like to
hang it onto Tad; I'd sure clean house
down his way if was positive"
II sent man over to Romero" Dave
explained further. "He tells me Ricar-
do is dead, all right. There's a new
grave in the little cemetery above the
town, but there hasn't been a death in
Romero lately" The speaker watched
his friend closely. eff we had Ricar-
dos body on this side it would put
an end to all the lies, and perhaps
force Colonel Blanco to make known
the real facts. 1t might even mean a
case against Tad Lewis"
"What d'you say we go over there
and get RicardoY
Dave smiled. "That's what I've been
leading up to. Will you take a
chanceW
EYES,"
IL knew you would. All we need Is
a pair of Mexicans to-do the work.
liked Ricardo; owe him something"
Suppose we're caught?"
"In that case well have to run for
1t. and-I presume I'll be discharged
from the Ranger service"
II amt very good at runnin'-not
from Mexicans." Blaze's eyes were
bright and hard at the thought. "It's
more'n possible that, if they discover
us, we can start a nice little wal
of our own"
That evening Dave managed to gel
his Ranger captain by long-distance
telephone, and for some time the two
talked guardedly. When Dave rang
off they had come to a thorough un.
derstanding.
1t had been an easy matter for Jose
Sanchez to secure a leave of absence
from Benito, but Alaire knew nothing
whatever about the matter until Jose
himself asked permission to see her
on a matter of Importance.
The man had ridden hard most OF
the previous night, and his excitement
was patent. Even before he spoke
Alaire realized that Panfilo's fate was