St. Tammany farmer., 1922-12-23
Join his comrades.

house. He came striding into the
room holding piece Of soiled paper.
"Can't read it now and don't know
as I want to-" he said, savagely.
Not one Of the men was able to
translate the garbled scrawl.
Shore Mercedes can read it." said
Ladd.
| Thorne opened door and called
her. She came into the room followed
by Nell and Mrs. Belding.
my dear, we want you to read
what's written on this paper" said
Thorne, as he led her to the table.
Mercedes gave the writing one swift
glance, then tainted In Thorne's
arms. He carried her to a couch, and
with Nell and Mrs Belding began to
work over her.
Beldlng looked at his rangers.
'Laddy, It's Rojas all right. How
many men has he out therer'
''Mebbe twenty. Not more"
"We can lick twice that many
Greasers."
ashore"
Jim Lash removed his pipe long
enough to speak Lets stave the
Greaser off till dark. Then Laddy an
me an Thorne win take Mercedes an
hit the trail for Yuma"
"Camino del Diablol That awful
trail with womanl Jim, do you for
get how many hundreds Of men have
perished on the Devils road7''
II reckon l amt forgettin' nothin', .
replied Jim. "The waterholes are full
now. There's grass, an we can do the
| job in six days."
SITS three hundred miles to Yuma. y
"Beldin', Jim's idea hits me as
pretty reasonable" interposed Ladd.
.Lord knows that's about the only
chance we've got except fghtin'."
'But suppose we do stave Rojas off,
and you get safely away with Mer-
cedes. Isn't Rojas going to find 1t
out quick? Then what'u he try to do
to us who're left here?"
II reckon he'd find out by daylight .
replied Jim. 'sBut, Tom, he ain't
a-goin' to start scrap then. You see.
Tn fggertn' on the crazy Greaser
wantin' the girl. But he's too smart
to fight you for nothin'. Rojas may
be nutty about women, but he's afraid
Of the o. s. Take my word for It,
he'd discover the trail In the mornin'
an light out on 1t. I reckon with ten
hours start we could travel comfort
| able"
Belding paced up and down the
room. Jim and Ladd whispered to-
gether. Gale walked to the window
and looked out at the distant group
Of bandits, and then turned his gaze
to rest upon Mercedes She was con-
scious now, and her eyes seemed all
the larger and blacker for the white
ness Of her face, No one but Gale
saw the Yaqui in the background look
ing down upon the Spanish girl. All
of Yaqui's looks were strange; but
this was asingularly so. Gale won
dered If the Indian were affected by
her loveliness, her helplessness, or her
terror.
Presently Bedding called his rang
ers to him, and then Thorne.
Listen to this," he said, earnestly.
'I'1l go out and have talk with Ro.
jas. TIL try to reason with him, ten
him to think long time before he
sheds blood on Uncle Sans SOIL That
he's now after an Americans wnei
I'll not commit myself, nor will I Re.
fuse outright to consider his demands,
nor will l show the least fear Of him.
I'll play for time. II my bluff goes
through 81. well and good.
After dark the four Of you, Laddy, Jim,
Dick and Thorne, Will take Mercedes
and my best white horses, and, with
Yaqui as guide, circle round through
Altar valley to the trail, and head for
Yuma. want you to take the Indian,
because in a case Of this kind he'll
be godsend. If you get headed o.
lost or have to circle of the trail,
think what It'd mean to have Yaqui
with you. He knows Sonora as no
Greaser knows It. He could hide you,
find water and grass, when you would
absolutely believe 1t impossible. The
Indian is loyal. He has his debt to
pay, and he'll pay It, don't mistake me.
When you're gone TIL hide Nell 80
Rojas won't see her II he searches the
place. Then think I could sit down
and wait without any particular
worry"
The rangers approved Of Belongs
plan, and Thorne went to the side Of
his wife.
Mercedes, we've planned to outwit
Rojas. VIII you tell us what be
wrote?''
"Rojas sWoreby his saints and hia
Virgin-that II wasn't giyen-to him
lin tWenty-four hours-he would sci
tire to the viIlage-kill the men-car.
~ off the women-hang the children
on cactus thorns! /"
A moments silence followed he1
last halting whisper.
Then the Yaqui uttered singular
cry. Gale had heard this once before,
and now he remembered 1t was at the
Papago well.
"Look at the Indian" whispered
Belding, hoarsely. ''Dn IL I don't
believe he understood every word Mer
cedes said. And, gentlemen, don't mis-
take me, If he ever gets near Senol
Rojas there'll be some CORY Aztec
knife work."
Il #-lE