Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-25

| without q word Antrim turned and
walked back to his camp.
"It's war;" said Don Jaime Miguel
Higuenes. .,. ,..u.
Don jaime"
mot at all. He's running blpff be-
cause he thinks I'm weak. He Is willing
to be arrested for trespass, provided his
sheep may drink. He will bail himself
out Of jail-all his men, too-and tres
pass again and again. The season Is
dry one and the feed on his own range
is depleted. He must get through the
Summer some way and hold his flock
intact. e. Well, I'll ride back home
and organize my defense"
you'll do nothing Of the sort, Don
Jaime. I shall. AS assistant general
manager 1t is my duty 20 command.
Besides, know how. Your life is much
too precious to risk 1t In brush with
these sheepmen. Arrests and trials will
follow this fight, and If you are not
, alive to protect your men, who, then,
jail?"
Don Jaime smiled his lazy smile. 1t
was easy to see he was very fond Of the
ranger. There is sound reason in your
argument" he admitted.
| Hobart went on.
| Permit me to return to the hacienda
and organize your forces, Don jaime.
Meanwhile, you ride on to Los Algodones
and file my Geographic resignation to
the governor. Here it Is. wrote 1t
out last night. It requests immediate
| acceptance by wire. The governor is a
friend of mine and will do this. Wait
| for the answer. Meanwhile, make your
arrangements to provide bail for IL of
your men. What men do you advise
for this expedition"
l Tofv NaVaAI
and Hobart realized that the force he
was to defend the water holes with was
equally divided between MeXicans and
| Americans.
"Now, then" Hobart continued,
we're going to lick the Antrim crowd,
and some Of them and perhaps some
OF us are going to get killed. More Of
| them, think. The survivors will pre-
fer charge Of murder against any Of
the men they have recognized during
| the fight, and the bail will be about
$4,000 each in cash or $4,000 in
bonds. That means you must provide
100000 in cash or 100000 in bonds"
I'm good for that in bonds"
well, then, make your arrangement
in advance with the district attorney.
You'll be in Los Algodones this after
noon, all night and tomorrow fore
noon. Tomorrow afternoon you will ride
back with the sheriff, who will be on his
way out to your ranch to arrest your
men. You will have perfect alibi, be-
! cause this fight will have been pulled off
| in your absence, so you will be quite
free to look after the comforts of your
defenders"
Don Jaime pondered. He much
| preferred, when his men were in danger
| defending the masters interests, to
| share that danger with them. On the
other hand he realized that the issue
/ was not to be fought entirely at the
WAGER holes; that In the courts he
wo9ld be needed much more than In
any other arena Of battle. He knew
| Ken Hobart was talking sense, and
that the sensible thing to do would be
| to heed his advice. So he needed it.
And in needing it he experienced no
qualns Of conscience, no feeling that he
was playing safe while others fought his
| battles.
The employees Of the Rancho Vale
Verde were scarcely employees in the
| modern sense. Rather were they re-
| tainerS, fierce partisans of the HigueneS
! tradition, men to whom it was q religion
to fight for the master in defense of
their bread and butter. This tribute of
| loyalty the ancestors of Don Jaime had
demanded as right; with the passage
| OF time 1t had come to be accorded
| without compulsion and become q
commonplace thing, to be accepted as
Don jaime accepted hot weather and
cold good fortune and evil.
Very well, Ken" he agreed. "Enrico
| Caraveo knows every foot of this range:
| once he locates the sheep he'll know
what water they will try for this eve
ming. The rest leave to you. Perhaps
| you had better loan me your rifle, In
| case should run into some of Antrim s
1 xyiV1
| you return to the ranch help yourself
to my arsenal. have every brand of
rife my foolish fancy coveted; select
the one you like best, then let your
men help themselves. Better use steel
/ jacketed bullets. have dumdum am
| munition for use on the bandits that
| favor me with an occasional raid, but
a sheep-herder is such a pitiful
creature, perhaps we had better be
He helped himself to the rangers
rifle and scabbard and fastened 1t
along his saddle. It was a Mauser
| carbine, and the ammunition was
| carried In clips Of five in pockets on a
| buckskin vest. Don Jaime donned the
vest and. with q nod to the ranger,
headed his horse across country in the
direction of Los Algodones.
| It was some months since he had
1luucu AOISS' rOI many years MS Trips
around his ranch, between his ranch
and the county seat had been made
by automobile. He paused now, think
| ing Of the 20-mile ride back to the
ranch; deciding he would spare him
self that hardship, he shouted to
Hobart.
Ken, send one of the boys into Los
Algodones with the motor and the
horse trailer attached, to bring my
horse and me home.'
SECURE" Hobart shouted back.