Gunnison news-champion., 1920-01-09


piles necessary tor the hazardous jour
ney. were plcketed behind knot Of
waterworn boulters, while he crept
wurIly down the defile TO reconnoIter
the valley below.
4 solitary h0rsensn. whose seat be
trayed his unfamilIarity with that
mode Of travel, pbppcd around a bend
In the gully. With Incredible swift
ness Williams whipped his ready rife
TO his shoulder. then lowered 1t with
an amazed exclamation.
"You-you persistent little choco-
late-drop." be gasped as the eIprss-
sl"ulr-s face Of JItendru looked down
into his own. What In haits are
you following me fDr7 Didn't ] tell
you that you were under no obliga-
tlon To rurG'
You did. Suhib Buck
"WrII-uh. for the love OF Mike
bent It back to Fl paso. will youf
Yuun look Ike n sieve II kosterilzt.
ky's rurales ever see that sn0w-whlte,
cluuHmon-bUn hcadpieCc III yours. See
here. you loyal Ilttl" dcyll-you don't
owe 10. thlng-,io you get me7-nOt
q thing! Youll only bother me.
Il can't guarantee you amy pro,ec
| tion. and ! won't have you doTClng
/ along to bait some on" else after me. ]
appreciate how you feel. and | admire
you for It. But this isn't lnd!a-lt's
MeIIco-a synonym for hell. don't
want to be rude to you, but simply
can't and won't stand for any non
scnsc-bccausc ! refuse to take any
blame II anything hhpp-ns to you"
"Wlll Sahlb Buck grant me leave
to spenkf'
"It won't do my good" obdurately
ayerred Williams. shaking his head
ungrily. III you hadn't been padding
along behind me all night I'd have been
Il mile further up In those hlus already.
As II Is. ! suppose my coffee is spoiled.
Now. see here. JItcndra--lf you've got
anything up your sleeve worth while
just you sit down here on the ground
and fade away.
That's the way you can be OF some
real service to me-just vanlEh-down
into the ground or up Into the air
any way that suits you. Come out nj
Fl Tigre mine II you want to- won't
kick II | find you therc-but II ! catch
sight OF you again in the meantime
I'll shoot you myself. SO help me Bob -
Jitendra regarded him solcmnly.
"As SahIb Buck Wills. so be It," he
4 quietly replied.
Without another word Williams
whlrled on his heel and hurried back
to his coffee pot. An hour afterward
he stopped his horse at the fringe Of
the timbcr-linc of the Chirachaua
range and swept the arid hills be-
meath with his binoculars.
There was no sign Of the Hindu nor
OF any other living human being. With
grunt of relief he spufred up the
trail.
Nine days later. unutternbly weary.
astrlde Il horse whose painful amble
and cmac!ated ribs slgnihed an eIhaus-
ton proportionate TO that OF his rider,
Buchanan Williams drew rein In the
thick group OF pines overlooking Fl
| Tigre camp, where II clung to the side
OF u precipitous ravine in the majes-
tic mountains OF the coast range.
The pack burro had long since been
an abandoned luxury.
A few hundred feet below was the
treasure which had been hidden In
natures safe-deposit vault since the
dawn OF creation-undreamed of. until
his supreme engineering knowledge
and superb energy had reached down
! 10 t. nrb 90
'H'm!" muttered Williams, as he
carefully scanned the camp through
his glass for signs of hidden enemies.
Manuel and his friends seem to have
other business than running Ell Tigre
just now. at least. Wonder II Scotty
was wrongT"
He gave n little chortle of satisfac-
ton as the glass focused on the door
to the underground bullion house and
supply chamber. II was marred and
battered. but evidently II had resisted
the efforts Of the pillagers to enter 1t.
Not so easy to bore through steel
reinforced concrete" laughed the
! weary man. Lucky 1 followed my
hunch and stuck those worn-out mine
| rails into the cement mixture when l
hung that door. Well, I've got to take
a chance, suppose. and I'd better take
II in daylight than after dark. There's
some canned stuff inside my cellar. and
guess 1t won't taste so awful bad
after diet Of frijoles and berries. II
Pacheco and his gang do swoop down
on me, l might make n stand in the
bullion-vault until they starve me out,
anyway"
He rode fearlessly down the narrow
path with the quiet poise Of a man who
Is willing to risk all for the thing his
brain has built and his hands secured.
The cluster Of desolatelooking min
ers cabins on both sides Of the road
up which supplies were brought from
Culiacan. fifty odd miles to the west.
almost unnerved him.