Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-03-25
CHAPTER XII-Continued.

dFb AhC
from here.
CHAPTER XII-COntinued.
"And walk into a we'll placed am
bushf" said Prothro. mo, we need the
engine. Hop on and let's run back to
the wreck"
We got on and Prothro backed the
engine carefully back to where the dead
Mexican lay.
Put him vp on the tender, men," said
Prothro. There's no dirt here to COW
er him with
While We were burying the two dead
men, Prothro was busy looking at the
most forward car of the wreck From
the rubbish he drew some scraps Of
twisted steel which he called Spinks to
look at
THAT was clever, spinks," he said.
'They damned that train pipe with all
the air it would stand and locked 1t
down with that device Say, theyv got
one real mechanic with them, anyway,
the murderous devils"
1t was now far past lunch time, and
although our food hamper was badly
wrecked our Mexican cook managed to
get US up a good meal; and then We
took a look at the wreck to see what
could be done. The two cars nearest
the tender had not left the track, and
there was about two engine lengths Of
clear track on the dead end, so our com
munication with Guantapuaro was not cut
of. We worked all the afternoon in
the high, cool air Of the mountains, al
though we had only couple Of rail frogs
and some screwjacks to work with, but
as the moon was rising Prothro and
Spinks. with five cars ready to roll and
McCarty acting as brakeman, started
slowly back to Guanajuato, leaving Bar
nette and I and the Mexican cook to
guard the wreck.
l will long remember that first night
there in the mountains. We had
campfire of pinol and scraps Of wreck
age to keep OF the cold, which became
intense as the night drew on. hare
never seen the stars so large or won
derful as they are in that high and dry
region. Then there was the air Of dan
ger TO add excitement to the scene. We
did not know that we would not be at
tackled during the night by the bandits
who had wrecked US. Then q mountain
hon found our fire and sent Us q chal-
longing cry, and a bear spent the night
proving around our camp.
That night I made the acquaintance Of
Barnette To know q man. go through
danger and excitement with him or
camp all night with him in lonely
spot. Barnette was a simple man Of VIC
lent desires. Women and horses and
gaming and driuk-these seemed to be
the things by which he had lived-but
there was q better and under side to
In M NJ rha wild
storms OF passion that had swept over it.
"GIadney," he said to me, 81 reckon
you consider me sort 1bf devil, most
people do. And I'm going to tell you
I've been into many a scrape, but III
tell you one thing, in spite of few ad
ventures in Paris and Monte Carlo and
Port Said I've never lost my respect for
q pure, good woman; I don't think you
have either, and that's the reason I'm
telling you this"
told him 4 great deal about my sd
ventures with the princess
II know her sort" he unused aloud.
boy, III bet you fall for her before
another month"
mo. I'll stick to you ma Pro;hro."
and then I laugheds and told him what
Prothro had said TO Nelson about her
fathers being a hot tamsle vender, that
morning on the ship.
"Wen, you're a good scout G1adney."
he said But. do you know, if a thing
like that offered itself to me, all that
chance Of a big fortune. the gambler in
me would just naturally assert itself
and I'd fall for it before I knew it."
mo, you wouldn't. You'd stick to
Jarndyce and the thing you came down
here to do. By the way, Prothro's
dandy, isn't he? Has he ever had
real love affair -
HAS he? You should see the ltdy.
Now, II I could ever meet one like her.
She dwells in the realms OF purest
Knickerbocker society. and Mrs. Henry
Jarndyce herself could not be more ex.
elusive. But, of course, that isn't what
makes her what she is-she somehow
made me think of my sister when she
was a girl, my sister that lives out in
college town in Ohio"
You have seen her. them"
ayes, at close range. He had her and
her mamma meet me and Mora at the
Waldorf one night and we all had din
ner together I imagine She had been
after him about the kind of men he as
ISOLATED with him in his work and he
was holding us two up as the best speci-
mems, though I didn't know why he
should have picked me for that. She
seemed to find us both very amusing saw
ages, though 1 must say she treated me
with all due cordlality."
Has she good common"
Good boss sense? The best in the
world. 1t didn't take her two minutes
to decide that l was a bold, bad man and
not at all fit for Bob Prothro to asso-
ciate with, not that she showed 1t by
any look or speech just naturally read
her mind. But think both she and her
mother rather approved of little Mora
His discreet style won her over. Oh, but
she's some damev
"Looks?"
well looks, yes; but not altogether
that. She's just naturally a thorobred