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1 he Lan Broken! Hy ?AN CO A ut li "Thc Fighting Fool." ' Hid Illustration ii gathered all Vb? Insurrectos lu thu country together-Campos, Itojue, the brothers Escuboza-uud they may crush him with their uumbers. Hut now thor? Is othor news-that they are marching upon Fortuna and El Tigre, to seize tho mines and milla und hold tho rich American companies up for rutihom. "No, se?ores, you must not return to your camp. Romain here, and you shall still turva your room, though Hpitnish gentlemen sleep on the (lours. No, allow me, Don Felipe! I wish to ?how you how highly 1 value your friendship! Only becnuso wo cannot disobey tho rurales did I suffer you to lie in jail; but now you shall bu my guest, you Bindi-r" "Nope," answered Dud; "we'ro safer put at the mine." I lie glanced at Do Lauroy, in whoso rniud rosy visions were beginning to Rather, and he, too, declined-with u sigh. ".Mako lt a bed for tho night," he said. "I've got to get out of this town : before I tangle with Del Kuy again and lind myee If back in Jail. And now loud mo to lt-I'm perishing for a bath and a Bleep!" They retired early and got up carly -for Bud wan haunted by fears. Dut ns they passed through Old Fortuna the wornt happened to him-they mot Orucla, mouutod on a prancing horso and followed by a rural guard, and she am?te him to*the heart with a smile. It was not a smile for! Phil, geno astray and wounding by chance; lt wno a dazzling, admiring smile for Dud alone, and he sat straighter in his saddle. Dat Phil uttered a groan and struck his horse with the quirt. "Sho cut me!" he moaned. "Aw, forget lt!" growled Dud, and they rode on,their way in silence. CHAPTER XV!. ' jj - \ At their camp by the Eagle Tail mine, even though they held lt still j*ft*d were heir? to half Its gold, the two pardners ,woro glum and sorrow ful. The treacheries which Dud had forgiven in a moment of exaltation came back to him now as he brooded; and he eyed his friend askance, as if wondering what he would do next. ! He recalled all the circumstances of their ques't-Mhe1 meoting with Kruger, Phil's Insistence on the adventure, tho ( oath of loyalty which they had sworn; ' and then ?n$ gradual breaking down of their brotherly devotion until now they were ?trangers at heart Phil set by himself, keeping hla thoughts to himself, and he stood aloof while he-waited for tho worst to hap pen. From tho first day of their under taking Hooker had felt that it was un lucky, and now ho knew that the end was coming. His friend was lost to him, lost alike to a sense of loyalty and honor; he gloomed by himself and thought only ot Gracia Aragon. Tho oath which Phil himself bad forced upou Dud woe broken and for gotten; but Dud, by a sterner standard, felt bound tp keep his part One thing alone could make him break lt-his word to Henry Kruger. The Eagle Tall mine fae held in trust, and halt of lt was Kruger's. "Phil," h? said at last, when his mind was weary of the ceaseless grind of thoughts, "I believe that mineral agent'ls holding back our papers. I believe Old'Aragon has passed him a hundred or'So and they're in cahoots to rob us. Dut I'll tell you what I'll do-you give md a power of attorney to receive th uso paper s for you, and I'll go in and talk Dutch to the whole outfit" . "What do you want to do that fort" demanded ,tlfe LUD ce y querulously. "Why can't you walt a while? Those papers have to go to Moctezuma and Hermosillo"and all over the City ot Mexico.,uud?'hack. and.it takes time. ' What do--you want to make trouble tor?" "Well, IV tell you, Phil," answered ' Bud honbstfyr vTve got a Hunch if we \ don't grab)iha? papers soon we won't get 'em ut art. * Hero these rebels aro . working closer all the time, and Ara gon ls crowding us. I want to get title and turn lt over to Kruger, before we lose out somewhere," "What's the matter with me golag In and talking to the agent?" suggest ed Phil. Thon, as he saw hui pard ner's face, he paused and laughed bit terly. "You don't trust me any. more, do j you. Dud?" he said. "Well, lt ain't that so much," evaded Hooker; "but I sure don't trust that Manuel del Rey. The first time you go into town he's going to pinch you, and I know it" "I'm going to go in all the same," declared De Lancey, "and If the little j squirt tries to stop mo-" "Aw, Phil," entreated Bud. "be rear ' sonable, can't ye? You got no caU to go up against that little teller. He's a bad actor, I.can see that and I believe he'd kill you If he got tho chance. But walt a little while-maybe he'll get took off In-?he fights this summer!" "No, h e'uUcd cu rs e d m earn for that 1 ** ; muttered ?o I*anc?y, but ho seemed I to toko edin o' comfort In the thought . As for Bod, ha loafed around for a while, clearing nps Cam pr- making Jpmoke faa^s^H^Ya^quk>nd look jr. " d of Promises ---. g OIJIIGK or of cli'ii linters" "Tin* Toxican,* clo. .? IM? J. I,WIN ,,lng over thc deserted min 6, liut" Bbhie thlng In Hi?! changed atmosphere ciada him restless und uneasy. "I wonder where that dogged In dian went to," ho said for tho hun dredth time, no the deep shadows gathered In tho valley. "Hy Joe, Phil, If Amigo comes back I'm going to go ahead on that mine. I want to keep him around hero, and* we might UH well get out Homo oro, if U'H only for a grub stake. Como on-what do you Hay? We'll open her up-there's noth ing to bide now. Well, I'll do it my self, then-this Hotting nround Is get ting on my nerves." His far-soulng eyes, trained from his boyhood to search tba bills for cattle, scanned the tupa of tho ridges as he spoke; and while he Hat and pondered they noted every rock. Then ut last ho ruse up slowly and gazed at a certain spot. Ho waved his nrm. beckoning the dlstnut point of blackness to como in, and soon from around n point lu the canyon tho Yandi appeared, bearing a heavy Mau Bur rifle on his ann. Across his broad breast hung the ?ame familiar cartridge-belt, two mora ' encircled his hips, and he walked with his head held high, like tho war rior that bo was. Evidently hlB flight had led to tho placo where his arms had boen hld, for he woro the regulation knife-bayonet nt his hip and around his hat was tho I red rlbboa of his people, but Dud was ! too pollto to ask him about his Jour ney. Since hiB coming the Yaqui hud always maiatained a certain mystery, ' and now, though his eyes were big with portont and he smiled at the Jests about his gua, ho simply waved his hand to the south and east and mur mured: "Muchos revoltosos!" ''Seguro;" answered Bud Jokingly; "but have you killed any?" "Not yet!" returned the Indian, and he did not smile tinhut. "I wonder what that Indian is walt ing around here for?" remarkod Phil in English. "He must have his eye on somebody." ^"Yeah, I bet," agreed Bud, regard ing his savage friend with a specula tive interest. "Most of them Yaqui soldiers waa farmhands In thia coun try before they rounded them up. I reckon he's looking for the man that had him deported. "Tired, Amigo?" he Inquired in Spanish, and Ignacio gravely ac know 1 edged that he was, a little, j "Then drink plenty coffee." went on j ' Hooker. "Eat lots-tomorrow we go ! to work in the mine." I "Tomorrow?" repeated the Indian, I as if considering MB other engage . mentB; "good!" He nodded a Rm liing j assent ' After a month and more of idleness Bud and Amigo performed prodigios ' of labor in the cut, rolling down . boulders, lifting them up on the tram, and clearing away the face of the cliff. Their tram was ramshackle, their track the abandoned ralla 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, i A low cry of wonder escaped the . Yaqui as he gazed at the rich vein of ore, and as he saw the grim smile on Bud's rugged countenaace he showed his white teeth in sympathy. "Qua bueno!" be murmured. "How good!" gathering the precious frag ments in bis handkerchief. At the camp they crushed tho picked ore In a mortar and panned it in the ereek, and for the moment De Lancey dropped his air of pr?occu pe ney as he stared at the streak ot puro gold. Like a yellow film lt lay ulong the edge of the lost fine tailings, and when skilful washing had left it bare, it gleamed Uko a Jewel tn the pan. "By Jove, Bud I" ho cried, "that's the real stuff-and *it-goes a dollar to the pan easy!" "Bure thing!" agented Bud. "Let's pound a lot of it and wash it as we go -then we'll baVo some getaway money when thinga^break loose here!" "lil go you!" answered Phil, and Bud's heart warmed toward him as he watched him pound up a piece of ore jmd go to swirling the dirt In the pan. But alas for the fond hopes he cher ished! Even as he washed out tho gold Pall's mind wandered far away, back to the hotel where Orada Ara gon sat watching by the window. Her hair wan tho color of gold, spun One and refined again; yes, it was worth more than this golden dross , that h* caught in the bottom of his , pan. And what waa gold If he could , not have hart T?o paused in hi? labor ati?-a dreamy smile parted I??H lip?-thon he broke into a song: Sweet hnrji-y h<-<?, bo ow^t to mo. My heart ls t. hui lnre'H thu key; Lock up Uio giirtlen gute; honey. r?u know I'll walt, Under tim rumhlvr ros-- trce-ce. Once moro ho returned to his work, humming now the dulcet ?trains of "Tho Merry Widow," and when Hud came back from the cut lt waa to hear a cooa Boag: 'Cos I wnnt yor, me honey, yea, I wunt vcr. wu ut y er; 'COB I want y er, ma honey, yen I ?Jo! So ho labored and song, until finally the labor ceased, and then the song. He went about other things, and other thoughts, not so cheerful, tilled bia mind. Hud returned Badly to tho company of tho Yaqui and gave lt up. PerbapB his pardner hud been right when, rid ing out of Agua Negra, he had en larged upoa the dangers of Old Mex ico, "tho lund of manana and broken promises." Certainly hi? speech had b?'on prophetic in regard to dark-eyed women; for, even as he had said, nothing seemed to pienso them better than to como between man and man. It was a madness, ho felt sure-tho sp?dl of tho hot country, whero the women look out from behind barred windows and men sing beneath their balconies nt midnight. Already lt had coat him his pardner-would it con quer his will as well and make him. forgot his trust? In his impotence the idea of some perverse fato-Borne malign influence over which he had no control-waa strong with Hooker; yet when the blow fell he was not prepared for it. It waa the third day of tholr mining and, with ^mlgo, he had been driving into the face of tho cliff. Alroady their round of holen was drilled, the fuses cut, the charges set, and as he retreated before the blast be noticed absently that Cruz Mendez waa in camp. The ehots followed, one Thrust His Rifle Into Its 8llng and Started for Town. after another, aud he counted them to make sure there was no mlBB-flre then he looked around and discovered that Phil was gone. "Where ls Don Felipe?" he Inquired of Mendez, aud that low-browed broth er of the burro bowed fawningly be fore he replied. "He has gono to Fortuna," he said, wiping hlB face with a bath towel which ho wore about his neck. 'And what for?" demanded Bud im peratively, "I don't know, senor." writhed Men dez. "I brought him r. letter." "From whom?1* "I don't know. It was given to me by Juana, the servant of the Senorita Aragon." "Ah!" breathed rn '., and pretended not to be surprised. "Well, let 'im gr: ' he said to him self, and went bat \ into the mine. It was what he had \poeted, in a way. and his code bat' .dm keep his hands off. But the n< '. morning, when the evil was oithe .-.voided or done, he thrust his rifle ?uio its sling and start ed for the tov At the Jail he halted and gazed lc M rough the windows then he rode ?.? to the hotel and asked for Phil. "WhatT Have you not heard?** clamored ! on Juan. "Ah, lt ls most unfortunat ?-I would not have had it happen for the world 1" "What?" inquired Bud succinctly. "Why, tho quarrel-the encounter ri tb Capitan del Rey! I did my best, assure you, to prevent lt, for the town has be?n put under martial law and the captain is in full charge. They quarreled ovor the favor of a lady, anth now your friend ls In joli." "I didn't see him when 1 come by," observed Hooker. "Ah, no-not in the careel-in the cuartel, the guardhouse ot the rurales!" "Much obliged!" nodded Bud, and rode on through tho town. The street ot the Mexican quarter was filled with strange people hurrying to and fro; long packtralns loaded with trunks and curious bundles, came awinglng up from below ; and, a pair of rurales, looking fierce .under . their huge sombreros stood guard hy the cuartel door. "Where ls the captain?" demanded Hooked. After requesting h|m-to bang hie pistol-belt on his enddlo-horn. a sergeant showed him in to the chief. . Manuel dol Rey was very busy with papers ?nd* orders, but aa the Ameri can appeared in the doorway ho. rose and greeted him with a bow. "Ah, good morninn. sonor." he said, with ono KW ift glance to road hits mood. "You are In search of your friend no?" "Si, senor," answered Mooker, but with none of tho animosity which the captain had expected. "Where is he?" "I regroi very much," began the of ficer, speaking with military formality, "but lt is my duty to inform you that the Senor De Lan co y lia? left Fortuna, Last night he did me the honor to en list In my company of rurales-he is now on his way to the north to assist in guarding the railroad." "What?" shouted Hud, hardly able to believe hi6 ears. Hut when the cap tain repeated it bo no longer doubted bis Spanish. "Dut why?" he cried; "why did he Join tho rurales7" "Ah, senor," shrugged Del Hey, "was ho not a Mexican citizen? Very well, then; he could bo summoned for mili tary set vice. Dut tho circumstances were theno. Your friend came yester day to thin town, where 1 am at pres ent military commander, and made an unprovoked assault upon my person, for this, according to law, he should have been shot at sumiso. Hut, not wishing to occasion unpleasantness with the Americana now rebiding here, j I offered him tho alternative of mili tary servico. He 1B now enlisted aa a rural for n term of five yenrB." "Five yearn!" exclaimed Hooker; and then, instead of starting the ex pected rough-house-upon which tho rural guarda were prepared to jump on his back-ho simply threw down hlB hat and cursed. Not anyone lu par ticular, but everything in general; and at the end of it he turned once moro upon tito wntchfud captain. "Dlspor.nome, senor," ho said, "thle la the truth, is lt?" "SI, senor," returned Captain del Rey. "Dut beforo leaving with hlB de tachment your friend wrote this letter, which he requested me to deliver to you." He offered with a flourish a sealed envelope, from which Hud extracted a short note. Dour Bud: When you get this I shall be far away. I must have been mad, but lt is too Inte now. Rather than be executed ? have enlisted ns a rural. But I r.hall try to be bravo for her sake. Take care of. her. Bud-for me! PHIL. Dud read it through again and medi tated ponderously. Then he folded lt up and thrust it in his pocket. "Muchas gracias, senor capitan," he Bald, saluting and turning upon his heel; and while all tho Mexicans mar- j veled at the inscrutable ways ot Amer* ! lcanos, he mounted and rode away. CHAPTER XVII. There was a world of Mexicans tn the plaza when Hooker rode down through tho town. Never, it seemed to him, had he seen BO 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 the imminent reboil, they had an evil way of staring at him which he did not relish. Even qt the hotel, where the Span ish-Mexican aristocracy was massed tea deep, he sensed tho same feeling Of veiled hostility and wondered vague ly what it might portead. It Phillp De Lancey, for making love to a giri, was drafted into the army, what would | happen to him if these people should ever break loose? And did they have the courage to do their worst? He lingered around the door for a while, hoping to meet Don Juan or somo American who would tell him the nowa; then, disgusted with every thing, he flung away and left them to themselves. Fortuna was not a white man's country-he could eeo that with* out a diagram-but at the same thus he intended to hold his mine until he could hear from Phil. Let tho tides of Insurrection come and go, let the red-naggers take the town and the federals take it back again-at tho end he .would still be found at tho Eagle Tall, unless Phil received his title to the mine. As for Aragon, whose fine ItaHan hand ho perceived behind the sudden taking off of Phil, let him make what trades he would/with the rurales and Manuel del Rey, even to the giving ot his daughter's band;-but If, taking ad vantage of the unsettled times, -he dared to tri - steal their-mi ne, then there would o war to the knife. It ls a fine, comforting thing to be single-minded and of one purpose. All the rest of life ls simplified and or dered then, and a man knows when io raise hlB hand and when to hold lt back. j;, In hi? letter Phil had said nothing about their mine, but be Was a Mexi can citizen still, and the mine Was in his name. Bud was his pard?er and free to hold lt In his stead': and that he determined to do-not only hold lt, bat work lt for a stake. Then, when the tldo was passed and all rnado cer tain, they could turn lt over to Kruger and quit the accursed country. ... .As for the el - , Hud decided that she could take caro of herself without any - assistance from 'him,- and dis* missed her from bia mind. ' j Back at tho raine he found Amigo guarding camp "from .the hilltop,, .and after telling him tho gi?t of his trou bles, the two of them went to work. Every day, while one ot them dag oat the ore, the other crushed and washed ft and watched aa he horned out the geld. Their rides they kept beside them and pistols tn their belts; -and every time a M ox lean dropped Into camp, sa on? did now and then id the general mrest, ho felt tho silent rriotr ace of arma tn readiness abd continued on his way. For a week they labored on together, grim, watchful, expectant-then, at ' tho break of duy, they beard a distant rattle of arms, like the tearing of a cloth, and Tine w that the bat'.lu was > on. The grent willette at Fortuna opened ' with ita full, bass roar, and Amigo ' snatched up ina gun and went loping ! down tho canyon, drawn irresistibly I by tho sound of conflict. Bud lingered, I climbing higher and higher to get a view of the country. But hh> young | blood clamored for action too, and ; soon he was mounted and gone. The lighting was not at the Ameri can town, but down the valley by Old , Fortuna, and as Hooker galloped on I toward the sound of the firing ho no ticed that it wuB ou the move. Al ready tho cowardly rebelB wore re treating-the volunteers from Fortuna were hurrying to get closer to them, tho rurales were riding to flank them; and when Bud jumped bis horso up tho last hill and looked down luto tho brond, cultivated valley he saw the dust of their flight ? Down the fenced trull that led to the lower country the mounted iusurrectOB wero spurring in a rout; across the newly plowed field, of Aragon the men on foot wore making a short cut for the hills; and all about them, Uko leaping grasshoppers, sprang up puffs of dust Now they plunged Into the willow bruah along tho river, where lt swung' in against the ridge; and as their pur suers broke into tho open they halted, and returned tho Are. Tho bullets struck up the dust like hailstones in front of the oncoming Irregulars, a man or two in tho lead went down, and they faltered. Then, as frantically as the rebela, they turned and ran for cover. While defenders and invaders shot back and forth acroBS the broad field, Bud put spurs to hie borse and rode cloner, and when he came out on an other hilltop he w?B just In time to Bee the rurales como pelting in from the wost and take the revoltosos on the flank. There was a great deal of lony distance firing then, while the robe.'J slowly retreated, and finally, with a last defiant volley, the defender? turned back from their pursuit and marched triumphantly to Old Fortuna. There, amid numerous vivas, Don Cipriano rolled out a cask ot mescal and, after a fiery speech, Invited the victors to help themselves. So they foll to drinking and carousing, and the one defender who had been Wounded was bandaged and made much of, while a great crowd from the upper town looked on In awe and admiration. At last Manuel del Rey and his rurales returned from harassing the emmy and with several wouaded pris oners ia their midst tho valor-drunk Mexicans formed a riotous procession and went marching back to (own. Every boree and mule was carrying double, guns were being dropped, broad bats knocked off, and ever, aa they marched, they shouted: "Viva Madero! Viva M?jico! Muerte a los revoltosos!" It wes an eciaylng spectacle to an American, and with the rest Bud tagged along to the plaza, where they had speeches and cheers galore and more mescal at the company's cantina. But in the midst of lt, while he sat laughing on his horse by the hotel, Bud felt a gravel strike hie broad hat from above and, looking furtively up, he beheld Gracia Aragon smiling down at bim from the balcony. She beckoned him with a swift movement and gazed out over the aa semblage again, and after a few mo menta of deliberation Hooker tied his horse and wandered into the hotel. A tingle of excitement went over him as he tramped up td the ladles' parlor, for he had n*sver met Ora eli face to face. But he disguised hit qualms by assuming a ma?kllke grim ness of countenance and/, when thc glorious Gracia glided out of her roon; to meet him, he only blinked and etooc pat A long experience as a poker playei was all that saved him from betrayal for there waa something ia her veri presence which made his heart lea* and bound. But he only gazed at hei somberly, without even so much ai raising his hat Back in Texas, In . his social world lt was considered almost unmanly tc thus soluto .the ladies. So he Btooc there, hrs big sombrero pulled do wi over his mop of light hair, gazing a her without a blink. Perh aj, j lt was not altogether ai friendly a scrutiny of her charming features ' as Gracia expected, for lil remembered what she had done to hil p-dnor; but if she' sensed tmch * ran thing as ' disapproval from a younj man, she waa too excited to ahow lt Her lips trembled, and abe looked bael furtively; riennwbile drawing- hi tn ? Inti an alcove, ny. the slight est twitch o his sleeve. "Dont talk too loud,** She wbU pored. "My mother ls listening fron the room-but for tho lora Pt God,.toi mo, whoro is Phil?" ' ... : "I don't know," answered Bad, trj lng to lower his big voice to ? condoi softness; "he joined the rurales am tras ordered north-that's all I know. "Yes, yes, to bo sure; but haven' you heart from Mm**" - j she seemed to be all Impatience t snatch hiB news and fly with lt bu Bud was in no such hurry.. And s far was ho from being a carpet knigh that he Immediately raised his vole to its normal bass. It was all rigb for Phil and his kind to' talk* by sign and whispers, but that w?ts'lu sty lo. "Not since he wont away,** he salt "He left mo a nttio note, then, sw tog-" . . . -. . ' \t 31 ."Saying whatt" she demande breathlessly. .(To he continued.) --""O' .' " : ' V' ". Sale of fern Corsets :: Commencing Monday :: Style 53, $3.00 Corsets, now $2.00. Style 67, $3.00 Corsets, now $2.00. Style 51, $4.00 Corsets, now $2.50. Style 55, $5.00 Corsets, now $3.00. Style 54, $4.00 Corsets, now $2.50. "We Will Discontinue These Numbers /. /. D. AU You Have tor J}p Is Deposit y eui** Money With Ut ' WE WILL Honor y oui* Checks . Furnish you check hooks ires' . Keep your accounts straight JT' Give you attentive and courteous attention always Pay you interest on deposits LEND YOU MONEY WHEN YOU WANT IT i Wo are still making a specialty of small notes ronni g from $25 to - . $100- (chicken feed the Metropolitan hankers er!) .oem) - which 'will be paid daring the month of October am' fl .st half of Novem ber. .. _ .. Our combined resources arc ir. attie rise of ONE MIL LION DOLLARS % - AND ' We want your business ' ' AND ; .* : -You will -not make any mistake to give . it to os. No aanoiutt too small to open an account with us. ?'..i: 1 .'.. ? 'Xii ii'.. < . r\'-\ 3 . t . 'tct? ?"'.>; - f '. > I .i- '?>.' A' . ,i->v : \ Farmers and Merchants Bank .-. T,': ?? ? AND . Farmers Loan & Trust Company Palmetto Detective Agency: Crit?inal and Ouil Work .. V > '. J .. ???_... "".}': ? am 'iJ^'v' ; j.1, j!, i JV -. j ft- may be scented IQ strict A?dtes?P. O. Box 402 A corp^of trained Socialists whose ly legitImnie work.