South Bend news-times., 1921-05-22

Inc udIQ4L 4eaQeE rose 20 MS Ae-t-
and peered around the bush. HIS
men all lay quiet. awaiting the sig
nal Immediately OPPOSITE Black
Eagle was a thing that drew his at
tention. Instead Of being a regular
passenger train 81 was a mixed one.
Before him stood "a box car. the door
OF which. by some means. had been
left slightly open. Black Eagle went
mp 20 II and pushed the door far
ther open. An odor came forth
damp. rancid. familiar. musty, in
toxicating. beloved odor stirring
strongly az old memories Of happy
days and travels. Black Eagle sniff
fed at the witching smell as the re-
turned twanderer smells Of the rose
that twines his boyhood's cottage
home Nostalgia seized him. He
put his hand inside. Excelsior-dry,
springy, curly, soft, enticing, COW
cred the floor. Outside the drizzle
had turned 10 a chilling rain.
The train bell changed. The ban
dit chief unbuckled his belt and cast
IL, with its revolvers, upon the
ground. His spurs followed quickly.
and his ombrero. Black Eagle was
moulting. The train started with a
rafting jerk The EXTERIOR Of the
Border scrambled into the box car
and closed the door. Stretched lux
uriously upon the excelsior, with the
black bottle clasped closely TO his
breast. his eyes closed. and with a
foolish, happy smile upon his ter
rible features Chicken Ruggles start
ed upon his return trip.
Undisturbed, with the band Of des-
perate bandits lying mouonless,
awaiting the signal 10 attack, the
train pulled out from Espina. AS
its speed increased, the black masses
Of chapparal went whizzing past on
either side. the express messenger
window and remarked, feelingly:
What a jim-dandy place for a
hold-up!"
tary horseman Of the regulation
fiery steed dashed in among them.
The newcomers was Of a porten-ious
and devastating aspect. A beak-
like-nose with a predatory curve
projected above a mass Of brisuing,
blue-black whikers. His eye was
cavernous and fierce. He was
spurred, sombreroed. botted, garn-
ished with revolvers, abundantly
drunk, and very much unafraid. Few
people in the country drained by
the Rio Bravo would have cared
thus 10 invade alone the camp of
Bud King. But this fell bird swoop-
ed fearlessly upon them and de-
manded 10 be fed.
Hospitality in tho prairie country
is not limited. Even If your enemy
pass your way you must feed him
before you shoot him. You must
empty your larder into him before
you empty your lead. SO the
stranger of undeclared intentions
was set down 20 a mighty feast
A talkative bird he was, full OF
most marvellous loud tales and eX-
pIoits, and speaking a language at
time obscure but never Colorless. He
was a new sensation TO Bud King s
men, who rarely encountered new
types. They hung, delighted, upon
his vainglorious bOasting, the spicy
strangeness Of his lingo, his con-
temptuous familiarity with life, the
world, and remote places, and the
extravagant frankness with which he
conveyed his sentiments.
To their guest the band Of out
laws seemed to be nothing more than
a congregation OF country pumpkins
whom he was "stringing for grub
lust as he would have told his
stories at the back door of a farm
house to wheedle a meal And. in
deed, his ignorance was not without
excuse, for the bad man" of the
southwest does not run to extremes.
Those brigands might justly have
been taken for a little party Of
peaceable rustics assembled for a
fish-fry or pecan gathering Gentle
of manner. slouching Of gait. soft
voiced, unpicturesquely clothed; not
one of them presented 10 the eye
any witness of the desperate records
they had earned.
For two days the glitteting
stranger within the camp was feasted.
Then, by common consent, he was
invited to become a member Of the
band. He consented, presenting for
enrolment the prodigious name of
Capt Montressor." This name was
Immediately 'overuled by the band.
and Piggy" substituted as a COM
pliment 10 the awful and insatiate
appetite of its owner.
Thus did the Texas border receive
the most spectacular brigand -hat
ever rode its chaparral.
For the next three months Bud
King conducted business as usual,
escaping encounters with law Of
ficers and being content with rea-
sonable profits. The band ran off
some very good companies of horses
from the ranges. and q few lunches
OF fine cattle which they got safely
across the Rio Grande and disposed
of 10 fair advantage. often the
band would ride into the little vii
lagos and Mexican settlements. ter
rorizing the inhabitants and plum
dering for the provisions and am
munition they needed II was dur
ing these bloodless raids that Piggy s
ferocious aspect and frightful voice
gained him a renown more wide
spread and glorious than those other
gentle-voiced and sad-faced desper-
ADDE'S could have acquired in a life
time.
The AIexicans, most apt in nomen-
clature, first called him The Black
Eagle, and used to frighten the
babes by threatening them with tales
of the dreadful robber who carried