Evening star., 1936-04-01

| OF the underworld came UP from Los
Angeles and called on me secretly at
night. Her names Dolores Largo, an
she used to ride with that gang. She
was Three fingered Jacks woman an
he got tired of her an twice joaquin
read her out Of the party. She hates
Joaquin because he never would pay
any attention to her. an she wanted
him to. I guess. An she's jealous of
his sweetheart-a girl named Juanita.
Also. she wants to earn the reward
on Joaquin's head and Three fingered
Jacks. SO I've made a deal with her
an she's to lead me to the spot where
the gang holes up. You understand,
If we went In there and found bunch
Of Mexicans camped there and we
didn't know any Of them, including
Joaquin, we'd look foolish. But with
you along it'll be different. You
know a lot Of people figure Joaquin
Murietta is ghost"
We'll, we'll take the stage in the
morning. Mr.. Love-" Bill Warren
promised. Il got personal interest
now in helpin' you out"
No longer was Joaquin Murietta q
local problem. The blood Of not less
than 300 white men and as many
Cinnamon spilled by him and his
human wolves in a little less than
three years had made him State
problem. and Capt. Harry Love and
his company Of 20 Rangers was the
States answer. The question of ju-
riSdiction, which always hobbies
county sheriffs in the performance of
their duty, would not affect a State
body; once on the trail of Joaquin
and his bloody band, Love meant to
keep it, out-maneuver, out-think, out
ride, out-shoot and out-endure his
quarry and. in the end, like foxhounds,
run it to earth. And he knew now,
thanks to Dolores Largo. the location
of one of the berths of this human
wolf-the Arroyo Cantova.
| Love had made his plans carefully
and taken time to do good job. He
had spies in the underworld of every
stable town in the State-and they
were all women. Joaquin's exit from
the Mother Lode country would be
known promptly and as promptly COM
municated to him. Love had no desire
to pursue the bandits through the
rugged mountains and timber; he
wanted them out In the wide fiat
grassy reaches of the San Joaquin.
to get between them and the Sierra
and drive them into the Coast Range.
Pressed hard in that direction, he
had been assured by the diabolical
! Dolores that they would seek to evade
him by lodging into the secert Arroyo
Cantova, where a Gringo foot had
never trod.
The trail of blood led from the
northern mines to the southern, and
suddenly Love received word that
Joaquin was in the neighborhood of
Hornitos. Immediately he rode south
from Stockton. scouting the eastern
side of the San Joaquin. At Hornitos
spy informed him that Murietta had
left the hill, headed for the Santa
Clara Valley so Love and his Rangers
hurried to San Jose.
Joaquin, of course, was fully aware
of this new power organized to destroy
him: no longer did he have a force
sufficient to cope with it in battle. and
the knowledge that his affairs must
soon reach crisis still further ce-
mented his intention presently to leave
California forever.
The urge Of his ego again descended
upon him. He would go. but with q
final sting in his tail that would keep
his memory green for hundred years.
His outward trail was to be marked
! by the ashes of Gringo homes and
Gringo bodies on scale such as he
had never practiced before. He. there
fore. sent couriers to all the southern
counties to summon the scattered
band to meet him in Arroyo Can
tova: he was making one more des-
perate effort to gather force together
for his final dramatic exit.
Toward the middle of June. with IS
men. he started from San Jose south
along Ell Canine Real, camping by
day and riding by night. Love. arriv-
ing later. picked up his trail but was
two weeks behind the fugitive, for
Joaquin had suddenly turned east and
over the Coast Range and was riding
north, while Love and his Rangers
were riding on the western side. which
eventually brought them opposite each
other and less than q hundred miles
apart. Loves intelligence service was
functioning well, Joaquin's indiffer-
emily.
Meanwhile. Bill Warren had re-
turned to SaWmill Flat to be present
at Johnny's wedding. but the day after
he departed and five days later re-
Joined Capt. Love and his Rangers
in San Juan Bautista.
Got some news for you, captain"
he announced. joaquin sent some
harmless Mexicans over to Sa-rmill
Flat to exhume the bodies of his wife,
his brother and his sweetheart,
Juanita. They sealed the rough
wooden collins in tar an loaded 'em
in a wagon. Johnny asked 'em where
they was plannin' to take the bodies
an they told him Joaquin had given
them thousand dollars to haul 'em
down to the Mission San Juan Bau-
tista and bury 'em again in the mis-
sion churchyard there alongside his
mother"
Strange sentimentalist," said Love.
"He wants his loved ones all together
and in consecrated ground. reckon
he figures it'll be easier to visit them
there"
Together they visited the mission
cemetery and found the three new
graves, with wooden headboards on
them and appropriate epitaphs in
Spanish. Roses had been planted on
each grave.
In San Juan Bautista Love had an
interview with Dolores Largo, who
through her underworld associates,
and, with surprising intelligence and
stick-to-it-iveness. had kept fully in