Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, June 3, 1914, Page 2

A Stirring Story of the Mexican Revo “Here {8 a little baicony,” he said, stepping outside, “where you can sit and look down on the plaza. We have the band and music when the weather {8 fine, and you can watch the pretty girls from here. But you have been in Mexico—you know all that!” And he gave Phil a roguish dig. “Bien, my frien’, I am glad to meet you—" He held out his hand in wel- come and De Lancey gave his in re- turn. “My name,” he continued, “is Juan de Dios Brachamonte y Escalon; but with these Americans that does not go, as you say, so in general they call me Don Juan. “There s something about name—I do not know—that makes the college boys laugh. P s it is thal poet, Byron, who wrote s andalous- ly about us Spaniards, but certainly he knew nothing of our language, for he rhymes Don Juan with ‘new one’ and ‘true one!' Still, T read part of that poem and it is, in places, very interest- ing—yes, very interesting—but ‘Don Joo-an!' Hah!” He threw up his hand in despair and De Lancey broke into a jollying laugh. “Well, Don Juan,” he cried, “I'm glad to meet you. My name is Philip De Lancey and my parduner here is Mr. Hooker. Shake hands with him, Don Juan de Dios! But certainly a man so devoutly named could never descend to reading much of Don Joo-an!"” “Ah, no,” protested Don Juan, roll- ing his dark eyes and smiling rakishly, “not moch—only the most in-teresting | passages!” He saluted and disappeared in a roar of laughter, and De Lancey turned triumphantly on his companion, a self- satisfled smile upon his lips. “Aha!” he sald; “you see? That's what five dollars’ worth of booze will do in opening up the way. Here's our old friend Don Juan willing, nay, anx- {ous, to help us all he can—he sees I'm a llve wire and wants to keep me around. Pretty soon we'll get him feeling good and he'll tell us all he Jnows. Don't you never try to make me sign the pledge again, brother— 8 few shots just gets my intellect to working right and I'm crafty as a fox. “Did you notice that coup I made —asking him if he was a Spaniard? ‘There's nothing in the world makes a Bpaniard so mad as to take him for a Mexican—on the other hand, nothing makes him your friend for life like recognizing him for a blue-blooded Castilian. Now maybe our old friend Don Juan has got a few drops of Moor- 4sh blood In his veins—to put it po- litely, but—" he raised his tenor voice and improvised-— “Jest because my halr is curly Dat’s no reason to call me ‘shine!’” “No,” agreed Bud, feeling cautiously 'of the walls, “and jest because you're happy 18 no reason for singing so Joud, neither. These here partitions are made of inch boards, covered with paper—do you get that? Well, then, considering who's probably listening, it strikes me that Mr, Brachamonte is the real thing in Spanish gentleman; and I've heard that ali genuwine Span- fards have their hair curly, jest like a—huh?” But De Lancey, made suddenly aware of his indiscretion, was making all kinds of exaggerated sigus for si- flence, and Bud stopped with a slow, igood-natured smile. “S-g-st!" hissed De Lancey, touching his finger to his lips; “don't say it— gomebody might hear you!” “All right,” agreed Bud: “and don't you say fit, either. I hate to knock, Phil,” he added, “but sometimes I think the old man was right when he #sald you talk too much.” “Pest!” chided De Lancey, shaking his finger like a Mexican. Tiptoeimg Feeling Cautiously of the Walls. softly over to Buc ear: the next ro Laughing 4 i 0 went down stairs for supper, that | - lution CHAPTER VI, 1 the Eagle Tail mine had been lo- cated in Arizona—or even farther down in Old Mexico—the method of jumping the claim would have been delightfully simple. The title had lapsed, and the land had reverted to the government—all it needed in Arizona was a new set of monuments, a location notice at the discovery shaft, a pick and shovel thrown into the hole, and a few legal formalities. But in Mexico it is different. Not that the legal formalities are lacking far from {t—but the whole theory of mines and mining is different. In Mex- ico a mining title is, in a way, a lease, a concession from the general gov- ernment giving the concessionnaire the right to work a certain piece of ground and to hold it as long as he pays a mining tax of three dollars an acre pear year, But no final papers or patents are ever issued, the possession of the sur- face of the ground does not go with the right to mine benath it, and in cer- tain parts of Mexico no foreigner can hold title to either mines or land. A prohibited or frontier zone, eighty kilometers in width, lies along the in- ternational boundary line, and in that | neutral zone no foreigner can de- nounce a mining claim and no foreign corporation can acquire a title to one. The Eagle Tail was just inside the | zone, But—there is always a “but” when you go to a good lawyer—while for purposes of war and national safety foreigners are not allowed to hold land along the line, they are at perfect lib- erty to hold stock in Mexican corpora- tions owning property within the pro- hibited zone; and—here {8 where the graft comes in—they may even hold title in their own name if they first obtain express permission from the chief executive of the republic. Not having any drag with the chief executive, and not caring to risk their title to the whims of succeeding ad- ministrations, Hooker and De Lancey, upon the advice of a mining lawyer in Gadsden, had organized themselves into the Eagle Tail Mining company, under the laws of the republic of Mex- ico, with headquarters at Agua Negra. It was their plan to get some Mexican to locate the mine for them and then, for a consideration, tranefer it to the company. The one weak spot in this scheme was the Mexican. By trusting Aragon, Henry Kruger had not only lost title to his mine, but he had been outlawed from the republic. And now he had bestowed upon Hooker and De Lancey the task of finding an honest Mexican, and keeping him honest until he made the transfer. While the papers were being made out there might be a great many temptations placed before that Mexi- can—either to keep the property for himself or to hold out for a bigger re- ward than had been specified. After his experience with the aristocratic Don Cipriano Aragon y Tres Palacios, Kruger was in favor of taking a chance on the lower classes. He had therefore recommended to them one Cruz Men- dez, a wood vender whom he had known and befriended, as the man to play the part, Cruz Mendez, according to Kruger, was hard-working, sober and honest— for a Mexican. He was also simple- minded and easy to handle, and was the particular man who had sent word that the® Eagle Tail had at last been abandoned. And also he was easy to pick out, being a little, one-eyed man and going by the name of “El Tuerto.” So, in pursuance of their policy of playing a waiting game, Hooker and De Lancy hung around the hotel for several days, listening to the gossip of Don Juan de Dios and watching for one-eyed men with prospects to sell. In Sonora he is a poer and unimag- Inative man indeed who has not at least one lost mine or “prospecto” to sell; and prosperous-looking strangers, riding through the country, are often beckoned aside by half-naked palsanos eager to show them the gold mines of the Spanish padres for a hundred dol- lars Mex. It was only a matter of time, they thought, until Cruz Mendez would hunt them up and try to sell them the Eagle Tail; and it was their intention re- luctantly him, for a specified sum, and then stake him to the denounce to close the nt fees and gain possession of the mine As this was a commonplace in the ' district—no Mexic capital €eno to work a ¢ can having the r ed no longer a virtue. said De Lar “Don 21 ¥, taking up the probe at last, “I had a Mexican working for me when we were over | the Sierras—one ot in your real, old- time workers that _had never been ———— (Copyright, 1914, by Frank A. Munsey.) bargain with | The Land of Broken Promises By DANE COOLIDGE Author of *THE FIGHTING FOOL,” “HIDDEN WATERS," “THE TEXICAN," Etc, Tllustrations by DON J. LAVIN ,spoiled by an education—and he was | always talking about ‘La Fortuna.' I guess this was the place he meant, but | it doesn't look like it—according to j him it was a Mexican town. Maybe he's around here now—his name was Mendez.” “Jose Maria Mendez?” inquired Don Juan, who was a living directory of the place. “Ricardo? Pancho? Cruz?” | “Cruz!” cried De Lancey; “that was Ain ! “He lives down the river a couple of miles,” said Don Juan; “down at Old | Fortuna.” “Old Fortuna!” repeated Phil. “I didn't know there was such a place.” “Why, my gracious!” exclaimed Don Juan de Dios, scandalized by such ignorance. “Do you mean to say you have been here three days and never heard about Fortuna Vieja? Why, , this isn’t Fortuna! This is an Ameri- | can mining camp—the old town is it had been w and repl down below. “That’s where this man Aragon, the big Mexican of the country, has his | ranch and store. Spanish? Him? No, | indeed—mitad! He is half Spanish and half Yaqui Indian, but his wife is a | pure Spaniard—one of the few in the country. Her father was from Madrid and she is a Villanueva—a very beau- tiful woman in her day, with golden | hair and the presence of a queen! “No, not Irish! My goodness, you Americans think that everybody with red hair is Irish! Why, the most beau- | tiful women in Madrid have chestnut hair as soft as the fur of a dormouse. It is the old Castilian hair, and they are proud of it. The Senora Aragon married beneath her station—it was | in the City of Mexico, and she did not | know that he was an Indian—but she {8 a very nice lady for all that and | never omits to bow to me when she comes up to take the train. I remem- ! ber one time—" “Does Cruz Mendez work for him?”" interjected De Lancey desperately. “No, indeed!” answered Don Juan patiently; “he packs in wood from the hills—but as I was saying—" and from that he went on to tell of the un- falling courtesy of the Senora Aragon to a gentleman whom, whatever his present station might be, she recog- nized as a member of one of the oldest families in Castile. De Lancey did not press his in- quiries any further, but the next morn- ing, instead of riding back into the hills, he and Bud turned their faces down the canyon to seek out the elusive Mendez. They had, of course, been acting a part for Don Juan, since Kru- ger had described Old Fortuna and the Senor Aragon with great minuteness. And now, in the guiee of innocent strangers, they rode on down the river, past the concentrator with its multiple tanks, its gliding tramway and moun- tains of tailings, through the village of Indian houses stuck like dugouts against the barren hill—then along a river bed that oozed with slickings un- til they came in sight of the town. La Fortuna was an old town, yet not as old as its name, since two Fortunas before ed away by cloudbursts ed by newer dwellings ent itsell was some four h | back to the quistadores, whoen i rs old, dating S anish con- 1 up many muleloads of g¢ The present town was built a little up from the viver ridge rocks t hill and well calculated to turn ¢ a glut of waters, huddle ings set on both & in t! 1e lee of a great down from the ide It was a comfortable whitewashed adobe build- des of a narrow and frregular road—the great trail that led down to the hot cour 1d was worn deep by the pack-trains of centuries. of of On the lower side was the ample store and car of Don Cipriano, where the th v arrieros could get a drink and buy a panoche of sugar without get down from their mounts. Be pole corrals 1 the store were the adobe warehouses of the peons, and ar and the quart i across the road was the mescal still, where, in huge retort and | worm, the f liquor was distilled from the s\ len heads of Yuccas, copper This we wn, but the most im- portant building—set back in the { shade of cottonwoods and | pleasantly the road—was the v Aragon. It was | this, in eld the undivided attentior » Lancey as they rode ;qu:wr]y through the village, for he | had become accustomed from a long experiencey in the tropics to look for something el nine sive, graceful and es set back in a garde 2d femi however, and ¥ W keeps that be ter of the one Don Joo-an was telling about. Have to stop on the Way b;}ck and sample the old man's mescal.” “Nothing d_o_!ngt" countered Hooker da THE EVENING TELEGRAM LAKELAND, FLA, JUNE 3, 1914, " instantly. “Now you heard what I told you—there's two things you leave alone for sixty days—booze and wom- en. After we cinch our title you can get as gay ase you please.” “Oo-ee!” piped Phil, “hear the boy talk!” But he said no more of wine and women, for he knew how they do ccmplicate life. They rode to the east now, follow- ing the long, flat footprints of the bur- ros, and by all the landmarks Bud saw that they were heading straight for the old Eagle Tail mine. At Old Fortuna the river turns west and at the same time four canyons came in from the east and south., Of these | they had taken the first to the north and it was leading them past all the old workings that Kruger had spoken about. In fact, they were almost at the mine when Hooker swung down suddenly from his horse and motioned Phil to follow. “There's some burros coming,” he said, glancing back significantly; and when the pack-train came by, each animal piled high with broken wood, the two Americans were busily tap- ping away at a section of country rock. A man and a boy followed be- hind the animals, gazing with wonder at the strangers, and as Phil bade them a pleasant “Buenos dias!” they came to a halt and stared at their industry in silence. In the interval Phil was pleased to note that the old man had only one eye, “Que busca?’ the one-eyed vne finally inquired; “what are you look- ing for?” And when Phil oracularly answered, “Gold!” the old man made a motion #o the boy to go on and sat down on a neighboring rock. “Do you want to buy a prospect?”’ he asked, and Bud glanced up at him grimly. “We find our own prospects,” an- swered Phil, “But I know of a very rich pros- pect,” protested Mendez; “very rich!” He shrilled his voice to express how rich it was, | “Yes?" observed Phil; “then why "don’t you dig the gold out? But, as for us, we find our own mines. That {8 our business.” “Seguro!"” nodded Mendez, glancing at theis outfit approvingly. “But I am a poor man—very poor—I cannot de- nounce the mine. So I wait for some rich Americano to come and buy it. I have a friend—a very rich man—in | Gadsden, but he will not come; 8o I will sell it to you.” ¥ “Did you get that, Bud?” jested Phil in English. “The old man here thinks i we're rich Americans and he wants to sell us a mine.” Bud laughed silently at this, and Mr. Mendez, his hopes somewhat blast- ed by their levity, began to boast of Sat Toying With His Pistol. J 'hls find, giving the history of the‘ Eagle Tail with much circumstantial- ity and explaining that it was a lost padre mine, “Sure,” observed Phil, going back to his horse and picking up the bridle, “that's what they all say. They’ all lost padre mines, and you cz them from the door of the church. Come on, Bud, let's go!” s, dumps looking ed stone quarry than a relic of padre days. (To Be Continued.) - IR 7| shor always arrivin We keep up with the very newest things in fancy footwear. Itj pleasure to show our goods, nd our aim is to fit you. We are;, only store in Lakeland that ues the custom fitting methods. S L R S S 122 k- DUTTON-HARRIS CO. St FOOT FITTERS : & We Repair Shoes While You Wait. . The Loss by Fire in the U. During a Recent Year Amounted to Almost One-Half the C Of All New Buildinge Constructed During the Entir Twelve Month When Buying or Bulldiy We represent the following reli able companies: Fidelity Underwriters, capital ...... .. .. 4,750,000 Philadelphia Underwriters, Provide the Means capital .... .. ......$4,500,000 German American, capital 2,000,000 Springfield Fire and Marine e o For Rebuildin MANN & DEE Room 7, Raymondo Building Conservation On the Farm Practically every farm in this countr would show a nice profit if the above ¢ pressed idea could be and was carried ot with all its possibilities. The great far problems of today are many. Good fence and lots of them go a long toward solvin the question of bigger profits. Then wh not get in line and buy your fence frori home people, who treat you right and af i preciate your business. 5 Just received a solid car load of 4 ; American Fence: Also a car of pitch pine fence post. WILSO! HARDWARE CO.