Show i the land of broken promises by DANE COOLIDGE A stirring story author Autho of X n F fool 1 of the mexican hidden n walen the etc revolution i ill rations by don J lavin ii X aw vw X 1914 by br raji A waxy masey SYNOPSIS bud hooker and IM Do DoI Lancey Ancey are forced twigg to a revolution in mexico t to 0 gi alvo ve ui liola mining claim a and n d return t to 0 0 tho I 1 0 lant united ed states in the border town of gadsden bud meets henry kruger knitter a wealthy miner who makes him film a sl tion ion to return to mexico to acquire title to n very rich mine which ar bruker uger ind blown blown up when lie he found he had I 1 ad been en v bente I 1 0 out u I 1 of tho the title by one aragon tho the mexican subsequently had spent a large suin bum of money in tin an unsuccessful it tempt attempt to relocate the vein and then allowed the land annd to revert for taxes hooker and he do lancey arrive at fortuna al teal 0 hero I 1 ere tho the eagle tall mine la is loc loci Urd they engage cruz mendez mendel to acquire the title for them and begin preliminary work 0 k aragon accuse them of p hla thatus ani aang claim looker hooker discovers that matrimonial amon entanglements entangle ments prevent mendez from acquiring a valid title mill who been paying attention to bract aragon decides to turn mexican and acquire the title aragon falls in hla his attempt to drive them oft off the claim rebels are reported report od d in the vicinity A rich vein of 0 gold i Is 9 and work on the mine Is stopped 11 until the title cnn ann be perfected phil la Is nr arrested rested ly by imanuel del iley captain of the muralen and suitor of Clra dra clas clao lie ile I 1 IB s released on promise to stay away from gracca CHAPTER XVI continued 1 I wonder where that dogged indian went to ho he sald said for the hundredth time na as the deep shadows gathered in the valley by joe phil it amiga comes back im going to go ahead on that mine I 1 want to keep mm around hero here and wo we might as aa well get out some ore it if its only tor for a grubstake grub stake come on what do you say eay well open her up theres nothing to hide now well ill do it my belt then this setting around la Is getting on my nerves ilia farseeing far seeing eyes trained from his boyhood to search the hills for cattle canned the tops tope of the ridges as he spoke and while lie he sat eat and pondered they noted every rock then at last he rose up slowly and gazed at a certain spot ile he waved tits his arm beckoning the distant point of blackness to come in and soon from around a point in tho the canyon the yaqui appeared bearing a heavy mauser riuo rifle on his arm across his broad breast hung the same familiar cartridge belt two more encircled his hips and he bo walked with his head held high like the warrior that ho was evidently lite hla flight had led to the place where his arms had been hid for ho wore the regulation kalfe bayonet at his hip and around lit his shat hat was the red ribbon of his people but bud was too polite to ask him about his journey since his fils coming the yaqui had always maintained a certain mystery and now though his bis eyes were big w with ith portent and he smiled at the jests about his gun he simply waved his hand baud to the south and east and murmured seguro segura answered bud jokingly but have you killed any not yet returned the indian and he did not smile at that 1 I wonder what that indian to Is waiting around here for remarked phil in inglish ile he must have his eye on somebody lome body yeah I 1 bet agreed bud regarding his savage friend with a speculative interest most moat of them yaqui soldiers wab farmhands farmlands farm hands in this country before they rounded them up I 1 reckon hes looking for the man that had him deported tired amiga he inquired in spanish and ignacio gravely acknowledged that he was a little then drink plenty coffee went on hooker eat lots tomorrow we go to work in tho the mine tomorrow repeated the indian as if considering tits his other engagements good ile ho nodded a smiling iLs sent after a month rind and more of idleness hud ind and amiga amago performed prodigies gim of labor in the cut rolling down boulders lifting them up on the tram aud and clearing away the face of the cliff their tram train was ramshackle their track the abandoned rails from older workings and their tools little more than their hands but by noon the last broken fragments were heaved aside and the shattered ledge revealed A low cry of at wonder escaped the yaqui as lie he gazed at the rich vein of ore and as lie he saw the grim smile on buds rugged countenance he showed ys is white teeth in sympathy que qua bueno he murmured how good gathering the precious fragments in his handkerchief at al the camp they crushed the picked ore in a mortar and panned it in the creek and for the moment de lancey dropped his air of preoccupancy as lie ho stared at the streak ak of pure gold like a yellow film it lay along the edge of the last fine talling tal tall llna inq and nd when skilful washing had left it bare it gleamed like a jewel in the apan pan by he cried iho he real stuff and it goes a dollar to the pun easy f sure thing assented bud lets pound a lot of it and wash it as we go then weh have some getaway money when things break loose here ill go youl you answered phil and iuds heart warmed toward him ns no he watched him pound up a piece of ore and go to swirling the dirt dire in the pan but it it alap lap for the fond hopes he cher I 1 I 1 I 1 dished even as lie he washed cashed out the gold phils mind wandered far away back to the hotel where acacia ara gon con sat watching by the window tier her hair was tho the color of gold hopun opun fine and refined again yes yea it was worth more than this golden dross drosa that he caught in the bottom of hla his pan and what was gold it if he could not have her ile ho paused in tits his labor and a dreamy smile parted his lips then ho be broke into a song sweet honey bee be sweet to roe me my henrt Is free but heres the key lock up the garden gate honey you know ill wait under the tha rambler rose roae tree oe ee once more he returned to hi his work humming now tho the dul dulcet cot strains of tho the morry merry widow and when bu bud d came back from the cut it was to hear a coon song cus cia I 1 want yer me ma honey yes yea I 1 want yer want yer cos I 1 want yer ma honey ys yes I 1 dol he bo he be labored and sang until finally the labor ceased and then the song ile he wont went about other things and other thoughts not so cheerful filled his bal mind dud returned sadly to the company of the yaqui and gave it up perhaps hla his pardner had been right when riding out of agua negra he had enlarged upon the dangers of old mexico the tha land of manana and broken pron promises ilses certainly lite hta speech had been prophetic in regard to dark eyed women for even as he had said eald nothing seemed to please them better than to come between man and man it was a madness he felt sure tho spell of the hot country where the ho women look out from behind barred windows and men sing beneath their balconies at midnight already it had cost him tits his pardner would it con quer ilia his will as an well and make him forget his trust in hla his impotence the idea of some perverse fate some malign influence over which he had no control was waa strong with hooker yet when the blow fell he was not prepared tor for it etwas it was the third day of their mining and with amigo he had been driving into the face of the cliff already their round of holes was drilled the fuses cut the charges set bet and as he be retreated before the blast he noticed absently that cruz mendez was in camp the shots followed I 1 one after another and he counted them to make sure there was no miss fire alre then he looked around and discovered that phil was gone where la Is don felipe Foll pe he inquired of Ale ridez and that low brother of the burro bowed fawningly before he replied ile he has gone to fortuna he said bald wiping his face with a bath towel which he wore about tits his neck and what for demanded bud imperatively ively vely 1 I dont know senor writhed mendez 1 I brought him a letter from whom 1 I dont know it was given to me by juana the servant of the senorita aragon ali ah breathed bud and pretended not to be surprised well let lm im got go he said to himself and went back into tho the mine it F ea thrust his rifle into its sling and started for town was what ho he had expected in a way and his code bade him keep his hands off but the next morning when the evil was either cither avoided or done he thrust his bis rifle into its sling and started for tho the town at the jail ho he halted and gazed in through the windows then ho he rode up to the hotel and asked for phil what have you not heard clamored don juan ali ah it Is most unfortunate 1 I would not have had it happen for the world what inquired bud succinctly why the quarrel the encounter with capitan del key I 1 did my best I 1 assure you iou to prevent it tor for the town tins has been put under martial law and the captain is IB in full charge they quarreled over the favor of a lady and now your la Is in jail 1 I see him when I 1 come by observed hooker ali ah no not in the carcel ln in the cuartel quartel cu artel the guardhouse of the rura lesl much aluch obliged oblige dl nodded dud bud and rode on through the town the street of tho the mexican quarter was filled with strange people hurrying to and fro long loaded with trunks and curious bundles came swinging up from below and a pair of ru ruralis rural ralos cB looking fierce under their huge sombre sombreros ros stood guard by the cuartel quartel door where Is the captain demanded hooked after requesting h ahn tm to hang hit his pistol belt on his saddle horn a sergeant showed him in to the chief manuel del rey iley was very busy with papers and orders but as the american appeared in the doorway he rose and greeted him with a bow ali ah good morning senor lie said with one swift glance to read hla his mood you are in search of your friend no 81 senor answered hooker but with none of the animosity which the captain had bad expected where la Is he 1 I regret very much began the officer speaking with military formality but it Is my duty to inform you that the senor do lancey has left fortuna last night he did me the honor to enlist in my d company ot of he be Is now on his way to the north to assist in guarding the railroad what shouted bud hardly able to believe hla his ears dut but when the cal captain repeated it he no longer doubted his spanish but why he be cried why did ho he join the ru rales ali ah senor shrugged del rey hey was lie he not a mexican citizen 7 very well then he could be summoned far military service but the circumstances were these your friend came yesterday to this town where I 1 am at present military commander and made an unprovoked assault upon my person for this according to law he should have been shot at sunrise but not wishing to occasion unpleasantness with the americans now residing here I 1 offered him the alternative of military service ile he Is now enlisted as a rural for a term of five years I 1 five years 1 exclaimed hooker and then instead of starting the exi pecked rough ahouee upon which the rural ruml guards were prepared to jump on his back he simply threw down his hat and cursed not anyone in particular ti but everything in general and at the end of it be turned once more upon the watch captain Dispense me annor he said this Is the truth Is it st sl senor returned captain del rey hoy but before leaving with his detachment tach ment your friend wrote this letter which ho he requested me to deliver to you ile he offered with a nourish flourish a sealed envelope from which bud extracted a short note dear bud when you ret get this I 1 shall be far away I 1 must have been mad but it Is too late now rather than be executed I 1 have enlisted as a rural but I 1 shall try to be brave for or her sake take care of her dud tor for me PHIL dud bud read it through again and meditated ponderously then he folded it up and thrust it in his pocket blu muchas chas gracyas gra clas senor capitan he be said saluting and turning upon his heel and while all the mexicans marveled at the inscrutable ways of americanos he bo mounted and rode away CHAPTER there was a world of mexicans in the plaza when hooler rode down through the town never it seemed to him had he seen so many or liked them less to the handful of americans who remained to man the mill and mine they were easily a hundred to one and though their eyes were wide with fear of tile imminent rebels they had an evil way of staring at him which ho he did not relish even at the hotel where the span ish mexican aristocracy was massed ten deep he sensed the same feeling of veiled hostility and wondered vaguely what it might portend if philip de lancey tor for making love to a girl was dratted drafted into the army what would happen to him it if these people should ever break loose and did they have the courage to do their worst lie he lingered around the door for a while hoping to meet don juan or some american who would tell him the news then disgusted with everything he flung away and left them to themselves fortuna was not a white mans country he could see that without a diagram but at the same time he be intended to hold his mine until he be could hear from phil let tho the tides of insurrection come and go let the red daggers flaggert take the town and the federals take it back again at the end he would still be found at the hagle eagle tall unless phil received his title to the mine As for aragon whose fine italian hand ho be perceived behind the sudden taking off of phil let him make what trades he ha would with the and manuel del rey iley even to the giving of his daughters hand but it if taking advantage of the unsettled times he dared to try to steal their mine then there would be war to the knife it la Is a fine comforting thing to be single minded and of ono one purpose all the rest of life Is 13 simplified and ordered then and a man knows when to raise his bis hand band and when to hold it back in his letter phil had bad said nothing about their mine but he was a 2 mexican citizen and the mine was in his u dud bud was his pardner and free to hold tt it in n his a stead and that he determined to do not only hold it but work I 1 it for a stake then when the tide was wa passed and all made certain they could turn it over to kru amger gor and quit tho accursed country As for the girl bud decided that she could take care of herself without him and dismissed any assistance from her from his mind hack back at the mine he found guarding camp from the hilltop hlll top and after telling him the gist of his troubles the two of them went to work every day while one ot of them dug out the ore the other crushed and washed it and watched as he horned c out ut the gold their rifles they kept best beside do them and pistols in their belts and every time a Alex mexican ican dropped into camp as one did now flow an and 1 I then in t the he general unrest lie he felt the silent menace of arms in readiness and continued on hla his way for a week they labored on together grim watchful expect expectant rint then at the break of day they heard beard a distant rattle of arms like the tearing ot of a cloth and knew that the battle was on the great whistle at fortuna opened with its full bass roar and aal amago go snatched up his gun and went loping down the canyon drawn irresistibly by the sound bound of conflict dud bud lingered climbing higher and higher to get a 11 view of the country but his young blood clamored tor for action too and soon he was mounted and gone the fighting was not at the american town but down the valley by old fortuna and as aa hooker galloped on toward the sound of the firing he be ao |