OCR Text |
Show z CARMENOFTHERANCHO4Iz / CARMENoFTHERANC"O CARMENoFTHERANCO CARMENoFTHERANC"Ofh CARMENOFTHERANCHO4I CARMENOFTHERANCHO4Iti " . _ . : fh ti By FRANK H SPEARMAN @ Frenk Frank H Spoe Spas men man WNU Sorvlce Soivice w CJ1APTER ggtpTER rHAPTEK XII-Continued XII Continued YII-Continued YII XIIContinued12 YIIContinued1z VII - Continued -12- 12 -1z- 1z - XIIContinuedI 12 12WellIf 1zWell.d - - I 1 ffeii-it ffeii it Well-If Well If Well-.d Well.d .d d - - . you y y"say "say say " say so Padre-so Padre so PadresoI PadresoIt padre - so soreplied replied repllcd Bo Bolc \lc lc ale aleflut \ ie iee I It est rose I will give youhsolut you , flut e vi pr penbsoU hsolut 1111 , ton , on I w 11 II ll perform your pen penfor penfor bsoU bsoUht tor for 1tor you- you youAnd . . - And w whatever ht a ever 1 hapr hap lap " , vou veil w will l be ready Good byson by50n by by"son r , "son son " son 50n sonYou 50nYou you now truly are my myHe mylie myff sed his wrinkled wrmkIed handresScd handpressed hand hand"rtsscd He lie H ( ra "rtsscd rtsscd " of eternItyP eternItye eternity pressed resScd the symbol P e h m and spoke spohe low and rap rapThe rapthe rapnlhe ' , The ser ous oils \ words ords of absolution- absolution absolutionhe absolutionA absolution absolutiongam - lumbering lumbcrmg footstep wasrd was A ! gam In the ( he ? rd , , m the corridor corndor Cometed Comeled Come Comeailed ailed ted led the guard unlock ng and1I1g andmg and andiffling iffling 1I1g mg t1 U tie e a liow door It would havesO haveso have ? 50 sO easy thought Bou Bovie Bovine , Ie toIe tose to toM knocked him blm down downI downt M Ie se I 1 t am ready amigo Speak ngcatIngIy ngratmgly ng ngacitingly acitingly catIngIy ratmgly the padre P111 ' stepped PP into intocorr intoCorr mtocorr ( corr dor and walkelf walkelfa walkedawayAs walkeifaway walkedaway walkeifawayAsdtrkness a way As Asdtrkness darkness dirkfleSs tell fell Bowie stood close closethe closeib closeHie peephole watching for the thedre theA the ib ibdre in m the corridor HeDO Heao He dre ( to pass longer anxious to finish fimsh the theel theel theaiel ? no DO ao el feeling feellng sure that he could couldte coulde ' e Sanchez Sancbez with hImA himA him himft ft A tocded hooded bonded figure passed Bowie sD sII s H D II andIthout md and \ without \\Ithout Ithout pausing walked walkedWD walkedyin walkedtun WD yin the corridor corndor The Texan up- up updback tip tip-otd tip otd - - . dback d back to his stool stooJ and sat down downhsten downbsten downlisten downlistenHour ( Hour JIour hstenJIour bstenour hsten bsten our after hour passed m in the cell cellBow cellBow cellHh Bow s e a straining stralllmg h s ears and andses andses andaists ses to hear the whistle which whichd whichiculd d lellIum tell him bun the horses had come comechez comechez comeinthez chez steallhily stealthily steal hIly appeared at the thedoor thedoor theil door and * nd unlocked it Bowiete BowIeew Bowiew BowIe ew w * him hun hum in III for a whispered confl confi confiEDce conflece confllEDCt lEDCt I lEDCtI EDce ece EDceTwo eceTwo Two horses will soon be left be beThe bethe beacd the guardhouse I wait walt want for forem forew forlan ; em ew em'WI1Y ew'Why ' 'Why Why 'WI1Y WI1Y ' ' tM two t o7 ' ? | yen You are go.ng gong going go . ng with me'Me meTie me ' Me 'Me Tie ' ' " ' 'Yes Yes ' you Do you want to be bet belot t ' + When you hear the whIstle whIstleme whistlecmt me back and we e will start startSanchez startSanchez startiSanchez Sanchez bes tated Hark ' the thea theaL theipial aL a , \ wh h spered Bowie I wIll wIllt willBit t lor for you at the horses WorkL WorkI WorkThe Work Workit it L I . > Ihe The Texan curbed his nervous ap aphens aphens apretens hens on as well as he could couldmg couldg couldInking mg g around to the rear of the thebe thehe theid , he be found the horses their heads headsped headspod headscpd ped pod ( together They stood qwet quiet quietflow quietid qwetd d Bowe Bow flow e a after patting pattmg them themed themdied themDiked died ed back to the guardroom'Sanchez guardroomSanchez guardroom Sinchez 'Sanchez Sanchez ' whispered Bowie In Indark indark init dark can you find me a knifet klllfea knifea klllfe knife a * p stol stopHere stol7 stop ' ' ' 'Here Here ' are both senor And Ie Ie I < t e one each for myself mysell and pow powr powand powa r ind and lead'Then lead leadLinen Linen 'Then Then ' en you are ready ready7LReady ? ' Ready senorLsten senor senorfiston fiston Lsten sten Before Beore ! I go back to the thees theses thepies ses ! es I w will llea\e llea e leaie lease \ my cornpl compl ments menns mentsP mennsPco mentsiPco P Pco co Take your keys and un tin tink unxk k every door along the corrIdor'Senor corridorsenor corridor corridorI I ' 'Senor Senor ' 'SenorExactlvevery senorExactlyevery [ Exactlv-every Exactlv every Exactly-every Exactly Exactiv - every door Give evman evman ev U man h s chance to get away awaythIS awaythis awaypirn this Mexican scoundrel Makete Maketo Make ( Bowe toBowe Bow K te to e returned to the thehorses the . horses He Heed Heed Helosed ed them and awaited Sanchez SanchezBO Sanchezo o lost no time in m rejoining reJomlng hIm hIme himfit e horses borses feet were muffled andtwo and andt 1 withteeme t two mounted men r ding dmg With Witherne witheme erne eme care and with Sanchez for fore forNe e made their tbelr escape "Ithoutalarm withoutalarm " without "Ithout Ithout alarm WorkingDy bemg being sounded Workmg Working Workmgst Working'stby Workingstby i iel ' st by Dy north daj daybreak break found them themeU themtil eU el eUmto elinto into mto the first range of moun mown mounto mownto moun"ato mounato " presidioWe presidtoWe to the east of the tbe presidio presidto We are well out of that rascal s scb srh s"ch sch " cb rh Sanchez said Bowie The Thebon TheIcon Thec Uon bon Icon now is what do we want wantdo ! wantJ > iai do ' " I am on my way to Texas TexasYou Texas"i Texasi ( " You ou want to come along ? " along7Texas 'l'exas lexas Texas ' senor ' SS \ tthere \ here is that that9 that9II ? " II t \ long waj-s waj s way-s way wa > - s x seven sleeps if iftrouble iftrouble if"trouble iftrouble " trouble on the way If II troubleone trouble troubleII II me one can say how many sleeps sleepstffltlimes sleepsIIlet sleepsmetimes IIlet metimes lnes bad Ind ans somet mese mes highfitmf e thea the \\a a \ ttai nay ) Wide deserts high hIghuntalDs . , fitmf untalDs 'stains stains ' - . * deep uct'p uctp . ' rivers livers But i3ui I Ised Ised lsed & sed them once I can do Itn itRhlle it i n Bhile Rhlle \ hUe we r"st rst r " > st thtnk think it overyou over . you u want to come with me I take Itake the best care I can ofarmed of ofnned -nned nned .rmed rmed armed - . breakfastedfat by the sun breakfasted breakfasted"t breakfastedt ji jia andln anda fat " eued gued by the e excitement cltement and a Bowleetched D ii of the escape Bowie Bowle Bowierolled I etched before the dying dymg fire andasleep andasleep and asleep 1"P 1P and1"P " Whe Wh ] Ie le he napped San SanV ' , sat drawing figures m in the theloll thesoil V toil loll soil with Wlth wrath bits of st ckso11e cksm cks , m o\11e o 11e \ + ne e woke and feetBttez rose to his feet feetchez feetehez chez ehez he asked askcd what do sou jOU you do7Bt ' What jOUWhat youWhat " 'st st ' do you want to do ? ' e Ind fad upa upr an s mind was made up r IIt Ift he be sa d respectfully I I.country It ft better fC1r for me to stay in my toh tocho .country country . mycountry i will go back to Guadalupe"rie Guadaluperie Guadalupew GuadalupeWie " cho ; Guadalupe " w Wie e could " "U U " believedhe hardly bardly have believede believed he e heard them how sharply \'o 'o o sharply'o sharplyWord Word \ ' * . rds s . . . . . . - - would WUU1U old oldCut cut him G Guada - * " CUt x ub lIlm n : uini ins rim uuaaa iLtai-ia iLtai ia uaa - - . - . WUU1U - * " CUt x ub lIlm n : uini ins rim uuaaa iLtai-ia iLtai ia uaa - . , uuaaaWhat rimwhat _ What " "at at " that meant to him ' ' it t . _ _ _ _ mOments moinents nOm nte of o1 r.f rf l--- l lit - - - i--t--- i t it"M - - - - - happinesstdreams I happinessI sheer happiness tdreams dreams whatnea buoyant buoyantIth \\Ith Ith with \ lIfe what whatea Uen peaksUen p whatp nea "M M " ea ofsnow of snow snowcapped capped peaks peaksKl Seei peaksSeei Seeiling 11 ling W6 sunWhat lng storms st rms delectable delectabJe sun What What " 't t . " ' Peace at even ? , _ _ an . ng og , Kit lde ui it w th U - - - ' a . . . whIlehoarded - presence l/Al.ol.m.y lAlolm.y l Al.ol.m.y Alolmy / near llvai whIle Wlll c cmiseri M- M hoarded MlAl.ol.m.y hIst miseri miser miserl ] kc ke within hIs his"e hise stins t ' the " tilent silent S ent treasure of h sI s sit0.111 i1ns1 i1ns1I tins ! I I he it0.111 it0111 en ! . the ' rude awakening awakenmg ! Thetit The gJog ThegJog . . . , _ . iing'0tt"d iing0ttd v ' hn AI I tit titiing'0tt"d that reallthat reapthat OUnd " the crushmg crushing A- A Al - l reall reap reape A Ai5S his castle had e dreams J Jhed bed hed hadbed Guadalupe i Indeed < T * c c"cesion ! $ \i5S\ i5S i5Si \ I bOdded odded ! \ ty tyodded bOddedslowlj oddedslowly C1 slowlj slowly In response to toIt It . d "cesion cesion " c Sion n Perhaps it is . 10 0 Yesn YesI Yes am sure itt ittiss iss issIi , it , I am sure it is is1 isI Ii Iiit are * willJ I 1 . . " your friends They willj will J .rne rne "e e aie " j , ( _ .ou ou ; . , ou , , , Sanchez You area arearLrg are a ' Bowt arl.rg arlrg . Sanchez "t11 t11 " " gave to Dowl BowB Bow Dow Bownt B 11t ' } t ' lIJ1t " -nt nt - a * d , i t i "lder lder " ? , , . ond - _ j the .i i . . . . sd.lt sdlt salt saltivllt . . , i x l t "ht ht " ' ' 1 ydj dod ; : ' " 'Mly Mly ' 11 ! Y I ido-Id10 ido Id10 do - 11111 ivllt 11111atop ivlltStop " ' Ga'lb " , atop Stop * ? a M N ssion sSlon ssiun San Gadf Ga 'lb lb ' Thg ln * . adru padres dre df dfThg t \ ' lll 111 ill : give Ilve me these Take senor the powder and ball andball andballSanchez I ballSanchez Sanchez youBut I \ will ill not forget you But you w will l come back ? " lovedthe Bowie back7Bowie looked at the land he loved the fair land to v.h vh uh \ . h ch he was say ing log saying saylog good bi bj by He looked at Sanchez Qu SanchezQu en sabc sabe sabc7 sabc7He ? ' He watched the Indian ride s silent ent ly silently ently away Away awayAway mused Bowie to the scene sceneof sceneof sceneof of his bitterest tragedy and his dead ly deadly revenge reHnge reenge % Why is it that like the thewounded thewounded thewounded wounded animal ammal we crawl back to todIe todie todie dIe downAnd where the arrow struck us down ? And I he mused on bac back ! . to the thedesert thedesert thedesert desert back to the torment of hun hunger hunger himger ger and thirst leaving leavmg this land landflowmg landflowing landflowing flowmg flowing with milk and honey and andhckmg andlicking andbckmg hckmg licking my wound-perhaps wound perhaps wound - perhaps who whoknows whoknows whoknows knows to deWell-let deWell let d e Well-let Well let Well - let Sanchez go to goto Guadalupe I won wont won , , t ! go backIn back backIn In Texas the adventurer found ev everyth everyth everyth eryth ng changed And to his taste tastechanged tastechanged tastechanged changed tor for the 'n n ' worseBowie worse worseBowie orse orseBowIe Bowie had left the sturdy little littlerepublIc littlerepublic littlerepublic republIc imbued with some feelIngof feeling of enthus asm for a country he could . \ 1 . " . . . . ' . / . . a . ' ' 0 r rv v / i - - ' . And whatever happens you youwIll youwill yonwill wIll be ready ' , call his o 0 vn hoping hopmg as he did to tounIte tounite tounite unIte with its fortunes the grandIOse grandIOsedomam grandiosedomain grandiosedomain toI I I domam domain of o1 the Pacific CoastIn CoastIn Coast CoastIn In Californ CalLforn a itself he had been beenforced beenforced beenforced forced to realize how tut fut Ie le any such sucheffort sucheffort sucheffort effort must be Much greater na nabonsthe nabonsthe nations bons-the bons the - the ambitious Americans the theperenmally theperennially theperennially perenmally perennially grasping graspmg British the theBlack theBlack theBlack Black bearded Russians the easy easygo easygo easygo go ng Spaniards Spamards and the thrice stu stupld stupid stupid pld pid MeXIcans-were MeXIcans were Mexicans - were aU all striving strlvmg to toland toland toland land m in their laps the prize pnze of theworldCalifornia the theworldCal theworld world-Cal world Cal world-California world California - - California CaliforniaAnd orma ormaAnd worldCaliforniaAnd And noafter no now no\/ no \ / , after ten years the re republIc republic republic publIc of Texas was no more A Anew Anew Anew new crop of poltcians pol t clans had sprung sprungup sprungup sprungup up The warriors of Texas were weregone weregone weregone gone or their counsels were sneered sneeredat sneeredat at The slaveholders of the Umted United UmtedStates UnitedStates UnitedStates States were plotting plottmg to add the vast vastterrItory vastterritory vastterritory terrItory of the little republ c to the theslavehold theslavehold theslavehold slavehold ng states and they now nowcontrolled nowcontrolled nowcontrolled controlled the sentiment of Texas TexasYsabel TexasYsabel TexasYsabel Ysabel was right ' It took some t me for Bo Be vie to get getall getall getaU all th s clear in m his head But the theclearer theclearer theclearer clearer the intrigue mtrlgue became the thedeeper thedeeper thedeeper deeper grew h s d sgust tor for the an annLxatIOnIsts annr.xatsomsts anni-xatiomsts anni xatiomsts nLxatIOnIsts nr.xatsomsts nrxatsomsts - . v vho ho were seated seatcd in m the thepollt thepout thepolit pollt pout cal saddlesHe saddlesHe saddles saddlesHe He realized that after all poll poi polltics poitics polltics tics held no abiding abldlllg interest mterest for forhIm forhim forhim hIm The thing thmg that pleased h m mmost mmost , most was the wild longhorns of the thegreat thegreat thegreat great prairies The longhorn of hIS hISj hisyouth hisouth j } youth outh had not changed the vast vastsweep vastsweep vastsweep sweep of the Staked Plain Plam had not notchanged notchanged notchangedAnd : changed changedAnd And then there was a sense of the thecomradesh thecomradesh thecomradesh comradesh p of these men that rode rodewIth rodewith rodewith wIth him through fair 'unsh unsh cunsh ' ne and andfoul andfoul andfoul foul northers men who had no am ambIt ambit ambit bIt on but to serve no instinct Instmct but butof butof butof of loyalty loyaltj m in whose lexicons there therewas therewas therewas was no such word as fear-most fear most fear - most of ofthem ofthem ofthem them had fought in the battles of ofTexas ofTexas ofTexas Texas for freedom-men freedom men freedom - men who hated hatedthe hatedthe hatedthe the greaser polit pollt cos with a rIght rIghteous righteous rightecus eous hatred and owed no fealty to toany toany toany any but their leaderTo leaderTo leader leaderTo To Bowie such men were all m in mall inall mall all His Il1s concerns were their con concerns conterns concerns cerns terns his feuds their feuds his hisenemIes hisenemies hisenemies enemIes their enemies Bow e a loved lovedhis lovedhis lovedhis his cowboys they loved hlm- hlm him- him hlmproved himproved him himproved - proved it through storm and stressYet stressYet stress stressYet Yet something somethrng somewhere in hIS hISthoughts histhoughts histhoughts thoughts would never quite dlsap disap dlsappear disappear disappear pear Banished it would always alwayscome alwayscome alwayscome come back . . Those other mgbts nights mgbtsthose nightsthose nightsthose those n nghts ghts glor fled fied by the same samestarsIt samestarsit samestars stars-It stars It - it was the thought tbought of those thosethat thosethat thosehat that ( stole m on h b s wakeful hours hoursw . h niioT.vthinff niioTvthinff . to invite mVlte |