Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1915 — Page 2

The Land of Broken Promises

A Stirring Story of the Mexican Revolution

SYNOPBIS. Bud Hooicer aiM Phil' De Laacey are forced, owing to a revolution In Mexico, to give up their mining claim and return to the United Stales In the border town of Gadsden Bud meets Henry Kruger, a wealthy miner, who makes him a propor.. sitlon to return to Mexico to acquire title to a very rich mine which Kruger had blown up when he found he had been cheated oot of the title by one Aragon. The Mexican subsequently spent a large sum in an unsuccessful attempt to relocate the vein and then allowed the land to revert for taxes. Hooker and He Lan•■ey arrive at Fortune near where the mina known aa the Eagle Tall, la located. They engage the services of Cruz Mendez, who hae boon friendly to Kruger, to acquire the title for thehi and get a permit to do preliminary work. Aragon protests and accuses them of jumping his claim. CHAPTER Vll—Continued. For a minute Don Clpriano stood looking at him, his black eyes heavy with rage; then hie anger seemed to tall away from him and he wiped the sweat from his brow. “Very well,’* he said at last, “I perceive that you are a gentleman and hare acted In good faith —it is only that that fallow Mendes has deceived you. Let It pass. then —I will not quarrel with you< my friend —It Is the fortune of war. But stop at my store when you go by and come and see me. It la Indeed lonely here at times, and perhaps I can paaa a pleasant hour with you. My name, aenor. 1a Don Clpriano Aragon y Tree Palacios —and yourar* .Be held out hla hand with a little "Philip De Lanoey,” replied Phil, clasping the proffered hand; and with many expressions of good-will and eeteem, with a touching of hats and a wiggling of fingers from the distance, they parted, in spite of Bud, the best of friends. CHAPTER VIII. There are some people In this world with whom it seems Impossible to quarrel. notably the parents of attractive Perhaps, If Oracle Aragon had not bean watching him from the window Philip De Lanoey would not have been quite so cordial with her father —at least, that was what Hooker thought, and he was so badly peeved at the way things had gone that he said it, too. Then, of course, they quarreled, and, one thing leading to another, Phil told Bud he had a very low way of speaking. Bud replied that, whatever his deficiencies of speech might be, he wan not fool enough to be drawn in by a skirt, and Phil rebuked him again. Then, with a scornful grunt. Bud Hooker rode on in silence and they ■aid no more about it. It was a gay Ilfs that they led at night for the Fortune hotel was filled with men of their kind, since all the staid married men had either moved across the line with their families or were under orders to come straight In the daytime the hotel was nearly deserted, for every man In town was working for the company; bat In the evening, when they gathered around the massive stove, it was s merry company indeed. There were college men. full of good stories and stories not so good, worldwanderers and adventurers with such tales of the Bast and West as never have been written in hooka But not a college boy oould match stories with Phil De Lanoey. and few wanderers there were who could tell him anything new about Mexico. Also, when ft came to popular songs, he knew both the words and the tone. So he wee much In demand, and Don Juan passed many drinks across the bar because of him. In all such festivities the two partners stayed together; Bud, with a broad, indulgent grin, listening to the end. and Phil, hla eyea alight with liquor and good cheer, talking and far into the night. Outside the winter winds were still cold and the Mexicans went wrapped to the eyebrows; but within the merry •company was slow to quit, and Phil, making up for the lonely months when be had entirely lacked an audi•sues, tod long in the seat of honor and was always the last to go. But 1 on the evening after their spat ■Bud sat off to one side, end even Phil’s uprightly end ventriloquistic conversation with the-little-giri-behind-the-door •called forth only a fleeting smile. Bad was thinking, and when encaged In that arduous occupation even •the saucy little girl behind the door •could not beguile him. But, after he had studied it all out come to s definite conclusion, he Idld not deliver an ultimatum. The old. IgoodHoatnred smile simply came back fit his rugged face; he rolled a cigar•ette; —»«* then for the rest of the evejetng he lay back and enjoyed the pfcow. Only in the morning, when tthey went out to the corral to get their HOMS, he carried his war-bag with ‘Mm ««<-•* after throwing the saddle on to Copper Bottom, he did the same for fibsir spare mount. .mnmt are you going to pack out, jltorr inqnirad, PhiL and. Bud slapped

By DANE COOLIDGE

- Author ms '•Th* Fighting yw” ’ 'Hidden Wmtmr.” •Thu Tmuiomm, ’’ Etc. Illustrations by Don J.Lavin

(Com**. X 914 Irr task A. U»uqr)

Then, with a heave, he snaked It out of the harnessroom where it had been stored and slung it deftly across the pack-saddle. "Why, what’s the matter?” said De Lancey, when they were on tbelr way; ’’don’t /ou like the hotel?” ’’Hotel’s fine," conceded Bud, “but I reckon I’d better camp out at the mine. Want to keep my eye on that Mexican of ours.” "Aw, he’s all right!” protested Phil. “Sure,” said Bud; "I ain’t afraid he’ll steal something—but he might take a notion to quit the country." "Why, what for?” challenged De Lancey. “He’s got his wife and family here.’’ "That’s nothing—-to a Mexican!” countered Bud. “But I ain’t figuring on the excuse he'd give—that won’t buy me nothing—what I want to do is to keep him from going. Because if we lose that Mex now, we lose our mine.” “And—” “No ‘and’ to It," said Bud doggedly. "We ain’t going to lose him.” “But if we did,” persisted De • Lancey, “why, then you think —’’ “Your friend would get it," finished Hooker grimly. “Ah, I see," nodded De Lancey, noting the accent on "friend.” “You don't approve of my making friends with Aragon.” “Oh, that’s all right,” shrugged the big cowboy; “it won’t mgke no difference now. Go ahead, if you want to.” “You mean you can get along without me?’’ “No,” answered Bud, “I don’t mean nothing—except what I say. If you

It Was a Merry ’Company, Indeed.

want to palaver around with Aragon, go to It. I’ll round up Mendes and his family and keep ’em right there at the mine until we get them papers signed —after that I don’t care what happens.” “Oh, all right,” murmured De Lancey in a subdued tone; but if his conscience smote him for the moment ,it did not lead to the making of any sentimental New Year’s resolutions, for he stopped when he came to the store and exchanged salutations with Aragon, who was lounging expectantly before his door. “Buenos dlas, Don Ciprlano!” he hailed. “How are you this morning?” “Ah, good morning. Don Felipe," responded Aragon, stepping forth from the shadow of the door. “1 am very well, thank you-—and you?” “The samel” answered Phil, as if it were & great piece of news. "It is fine weather —no?” “Yes. but a little dry!" said Aragon, and so they passed it back and forth in the accepted Spanish manner, while Bud hooked one leg over the horn of his saddle and regarded the hacienda with languid eyes. But as his gaze swept the length of the vine-covered corredor it halted for rmoment and a slow smile came oyer his face. In' the green depths of a passion-flower vine he had detected a quick, birdlike motion; and then suddenly, like a transformation scene, he beheld a merry face, framed and illuminated by soft, golden locks, peering out at him from among the blossoms. Except for that brief smile he made no sign that he saw her, and when he looked up again the face had disappeared. Don Clpriano showed them about his mescal plant, where his men kept a continual stream of liquid fire running from the copper worm, and gave each a raw drink; but though De Lancey admiringly at the house and praised the orange trees that hung over the gulden Wall. Spanish hospitality could go no farther, and the visit ended in a series of adiosea and muchas graciases. "Quick work!" commented Phil, as they rode toward the mine; “the old m.n has got over his grouch." v •ram.” mused Bud, with a quiet, brooding smile; and the next timehe rode into town he looked for the

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP.

masked face among the flowers and smiled again. That was the way Gracia Aragon affected them all. He did not point out the place to Phil, nor betray her by any sign. All he did was to glance at her once and then ride on his way, but somehow his heart stood still when he met her eyes, and his days became filled with a pensive, brooding melancholy. “What, the matter, Bud ?” rallied Phil, after he had jollied him week; “you’re getting mighty quiet lately. Got another hunch —like that one you bad up at Agua Negra?” “Nope,” grinned Bud; “but 11l tell you one thing—ts old Aragon don’t spring something pretty soon I’m goingi to get uneasy. He’s too dog-goued good-natured about this.” “Maybe he thinks we’re stuck,” suggested De Lancey. “Well, he’s awful happy about something.” said Bud. “I can see by the way he droops that game eye of his — and smiles that way—that he knows we’re working for him. If we don’t get a title to this mine, every tap of work we do on it is all to the good for him. that’s a cinch. So sit down now and think it out —where’s the joker?” “Well,” mused Phil, "the gold is here somewhere. He knows we’re not fooled there. And he knows we’re after it, the way we’re driving this cut in. Our permit is good—he hasn’t tried to buffalo Mendez —and it’s a cinch he can’t denounce the claim himself.” “Maybe he figures on letting us do all the work and pay all the denounce ment fees and then spring something big on old One-Eye,” propounded Bud. “Scare 'lm up or buy ’im off, and have him transfer the title to him. That’s the way he worked Kruger.” “Well, say,” urged Phil, “let’s go ahead with our denouncement before he starts something. Besides, the warm weather is coming on now, and if we don't get a move on we’re likely to get run out by the revoltosos.” “Nope.” said Bud; “I don’t put this into Mendez’s hands until I know he’s our man—and if I ever do go ahead I’ll keep him under my six-shooter until the last paper lia signed, believe me. 1 know we’re in bad somewhere, but hurrying up won’t help none. “Now I tell you what we’ll do—you go to the mining agent'and get copies of all our papers and send them up to that Gadsden lawyer. I'm going to go down and board with Mendez and see if I can read his heart.” So they separated, and while Phil stayed in town to look over the red ords Bud ate his beans and tortillas with the Mendez family. Thdy were a happy little family, comfortably installed in the stone house that Mendez had built, and rapidly getting fat on three full meals a day. From his tent farther up the canyon Bud could look down and watch the children at play and see the comely Indian wife as she cooked by the open fire. Certainly no one could be more innocent and contented than she wae, and El Tuerto was all bows and protestations of gratitude. And yet, you never can tell. Bud had moved out of the new house to furhlßh quarters for El Tuerto and had favored him in every way; but this same consideration might easily be misinterpreted, for the Mexicans are Blow to understand kindness. So, while on the one hand he had treated them generously, he had always kept his distance, lest they be tempted to presume. But now, with Phil in town for a few days, he took his meals with Maria, who was too awed to say a word, and made friends with the dogs and the children. v The way to the dog’s heart was easy,, almost direct, and he finally won the attentlsn of little Pancho and Josefa with a well-worn Sunday supplement. This gaudy institution, with its spicy stories and startling illustrations, had penetrated even to the wilds of Sonora, and every Sunday as regularly as the paper came Bud sat down and had his laugh over the funny page. But to Pancho, who was six years old and curious, this same highly colored sheet was a mystery of mysteries, and when he saw the big American laughing he crept up and looked at it wistfully. “Mira,* said Bud, laying his finger upon the smirking visage of one of the comic characters, “look, and I will tell you the story.” And so, with laborious care, he translated the colored fun, while the little Mendezes squirmed with excitement and leaped with joy. Even the simple souls of El Tuerto and Maria wer moved by the comicas, and Mendez became so interested that he learned the words by heart, the better to explain them to others. But as for Mexican treachery. Bud could find none of it. In fact, finding them so simple-hearted and good-na-tured, he became half ashamed of his early suspicions and waited for the return of Phil to explain Don Cipnano’s complacency. But the next Sunday, as Bud lay reading In his tent, the mystery solved itself. Cruz Mendez came up from the house, hat in hand and an apologetic smile on his face, and after the customary roundabout remarks he asked the boss as a favdr if he would lend Kim the page of comic pictures. -Seguro!” assented Bud, rolling over and fumbling for the 1 funny sheet; then, falling to find It instantly, he inquired: “What do you want It for?” “Ah. to show to my boy!” explained El Tuerto. his one eye lighting up with pride: ---- “Who —Pancho?" ' f “Ah, no, senor.” answered Mendes simply, “my boy In La Fortuna. the one you have not seen " Bud stopped fumbling tor the paper and sat up sadden®?- Here was s new lightsztheirtoUhfel servitor, anddme

that might easily take away firom hfo value as a dummy locator. “Oh!" he said, and then: "How injury children have you, Crus?" Crus smiled deprecatlngly, as parents will, and turned away. "By which woman?" he inquired, and Bud became suddenly very calm, fearing the worst For If pruz was not legally married to Marla, he •could not transfer the coining claim. y all of them,” he said quietly. "Five in nJI,” returned Crus—“three by Maria, as you know —two by my first woman—and one other. I do not count him.” “Well, you one-eyed old reprobate!” muttered Bud In his throat but he passed it off and returned smiling to the charge. "Where does your boy live now?” he asked with flattering solicitude, the better to make him talk, “and is he old enough to understand the pictures?” “Ah, yes!” beamed Mendez, “he is twelve years old. He lives with his mother now —and my little daughter, too. Their mamma is the woman of the mayordomo of the Senor Aragon—a bad man, very ugly—she is not married to him.” “But with you—” suggested Bud, regarding him with a steely stare. "Only by the judge!" exclaimed Mendez virtuously. "It was a lovematch, and the priest did not come — so we were married by the judge. Then this bad mayordomo stole her away from me—the pig—and 1 married Maria instead. Maria is a good woman and I married her before the priest—but 1 love my other children, too, even though they are not lawful.” “So you married your first wife before the judge,” observed Bud cynically, “and this one before the priest But how could you do that, unless you had been divorced?” “Ah, senor,” protested Mendez, holding out his hands, "you do not understand. It is only the church that can really marry—the judge does it only for the money. Maria is my true wife —and we have three nice children — but as I am going through La Fortuna I should like to show the picture paper to my boy.” Bud regarded him in meditative silence, then he rose up and began a determined search for the funny sheet. “All right,” he said, handing it over, "and here is a panoche of sugar for your little girl—the one in La Fortuna. It is nothing,” he added, as Mendez began his thanks. “But oh, you marrying Mexican," he continued, relapsing into his mother tongue as El Tuerto disappeared; “you certainly have dished us right.” CHAPTER IX. Not the" least of the causes which have brought Mexico to the brink of the abyss is the endless quarrel between church and state, which has almost destroyed the sanctity of marriage and left, besides, a pitiful heritage of deserted women and fatherless children as its tolL Many an honest laborer has peoned himself to pay the priest for his marriage, only to be told that it is not legal In the eyes of the law; and many another, married by the judge, has been gravely informed by the padre that the woman i# only his mistress, and the children born out of wedlock, So that now, to be sure that she is wedded, a woman must be married twice, and many a couple, on account of the prohibitive fees, are never married at aIL Cruz Mendez was no different fronts the men of his class, and he believed honestly that he was married to she comely Maria; but Hooker could have enlightened him on that point If he had cared to do it [ Bud was playing a game, with the Eagle Tail mine for a stake; and, being experienced at poker, he stood pat and studied his hand. Without doubt Mendez had lost his usefulness as a locator of the mine, since Maria was not his legal wife and Could not sign the transfer papers as such. According to the law of the land, the woman n<»w living with Aragon’s mayordomo was the “legitimate” wife of the contract, and she alone could release title to the mine once Mendez denounced the claim.- 0 • But Mendez, had not yet denounced the claim —though for a period of some thirty days yet he had the exclusive privilege of doing so—and Bud did not intend that he should. Meanwhile they must walk softly, leaving Aragon to still hug the delusion that he would soon, through his

GREAT INFLUENCE OF BEAUTY

Though Too Often Ignored, It Is j*s Deep and Useful a Part of Life ' as Utility. Beanty is as deep and as useful a part of our general life aa is what we term utility. It has just such a reason for being; it has a similar force; it has a set place in the scheme of the world. Eyes not fully opened (to the beautiful are qot wholly alive to the influence of beauty upon our lived and our actions. Alas! sometimes we scoff at the highest expressions of beauty. That is to say, the highest human expression. Those even greater beauties, which ara divine expressions, we ignore. Jugi think for a moment Take yourself away from yourself and contemplate yourself and your living, set against the background of ttra ail schema ofc tiUngs. TWak of the

mmyordomo, have them in his power—and when the full sixty days of Cnu Mend ex's mining permit had expired they could locate the mine again. But how —and through whom? That was the question that Bud was studying upon when Phil rode up the trail, and in his abstraction he barely returned his gay greeting. "Well, cheer up, old top!” cried DeLancey, throwing his bridle-reins to the ground and striding up to the tent “What ho, let down the portcullis, me lord seneschal! And cease your vain repining, Algernon—our papers are all O. K. and the lawyer says to go ahead. But that isn’t half the news! Say. we had a dance up at the hotel last night and I met —” “Yes —sure you did," brolie in Bud; “but listen to this!” And he told him of El Tuerto’s matrimonial entanglements. "Why, the crooked devil!” exclaimed De Lancey, leaping up at the finish. “Oyez! Mendez!" "Don’t say a word,” warned Bud, springing to the tent door to intercept him, “or you’ll put us out of business! It is nothing,’’ he continued in Spanish as Mendez came out of his house, “but put Don Felipe's horse in the cdrral when he is cool." “Si, senor—with great pleasure!” smirked Mendez, running to get the horse, and- after he had departed Bud turned back and shook his head. “We can’t afford to quarrel with Mr. Mendez,” he said; "because if Aragon ever gets hold of him we’re ditched. Jest let everything run on like we’d overlooked something Until the sixty days are up—then, if we get away with it, we’ll locate the mine ourselves." “Yes; but how?” “Well, they’s two ways,” returned Bud; "either hunt up another Mexicm citizen or turn Mexican ourselves.” “Turn Mexican!” shrilled Phil, ar«ft then he broke down and ’aughefi. “Well, you’re a great one, Bud,” he chortled; "you sure are!” “I come down here to get this mine,” said Bud laconically. “Yes, but you’re a Texan —or was one! ” “That makes no difference,” answered Bud stoutly. “The hot weather is coming on —revolution is likely to begin any time —and there ain’t a single Mexican we can trust Jest one more break now anfl we lose out —now how about it?” “Who’s going to turn Mexican V' questioned De Lancey, “you or me?" “Well —I will, them!” "No, you won’t either!” cried Phil, forgetting his canny shrewdness. "I’ll do it myself! I’m half Mexican, already, I’ve been eating chili so long!” “Now here,” begfxn Bud, "listen to me. I’ve been thinking this over all day and you jest hßerd about it The man that turns Mexican is likely to get mixed up with fbe authorities and have to skip the poxutry, bat the other feller is in the other way—he’# to stay with the works till hell fits#* over. “Now you’re an engineer «ire 2 know how to open up a mine*-! don't. So, if you say so, I’ll takf out '«3le papers and you hold the mine—or- if you want to yon can turn Mex." “Well," said De Lancey, his voice suddenly becoming soft and pensive, "I might as well tell you, Bud, that I’m thinking of settling In this country, anyway. Of course, I don’t look at Aragon the way you do —I think you are prejudiced and misjudge hitn —but ever since I'Ve known Gracia I’ve—” “Gracia!” repeated Bud; and then, stirred by some great and unreasoning anger, he rose up and threw down his hat pettishly. "I'd think, Phil,” he muttered, “you’d be satisfied with all the other girls in the world without —” “Now here!" shouted Phil, rising as unre&soningly to his feet, “don’t you say another word against that girl, or I'll—” “Shut your mouth, you little shrimp!” bellowed Bud, wheeling upon him menacingly. “You seem to think you’re the only man in the world that—” “Oh, slush, Bud!" cried Phil In dte gust, “you don’t mean to tell me you’re in love with Gracia too!” “Who —me?” demanded Hooker, hts face suddenly becoming fixed and masklike; and then he laughed hoarsely in derision and sank down on the bed. Certainly, of the two of them, he was the more surprised at his sudden outbreak of passion; and yet when the words were spoken he was quick to know that they were true. (TO BE CONTINUED.)

myriads of. Infinitely petty, wasteful and useless thoughts and actions, desires and dislikes which occupy your day. . At the moment you read this, take yourself back two years ago. Ol course, you have not the slightest conception of what happened. But let me tell you that on that day, two years ago, were happening two, a dozen err a hundred things which seemed to you to be supreme importance. Do yon understand how we fill oar lives to the brim with millions of sttCh trifling inconsequences ?-—Kansas City Star.

He Took the House.

Citlman (to house agent>-—“1 thought you said there was a charming view from the front windows? Why, then are only houses to be seen." Hones Agent—“So there Is a charming view, sir. In the house opposite Uvea the most beautiful widow you am dapped mi *he’s always at the wtodos- r '

Three Things That Offend

By REV. J.H. RALSTON

Secretary of CompoadMce Depall*** l Moody Bible Imitate. Chicago

TEXT—And the word was made flesh.— John 1:14. Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. —Matt. 27:42. We will not have this man to reign over ua.— Luke 19:14. The personality of Jesus Christ .stands out as the world’s greatest

to the sacrifice of himself for his friends. But when claims are made beyond such manifestations, there are hesitation, denial, and, ultimately, either in thought or word, malice. He Is despised and rejected of men. The Deity, of Jesus Christ. The incarnation is denied —God did not become flesh, the person who stands before men is not God, only a man, very superior indeed, but nothing more than a man. When the proposition is made that he was not of human fatherhood, many who claim to be his friends, and even professed believers in his deity, at once object on the ground that this militates against his perfect humanity. In these things it must be remembered that If the claims that are made for the beautiful character of Jesus be allowed, we are forced to accept something beyond his mere humanity, for he said: “I and my father are One,” and “He that hath seen me, hath seen the father.” These statements are made In such connection that it is impossible to make them mean less than that Jesus Christ claimed to be God, If any record of Jesus Christ which enables men to speak of his beautiful character is to be the record must be believed that he was bom of the virgin, and that the holy thing that was boro was of the Holy Ghost —otherwise the Integrity of the biblical record as to the personality of Jesus Christ is properly challenged. The Death of Jesus Christ. Men said as Jesus hung on the cross, “Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." That Is simply another evidence of the offense of the cross. Many who study Jesus in the light of his death say that he entirely misunderstood his .mission, that he became the victim of his folly and suffered a premature and unnecessary death, and' in so doing deprived mankind of three score or more years of a perfect life which might have regenerated the race. The offense of the crosß has not eased to this day, and when Jesus, in his willing and purposed death, suffered on Calvary, he invited the malice and hatred of all subsequent ages. The rash vow of the Jews: “His blood be upon us and our children,” has kept that race in hatred of that cross, and all likewise who do not love that cross are in league with the Jews in their opposition to the Messiah. What has been the testimony of history as to the relative effect of the life or death of Jesus Christ? Secular histi ry, even, proves to us that where men have accepted the salvation that was secured through the cross, they have risen to the highest morality, aad to the highest social culture of the best sort. It was not the life of Christ that struck at the root difficulty. but the death. “Except a com of wheat fall Into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Jesus said to Pilate: “I am a king." He came to establish a kingdom, of which himself should be the head, and the world’s history would have been entirely different from what it has been if he had been accepted by the Jews at Jerusalem as their king when he made his triumphal entry. Bnt there is something in the kingship of jlesus that seems at once to arouse antagonism, not simply among his enemies, but his professed friends. During his earthly life he was sensitive to his kingship, and at one time said that he could command twelve legions of angels and they would come to him. The cry of the citizens in the parable of the nobleman: “We will not have this man to reign over us,” can be applied to the man of this day. Our view of Jeans as king cannot be complete until he rules ms King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That manifestation must be at his second coming, when he shall execute judgment on his enemies. This kingly coming is misrepresented, maligned and hated, bnt It will be realized as certainly aa the incarnation and the death on the cross. The deity, the sacrifice, the atonement, .and tba Wngritty nt Jana. Christ always have. and always . urere received by the world’s hate.

product, and that by the practically unanimous consent of all who have knowledge of him. The manifestations that belong to the human nature of Jesus Christ are admired and praised. He was a g r e a*t teacher and exempllfler of the highest morals, of the most generous disposition even