Show Tfie : PASSING of BLACK EAGLE By O IIENRY (Copyright by Aiualoo Magaalsa Co) in the nearby corral sbowed pulverized to a level smoothness by the hoofs of the sheep Everywhere was the paraphercarelessly distributed nalia of the place— ropes bridles sadfeed dles sheep pelts wool sacks troughs and camp litter The barrel of drinking water stood In the end door of the wagon near the The harness was piled promiscuous upon the wagon tongue soaking up the dew Chicken slipped to earth and tied the horse to a tree He halloed again and again but the bouse remained The door stood open and he quiet entered cautiously The light was sufficient for him to see that no one was at borne He struck a match and lighted a lamp that stood on a table The room was that of a bachelor ranchman who was content with the necessaries of life Chicken rummaged intelligently until he found what he bad hardly dared hope for — a small brown Jug that still contained something near a quart of his desire Halt an hour later Chicken— now a gamecock of hostile aspect— emerged from the house with unsteady steps He had drawn upon the absent ranchman’s equipment to replace hla own attire He wore a suit of ragged coarse brown ducking the coat being a sort of rakish bolero Jaunty to a Boots he had donned and degree spurs that whirred with every lurching step Buckled around him was a belt full of cartridges wltl a big in each of Its two holsters Prowling about he found blankets a saddle and bridle with which he his steed caparisoned Again mount- - of empties In one of the cattle cars half buried In straw Chicken lay at ease Beside him In hts nest was a quart bottle of very poor whisky and a paper bag of bread and cheese Mr Peculiarly striking to the in his private car was on Ruggles optic nerve was this nohis trip Bouth for the winter season His torious marauder For a week that car was trundled personality secured him southward shifted laid over and the title of “Black Eagle the Terror after the manner of rollof the Border" Many fearsome tales manipulated ing stock but Chicken stuck to It are of record concerning the doings it only at necessary times to leaving Suddenly of him and his followers He satisfy his hunger and thirst In the space of a single minute Black knew It must go down to the cattle He was from earth Eagle vanished country and San Antonio In the heart His own band never heard of again air the mystery of of it was his goal There the never even guessed border was salubrious and mild the people The his disappearance The bar and settlements feared he Indulgent and ranches If would not kick him would come again to ride and ravage tenders there he should eat too long or too often He never will flats the mesquite would swear at him one at place Black they of fate the It Is to disclose They as If by rote and without heat Eagle that this narrative Is published and they rarely of the story swore so drawlingly The Initial movement paused short of their full vocabulary Is furnished by the foot of a barso that Chicken His discerning which was copious tender In St Louis had often gulped a good meal during eye fell upon the form of Chicken the process of the vituperative proRuggles as he pecked with avidity at hibition season there was alThe the free lunch Chicken was a “hobo" were the plazas He had a long nose like the bill of ways springlike with music and at a fowl an inordinate appetite for pleasant exceutnight the slight and during gayety It of and a habit gratifying poultry for Infrequently cold snaps one could which accounts without expense sleep comfortably out of doors In case the name given him by his fellow the Interiors should develop vagrants the that partaking agree Physicians the car was switched At Texarkana a is not times meal of liquids at to the I & G N Then still southhealthy practice The hygiene of the ward It trailed until at length It the opposite saloon promulgates across the Colorado bridge to purchase a crawled Chicken had neglected The at Austin and lined out straight An-as the meal drink to accompany for the run to San arrow bartender rounded the counter caught an tonio the Injudicious diner by the ear with When the freight halted at that led him to the door a lemon squeezer In ten was fast asleep Chicken town and kicked him into the street minutes It was off again for Laredo was Thus the mind of Chicken Those empty end of the road the of coming realize the signs to brought cars were for distribution along winter The night was cold the stars cattleline at the points from which the people shone with unkindly brilliance ’their stock were hurrying along the streets in ranches shipped When Chicken awoke his car was Men two egotistic Jostling streams and stationary Looking out between the their overcoats had donned was a bright moonlit Chicken knew to an exact percentage slats he saw it night Scrambling out he saw his the Increased difficulty of coaxing vest car with three others abandoned on dimes from those buttoned-ia little siding in a wild and lonesome The time had come for his pockets chute A cattle pen and country annual exodus to the south The stood on one side of the track A little boy five or six years old railroad bisected a vast dim ocean a covetous in stood looking with eyeB which midst In of the of In one small prairie window confectioner’s stock Chicken with his futile rolling vial hand he held an empty something was as completely stranded as was In the other he grasped Robinson Crusoe with his flat and round with a shining milled of boat field a scene The presented edge A white post stood near the rails operations commensurate to Chicken’s Going up to it Chicken read the lettalents and daring After sweeping the horizon to make sure that no of- ters at the top S A 90 Laredo was ficial tug was cruising by he insidnearly as far to the south He was his prey The boy almost a hundred miles from any iously accosted town Coyotes began to yelp In the having been early taught by his housesea around him Chicken hold to regard altruistic advances mysterious He had lived in Bosreceived the felt lonesome with extreme suspicion ton without an education In Chicago overtures coldly within Philadelphia Then Chicken knew that he must without nerve a out place In New York sleeping of one those desperate make without a pull and In Pittsburg sober into speculation plunges that fortune sometimes requires of and yet he had never felt so lonely Five as now those who would win her favor cents was his capital and this he Suddenly through the intense he heard the whicker of a lence must risk against the chance of winclose grasp horse The sound came from the side ning what lay within the It of the track toward the east and chuhhy hand of the youngster’s Chicken began to explore timorously was a fearful lottery Chicken knew his end by In that direction He stepped high But he must accomplish along the mat of curly mesquite grass strategy since he had a wholesome Infants force he was afraid of everything there for of by terror plundering Once In a park driven by hunger might be In this wilderness — snakes be had committed an onslaught upon a rats brigands centipedes mirages tarantulas bottle of peptonized infant’s food In cowboys fandangoes he had read of them in the the possession of an occupant of a The outraged infant story papers Rounding a clump of baby carriage mouth Its reared high its fanhad so promptly opened prickly pear that and pressed the button that communitastic and menacing array of rounded cated with the welkin that help ar- heads he was struck to shivering 'erdid his “thirty and Chicken rived ror by a snort and a thunderous days and" In a snug coop Wherefore plunge as the horse himself startled bounded away some fifty yards and he was as he said “leary of kids” Beginning artfully to question the then resumed his grazing But here was the one thing In the desert that his choice of sweets boy concerning He had been Chicken did not fear he gradually drew out the Informareared on a farm he had handled Mamma said he was tion he wanted understood them and could to ask the drug store for ten cents' horses ing he rode swiftly away singing a he In the bottle loud and tuneless song ride worth of paregoric was to keep his hand shut tight over slowly and speaking Approaching he followed the animal Bud King’s band of desperadoes the dollar he must not stop to talk soothingly outlaws and horse and cattle thieves to anyone In the street he must ask which after Its first flight seemed the drug store man to wrap up the gentle enough and secured the end were in camp at a secluded spot on t of lariat his In the of the the and bank of the Frio Their depredathat dragged pocket change put trousers Indeed they had pockets — after him In the grass It required tions In the Rio Grande country while And he liked chocolate him but a few moments to contrive no bolder than usual two of them! had been adth rope Into an ingenious vertised more extensively and Capcreams best went Into the store and after the style of the Mexican borsal tain Kinney’s company of rangers had Chicken was enIn another been look he horse’s down his to Invested He the ordered upon after them turned plunger Bud King who was a tire capital in C A N D Y stocks back and off at a splendid lope giv- Consequently Instead of cutting out wise general ing the animal free choice of direcsimply to pave the way to the greater “He will take me somewhere” a hot trail for the upholders of the tion risk following law as his men wished to do retired He gave the sweets to the young- said Chicken to himself It would have been a thing of Joy for Ihe time to the prickly fastnesses ster and had the satisfaction of peruntrammeled of the Frio valley that gallop over the that confidence was estabceiving moonlit prairie even to Chicken who the move was a prudent Though After that it was easy to oblished to loathed exertion hut that his mood ‘one and not Incompatible with Bud’s tain leadership of the expedition courage It raised dissentake the investment by the hand and was not for It His head ached a was the thirst sion the members of the band him growing upon knew he store among to nice It a lead drug “somewhere” whither his lucky mount In fact while they thus lay There Chicken of in the same block him was full of dismal perdu In the brush the question with a parental air passed over the might convey of Bud King’s fitness for the leaderperadventure dollar and called for the medicine And now he noted that the borse his candy with closed doors ship was argued while the boy crunched moved to a definite goal Where the as It were by his followers Never of the responsiglad to be relieved smooth he course before had Bud’s skill or efficiency his lay And the kept then prairie bility of the purchase as an arrow’s to the been his toward criticism but his brought Investor straight searching successful east Deflected by hill or arroyo or glory was waning (and such Is glory’s found an overcoat button— pockets spinous he fate) In the light of a newer star brakes Impracticable the extent of his winter trousseau— The sentiment of the band was crysplaced the quickly flowed again Into the current and wrapping it carefully charted of At tallizing into the opinion that Black by his unerring Instinct the In pdcket ostensible change side of a last the rise upon the Eagle could lead them with more lusSetting gentle confiding juvenility he and patsuddenly subsided to a complacent ter profit and distinction face homeward youngster’s A stone’s walk cast away stood a on the back This Black Eagle — the ting him benevolently little mott of coma trees beneath It "Terror of the Border” — had been s —for Chicken’s heart was a3 soft as a Jacal such as the Mexicans erect — member of the gang about three those or his feathered namesakes— a a house with of market months the upright poles the speculator quit indaubed with clay and roofed One night while they were In camp with profit of 1700 per cent on his An soligrass or tule reeds vested capital experienced on the' San Miguel water hole eye would have estimated the spot tary horseman on the regulation fiery Two hours later an Iron Mountain as the headquarters of a small sheep out of the railsteed dashed In among them The pulled engine freight newcomer was of a portentous VUd road yards Texas bound with a string ranch In the moonlight the ground OR some months of a certain year a grim bandit Infested the Texas border the Rio Grandn along devastating nose aspect A a predatory curve projected a mass of bristling whiskers His eye was cavernous and fierce He was spurred booted with regarnished volvers drunk and very abundantly much unafraid Few people (ln’ the drained country by the Rio Bravo would have cared thus td Invade alone the camp of Bud King But this fell bird swooped fearlessly upon them and demanded to be fed In the prairie country Is Hospitality not limited Even if your enemy pass your way you must feed him before You must empty your you Bhoot him larder Into him before you empty your lead So the stranger of undeclared intentions was set down to a mighty feast A talkative bird he was full of moBt marvelous loud tales and exploits and speaking a language at times obscure but never colorless He was a new sensation to Bud King’s men who rarely encountered new types They hung delighted upon hla vainglorious the boasting spicy strangeness of his lingo his contemptuous familiarity with life the world and remote places and the extravagant frankness with which he conveyed his sentiments To their guest the band of outlaws seemed to be nothing more than a of country congregation bumpkins whom he was “stringing for grub” just as be would have told his stories at the back door of a farmhouse to wheedle a meal And Indeed his ignorance was not without excuse for the “had man” of the southwest does with above Those brigands not run to extremes might Justly have been taken for a little party of peaceable rustics assembled for a fish fry or pecan gathGentle of manner slouching of unplcturesquely clothed not one of them presented to the eye any witness of the desperate deeds they had earned For two days the glittering stranger within the camp was feasted Then by common consent he was Invited to become a member of the hand He consented presenting for enrollment of “Captain name the prodigious Montressor" This name was Immedioverruled and by the band ately “Piggy” substituted as a compliment to the awful and Insatiate appetite of its owner Thus did the Texas border receive the most spectacular brigand that ever rode Its chaparral For the next three months Bud King conducted business as usual escaping encounters with law officers and being content with reasonable profits The band ran off some very good companies of horses from the ranges and a few bunches of fine cattle which they got safely across the Rio Grande and disposed of to fair advantage Often the band would ride Into the little villages and Mexican settlements terrorizing the Inhabitants and for the provisions and amplundering It was daring munition they needed these bloodless raids that Piggy’s ferocious aspect and frightful voice gained him a renown more widespread and glorious than those other and desperadoes could have acquired In a lifetime most apt In nomen- The Mexicans ering gait clature first called him The Black Eagle and used to frighten the babies by threatening them with tales of the dreadful robber who carried off little children in bis great beak Soon the name extended and Black Eagle the Terror of the Border became a recIn ognized factor exaggerated newspaper reports and ranch gossip The country from the Nueces to the Rio Grande was a wild but fertile stretch given over to the sheep and cattle ranches Range law was mainly a letter and the pirates met with little opposition until the flaunting and garish Piggy gave the band undue advertisement Then McKinney’s ranger company headed for those precincts and Bud King knew that It meant grim and sudden war or else temporary retirement Regarding the rlBk to be unnecessary he drew off bis band to an almost Inaccessible Wherespot on the bank of the Frio fore as has been said dissatisfaction arose among the members and Impeachment proceedings against Bud were premeditated with Black Eagle in high favor for the succession Bud King was not unaware of the sentiment and he called aside Cactus Taylor his trusted lieutenant to discuss It "If the boys" said Bud "ain’t satisfied with me I’m willin’ to step put They’re buckin’ against my way of handlin’ ’em And ’specially because I concludes to hit the brush while Sam Kinney is ridln the line I saves ’em from bein’ shot or sent up on a state contract and they up and says I’m no good" “It ain’t so much that" explained Cactus "as It Is they’re plum locoed about Piggy They want them whiskers and that nose of his to split the wind at the bead of the column” “There’s somethin' mighty seldom about Piggy” declared Bud musingly “I never yet see anything on the hoof that he exactly grades up with He can shore boiler a plenty and he straddles a hoss from where you laid the chunk But he ain't never been You know Cactus we smoked yet ain't had a row since he’s been with us Piggy’s all right for skearin’ the greaBer kids and layln’ waste a crossI reckon he's the finest roads store canned oyster buccaneer and pirate that ever was but how’s his for flghtln’T I’ve knowed appetite some citizens you’d think was starvin’ for trouble get a bad dose of the first dose of lead they had to take" “He talks all spraddled out” said Cactus " 'bout the rookuses be’B been In He claims to have saw the elephant and hearn the owl" “I know” replied Bud using the expressive phrase of “but It sounds to me!” skepticism This conversation was held one night In camp while the other members of the band —eight in number— were sprawling around the fire lingering over their supper When Bud and Cactus ceased talking they heard Piggy’s formidable voice holding forth to the others as usual while he was engaged In checking though never hie ravenous appetite satlrfylng "Wat’s de use” he was sajVig “of chasin’ little red cowses and hosses ’round for t’ousands of miles Dere ain’t nutttn’ In It Gallopin’ t’rough chee bushes and briers and gettla dat a brewery couldn’t put oat and mlssln meals! You know 8ay! wliat I'd do if I was main finger of di bunch I’d stick up a train I’d blow de express car and make hard dollars where you guys gets wind" Later on a deputation waited o Bud They stood on one leg for twigs and clrcumlocutcd Bud they hated to hurt his feelings foresaw their business and made It easy for them risks and Bigger larger profits was what they wanted The suggestion of Piggy’s about holding up a train had fired their and Increased Imagination their admiration for the dash and boldness of the Instigator They were such simbushple artless and rangers that they had never before thought of extending their habits beyond the running off of live stock and the shooting of such of their acquaintances as ventured to interfere Bud acted "on the level" agreeing to take a subordinate place in the gang until Black Eagle should have been given a trial as leader After a great deal of consultation and discussion studying of timetables of the country’s topography the time and place for carrying out their new was decided At that upon enterprise time there was a feedstuff famine in Mexico and a cattle famine In certain parts of the United States and there was a brick international trade Much money was being shipped along the railroads that connected the two reIt was agreed that the most publics promising place for the contemplated robbery was at Esplna a little station on the I & G N about forty miles north of Laredo The train the counstopped there one minute try around was wild and unsettled the station consisted of but one house In which the agent lived Black Eagle’s band set out riding Arriving In the vicinity of by night Esplna they rested their horses all day In a thicket a few miles distant The train was due at Esplna at 10:30 p m They could rob the train and be well over the Mexican border with their booty by daylight the next morning To do Black Eagle Justice he no signs of flinching from the honors that had been conresponsible ferred upon himhis men to their reHe assigned posts with discretion and spective coached them carefully as to their duties On each side of the track four of the band were to lie concealed In the chaparral Rodgers was to stick up the station agent was to remain with Broncho Charlie tie horses holding them In readiness At a spot where It was calculated would be when the train stopped Bud King was to lie hidden on one side and Black Eagle himself on the other The two would get the and firemen drop on the engineer force them to descend and proceed Then the express car to the rear would be looted and the escape made No one was to move until Black Eagle gave the signal by firing his revolver The plan was perfect At ten minutes to train time every conman was at his post effectually cealed by the thick chaparral that The night grew almost to the rails was dark and lowering with a fine drizzle falling from the flying gulf Black Eagle crouched behind clouds a bush within five yards of the track were belted around Two him he drew a large Occasionally black bottle from his pocket and raised It to his mouth A star appeared far down the track which soon waxed Into the headlight of the approaching train It came on with an increasing roar the engine desbore down upon the ambushing with a glare and a shriek peradoes like some avenging monster come to deliver them to justice Black Eagle himself flattened upon the ground The engine contrary to their calculations instead of stopping between him and Bud King’s place of concealment passed fully forty yards farther before It came to a stand The bandit leader rose to his feet and peered around the bush Ills men all lay quiet awaiting the signal Immediately opposite Black Eagle was Ina thing that drew his attention stead of being a regular passenger Before train It was a mixed one him stood a box car the door of which by some means had been left Black Eagle went slightly open It and pushed the door farther An odor came forth — a damp open rancid familiar musty Intoxicating beloved odor stirring strongly at old memories of happy days and travels Black Eagle sniffed at the witching smell as the returned wanderer smells of the rose that twines his boyhood's seized him cottage home Nostalgia He put his hand inside Excelsior— dry springy curly soft enticing covered the floor Outside the drizzle had turned to a chilling rain The train hell clanged The bandit chief unbuckled his belt and cast It with Its revolvers upon the ground His spurs followed quickly and his broad sombrero Black Eagle was The train started with a moulting of the rattling Jerk The Border scrambled Into the box car and closed the door Stretched luxuriously upon the excelsior with the black bottle clasped to his closely breast his eyes closed and a foolish happy smile upon his terrible features Chicken Ruggles started upon his redese turn trip Undisturbed with a band of desperate bandits lying motionless awaiting the signal to attack the train pulled out from As Its speed increased and the black masses of chaparral went whizzing past on either side the express messenger lighting his pipe looked through his window and remarked feelingly: "What a place for a hold up!" |