Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1920-05-14

/ WuA WOWM lax ACnA0 W kCCVDAAVAgCE
the valley below.
A solitary horseman, whose seat be-
trayed his unfamiliarity with that
mode Of travel, popped around a bend
I'm the gully. With Incredible swift
ness Williams whipped his ready rifle
to hts shoulder, then lowered 1t with
IN amazed exclamation.
"You-yOu persistent little choco-
late-drop," he gasped, as the express
sionless face OF Jitendra looked down
into his own. "What In hades are
you following me for? Didn't / tell
you THAT yon were under no obliga-
ton to me?"
"YOu did, Sahib Buck"
"Well-oh, for the love Of Mike
beat 1t back to ri PasO, win your
You'll look like q sieve If Kosterlizt-
ky's rurales ever see that snow-white,
~cinnamon-bun headpiece Of yours. See
here, you loyal little deviI-yOu don't
owe me a thlng-do you get me7-not
q thingI You'll only bother me.
II can't guarantee you any protec-
ton, and / won't have you DIGGING
along to bait some n else after me. /
appreciate how you feel, and / admire
you for 1t. But this isn't India-it's
Mexico--a synonym for hell. / don't
want to be rude to you, but ! simply
can't and won't stand for any non
sense-because I refuse to take any
blame If anything happens to you."
"Will Sahib Buck grant me leave
to speak2'
'It won't do any good" obdurately
averred Williams, shaking his head
angrily. 'Tf you hadn't been padding
along behind me all night I'd bave been
a mile further up in those hills already.
AS 1t is, l suppose my coffee is spoiled.
Now, see here, Jitendra-if 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 vanish-down
into the ground or up into the air
any way that suits you. Come out at
Hl Tigre mine IL you want to--I won't
kick if | find you there-but Il / catch
sight Of you again Id the meantime
I'll shoot you myself, SO help me Bob r.
Jitendra regarded him solemnly.
Gas Sahib Buck Wills, so be it." he
quietly replied.
Without another word Williams
whirled on his heel and hurried back
to his coffee pot. An hour afterward
he stopped his horse at the fringe of
the tlmber-line 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
q grunt OF relief he spurred up the
trail.
Nine days later, unutterably weary,
astride a horse whose painful amble
and emaciated ribs signifed an exhaus-
tion proportionate to that of his rider,
Buchanan Williams drew rein In the
thick group OF pines overlooking HI
Tigre camp, where 1t chung to the side
of a 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 northumberland Of, until
his supreme engineering knowledge
and superb energy had reached down
TO drag 1t to the light Of day.
"H'ml" 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 EI Tgre
just now, at least. Wonder If Scotty
was wrOngT'
I He gave a little chortle Of satisfac-
ton as the glass focused on the door
to the underground bullion house and
supply chamber. It was. married and
battered, but evidently It had resisted
the efforts OF the pillagers to enter it.
mot so easy TO bore through steel
reinforced concrete" laughed the
weary man. Lucky / followed my
hunch and stuck those worn-out mine
rails into the cement mixture when I
hung that door. Well. I've got to take
a chance, / suppose. and I'd better take
It In daylight than after dark. There's
some canned stuff inside my cellar. and
I guess It won't taste so awful bad
after a diet of frijoles and berries. II
Pacheco and his gang do swoop down
on me. i might make q stand in the
buIllon-vault until they starve me out,
anyway"
He rode f~earlessly down the marrow
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 misunderstanding min-
ers' cabins on both sides OF the road
up which supplies were brought from
Cullacan, fifty odd miles to the west,
almost unnerved bin.
His horse SHE'D violently; something
quivered in the bushes on his right,
Williams elfmnsad at fhn ~haif-haked