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About The Times-herald. (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1920)
SWAM I RAM'S REINCARNATION miiiiiiiiiiiHiiiMiDiiwytiiiiMin By FRANK BL1GHTON y , Ttrt t t-rtrrwtts'si- ''mrrlirht m Swami Rani's Reincarnation By FRANK DLIGHTON G CopyrlRlit. , SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I.-Whlto hla train Is held on ii aldlng'Tom Davenport, engineer ot Iho l'oclllc Limited, becomes Interested In the turtlvq movements ot h amnll brown man, evidently a foreigner, and Inveetl gates. Whnt he discovers sends him back to Ma cab In a hurry. Huchanan Williams, mining man, boarda the train ami mnkes the acquaintance ef the trnnKtr. Jallalngrao Jltendra, wlio t . i . mi.. II ii.. a 1 proves io oe an tan inutn. im urn new Li wrecked. CHAPTER II.-William-, though pain, fully liurnrd, Haven Jltemlra, who had been pinned under the wreck. The Hindu vows eternal gratitude. William re ceive a meftaage telling htm Mexican revolutlonlMa hiive selied hie mine; known an "Kl Tlcre," and killed or driven off the Americana, "Only a scratch," he mattered. lie forced, the neck ot his flask be tween the lips of the unconscious doll like figure. The 11 ro was nearly out, mid the section men from Scpar wcro nlrrmly over the edge of the steep hank. A whistle was sounding faintly down the road In front. The head hrokeman came wearily hnck to the group nrotind the dead and Injuns) unil handed a telegram to Conductor Martin. "Kxtrn twenty-seven sixty-nine's engine and a wrecking crew have been Mnt hnck from Domini:: that's her whistling now," explained the tnila mini. .Iltcndrn stirred. Never before In all his life had fiery, potent liquid like the one now trickling down his throat "passed Ills Hp. The thud of the wrecked cat an It toppled at liiHt Into the ditch seemed to aid In his awakening. He tat suddenly erect, looked Mil pldly around. Friendly hands helped hltn Into the Pullman. "Feeling better)" Back William had already forgotten his owb trivial Injuries In the solicitude be felt for this timorous little alien peering up at him with apologetic eyes. "Yes. sahib," breathed the brown man. M'I do not understand H "Oh, It's all over," cheerfully inter rupted Williams. "We had a break down on the locomotive and came to a quick stop. The old wooden diner crumpled up that's all. Couldn't ex pect anything else, hitting the bill the way we were, with a big hog like that In front and the steel Pullman behind. A couple of niggers killed and you got the worst deal of any of the pas- ssiigers, I guess." The somber look In the eyes deep ened as Jltendra scanned his face with n quaint Intentness which was alto gether new and a little uncanny. Wll llnms shifted uneasily as he went on: "Wrecking crew's got the engine on the track again; we'll only be a few hours late Into El Paso. Do you think you'd better get off at Demlng and let a doctor look you overt" Jltendra shook his head. "I am not mneh hurt, Hnhlb Buck," he gravely replied, "Hut how came I to escape the lire? Was 1 not overwhelmed by the disaster?'' "Oh, you were penned In under that old hulk of u diner until we dragged you out," laughed the mining man. "Hut that's done now. You'll be In Chicago, almost the same as if nothing lint) huppencd, In two days. It was lucky for both of us that we were to ward the hack end of the car." "Jt was fute," alllrnied Jltendra, with an emphatic posltivencss con trasting strangely with his wee figure. "Hut you, Sahib Buck were yea, too, immersed 1b the shatterlngs?" "Nix,"- grinned William. "I Back pedaled right over. tables and, chair till 1 landed in the vatrtikvlc4 "1 seemed to be lacking down anon you the last4! re hi enter," Bused the Oriental, fastening his eyea searching ly upon the other man's, "1 missed you," admitted Back wv hesitatingly, "and grabbed an ax psd chopped down to where yon lay. But I am sure that you would have dona us much for wa. Do yon remember what we ware Ulfclsg abort wheu tho feinttsa caster , . tTltendra nodded. .. "Yes, Sahib Buck. Too were Inquir ing of mo concerning certain powers of my people. But Vishnu willed that I should not reply, So my lips were Knled, as you saw, It may ho 'that 1 Hlinll never roveal to you, sahib, tho i' iH of which I was uhotit to speak," 'Why notV" demanded WHIIiunH t r.'.UNly. TJio fluidity In tho voice of i'. Hindu Interested und, oddly tMiora, "It in not easy fob mo to ex ptaln tho powers which rule uti In spite of our complacent sclf-eonfldeiii'e. Hut, i saw you running for this train,, which waa late. Tell hio If you can, did you niHlco It late?" "No." , "Nor did I," nlllrnied Iho Oriental. "Nor did either you or I check Its' mad rush toward tho places whither Wo nro 'traveling. Therefore, how" shall I make clear to you that what 1 may call fate hears rule over ullV It la not well that men should know too much of such things, sahib, cjno they would lay tho blame for their evil deeds on destiny or fate. So Is it not wiser to deal warily with such matters, that? being In Ignorance, men shall have' the more fear of that which Is hidden and kept secret?" "Perhaps," laconically admitted Williams. "This morning," Impcrturtmbly went on Jltendra, "I did not know that such a man as you lived, ner did you know me. Fate wills that we meet and Jour ney on together." "To Kl Pasor interloped the other. "To whither the same fate shall de cide that bade you drag me from the burning car. I did not ask It, for Vishnu had sealed not only my lips, but smothered my thoughts. Fate sKke, sahib, and you obeyed. And now the same fate whispers to ma, bidding me turn aside from my Jour ney and go on with you until it per mits me to preserve you as you have this day preserved me." "Oh, I say, Mr. Jltendra, I can't let you Interrupt your trip to bother about mo or my uffalrs," protested Williams. "Iteally, It's very thoughtful of you, but Its wholly unnecessary." He straightened his strong, young body and leancd'hack In tho Pullman at this typical oriental method of ap preciation. One touch of nature makes the whole world akin, and Buck Wil liams vaguely grasped the spirit of re ligious gratitude, that burned In the frail figure before htm. x "Noblesse oblige" It enunciated as loudly as If spoken In actual words audible above the roar of the train, now racing again toward Kl Paso. "Who shall say?" cryptically re plied Jltendra. "Sahib, I have said that tho ways of your people are not the ways of mind. But I have also said that fate of destiny bears rule over all peoples. And I may not jour ney far upon the Seven Paths if I try to step aside from the Karma which fate lays upon me. Only by obedience may I progress. Otherwise I am la fetters until another incarnation of sorrow and pain has set me free." The quick grind of tho brakes di verted Buck Williams from a reply. Tho belated limited came to a stop. A boy leaped up the steps of the Pull man bearing a telegram. "Mr. Williams I" shouted Conductor Martin. Thu young man hurried to the end of tho car, received Uie message, and the train picked up again as he tore It open to read: "Cullacan, Mexico, June 15, 1013. "Buchanan Williams, "Clifton, Arizona. "Forward Train No. 0, KasMiound. "Manuel Pacheco and mine crew take to the hills after plundering com pany store. Meet me Sheldon hotel, Rl Paso, quick. More trouble brew ing around Kl Tlgre. "WILLIAM SCOTT." Four and a half hours late the lim ited slipped into the Union station at Rl. Paso, Buck Williams had forgot ten the wreck, Jltendra, and everything elso in thu chaoa of new thoughts re garding the peril to hs mine. He climbed luto a tuxicab and waa whirled to the hotel, Scott leaped across thu lobby with extended baud. "Buckl" he cried, delightedly. "Great guns, man, but I'm glad to seo you I The whole province of Slualoa Is shot to h again another revolu tion started. Pacheco and those lasy Mexicans have robbed you of nearly everythLj you own on top af the grot id. Frew the leoka t things, tbejae planning to eop the M Tlgre itself." "Bar drawled Bek, sthVealag a llttm, tlto tight it tattle flaming la kia blue eyas, suddenly grows cold. "I nicked p a nuser ef tkla nt Clifton yesterday. One ef the mine beaaea overheard noma Maclcaas dacnsslng HI Tlgre. He told the sujMHrlHteadeat, who repeated It to me. I bad Just' time to pack my bag, and by sheer luck caught No, east-bound at Lords- burg." "We can't da much, without aa army,'' gloomed Scott, kicking in a dubious fashion at the tiled Moor. "1 had n mighty bard (wo days getting, tlirougli came by way of Chlhtiuhuu after striking overland from the coast and got tho last train out. Ameri cans uro thick enough along this sldo of the border; but a mosquito with a gun that would lit lilm couldn't puck it across Into Juarez no, slrj The comiiituulei tit Fort IViss says wo ought io stay at home." i "lie hasn't n flvtHiilIIL'n- lollar rajus to loae." KuiiteiitJoiiHly obiTved Wli- ,T 11 ft TlMtiS. U K It A h D It V tljtt H, , Ilu-L. aiMillg tO tltO J'OKllHlT, iiofliunv ' UI...I .!.. J.,.l. .. l.l- Jl... ...I iieiul J list topped tlKioiiyx-fniiiied dunk, 1 "What you hero?" ho cried, "1 totu you that I didn't want you to reciprocate mjr small assistance this aiiomoou, Mr. JKeedra." Tho brown man salaamed low "Whnt say the Ancient Wisdom, Sahib. Buck? 'The longest way round Is, oft the shortest way homo.' " Williams threw back his head and laughed long and loud. ' "Scotty, look at thlsl" Ho Jerked a derisive thumb toward tho chocolate hued, underslsed atom of humanity standing humbly but irmly at his side. "I suited him out from under1 .a wreaked diner this afternoon, New he Js'MHfs on trailing me, until he has paldtlie score by doing Xs much iot me.y De ytm think ho'd make one bite, for Manual Pueheco and hts'rtglmaat of thieves?'' CHAPYKR III. Jltendra Returns. Four, hundred and ilfly miles on horseback, through a country devoid of law, bristling with rugged, semi clvllUi'd iitoiih lusting for loot Ignor ant, ungovernable, and virulently dehplslng "grliiBoos" Is u Journey somo men would hcsltnto beforu taking even to battle for (a flvtwiilllloiwlollitr gold mine.. Buck Williams thought It all over as h puffed meditatively nt nn after supper cigar In tho Sheldon, while Billy Scott Adgeted on tho sent beside him or nervously paced the lobby. But the calm-eyed Hindu, sauattlng tallorfashlon on the farther end of the same divan, waa as motionless as an Idol In the. great temple at Benares. Only his adoring eyes, like those of a dog whose master refuses him a ca ress, betrayed the fermrnt beneath the folds of tho soft snow-whito turban, which he donned shortly after his ar rival. "Scotty," blurted Williams, tossing away a half-consumed cigar; "did Friday Thornton and tho rest of tho boys down In Cullacan elect to vamoose or stick around a white?" "They stuck at leant most of them did the last I heard of them," replied thu superintendent, "Hank Gregory, Tommy Wlckware, and a dor.en nioru you know aru still In town. They ex pect Intervention by the United States." "The only Intervention so far seems to bo on this side of the line," grimly retorted thu magnate. "Wlutt I'm figuring on Is this: We can get across all right a hundred thousand soldiers couldn't guard the boundary between hero and Agua Prlcta alone to say nothing of reaching us far as thu Colo rado river. Once In, wo ought to be able to doutilo back east until we strike San Pedro, then skirt the west branch of the railroad us far as Sanchez, and from there across country to Cullacan. "However, even If we can do that, what then? If Manuel Pacheco and his friends are after Kl Tlgre mine two of us can't atop them. But It's up to me to stop them if I expect to bold what I've sweat blood to get for the past five years. How do you feel about trying?" "I think you're plumb crazy to think about It." frankly replied Scott. "It was bad enough In Madero's Insurrec tion. With him gone and Huerta la power, what chance has n man got. Buck? Orecco, Carruasa, and a dosen other self-made generals are reaming around Chihuahua, murdering, robbing, burning railroads and raising h generally. Now Moreno's bedeviling Slualoa. Every one down country Is trying to get out. Believe me, I wouldn't try to get back the same way I camu out for a half-Interest In IN Tlgre Itself." "All right," tersely retorted WU Hams. "Yon take the train back to Benson, drop down to Negates and see If you can get through to Cullcan by way of Quaymaa along the went coast Trams are still running through to Maaatwn m that division. Til kit It down the other way. That gives ua two ckancea. If yon reach Cullacan before' I do, get the boys together and start for Kl Tlgre with.eyerygun and cartridge you ean bay, bog or borrow. If I get there Srat l'H wave Instruc tions In caou X want jfO..to follow ma to the mln. If yo can't get through; shoot back to Nogahw and wait uatll you hear from 'me." ' , Deaf to entreaty, expostulation, or argument. Buck Williams slipped out of thu hotel before midnight and rode to the northwest. Ills long dejour carried him far beyond .the regulars, and he easily eluded the American "llawWws." Before daybreak ko waa woH put the moaumonta hi tkrflrst fringe ot kllhi south of tao Arises boaadary Itee. In shallow arroye k gatkortd a few dry twigs and lighted a annokotOM nre to boll kia coffee. , Uw horse and one brro, carrying rbo meager aaa plloa ntpoasary tor tkt baser dou Jomr aey, wre'Uchstad;bohiad a. knot of waJerwoMi swllira, ' while ke eeont warily down' the, doSto to reeoaaoitof theVyalley kolew. ' A. solitary koraoman, whose seat bo trayod his unfamlllartty with that rnoda of travel, popped around, a bond in tho gully With Incredible swift ness WllUama whipped his ready rifle to his, shoulder, then lowered it with an iMiuiKcd exclauiatlou. "You you persistent llttlo choco-late-drop." ho gasped, as tho 'expros hIoiiIpkh fiieu of Jltendrn looked down Into his own, "What In hade's nro you following mo for? Didn't I tell you that you wcro under ho obliga tion to mo?" . "You did, Sahib Buck," ,. "Weil oh; 'for tliolpvo . ofJtflW-r If A lt.it M Y C O 1' N T V , O tent It bnca ro Tlf lTiSi 'WIT Jolt? k'ott'll look llkO n slovd If Konlurllxt :y' rui'iiles over seo that snowwhlte, clnnaiiioii-biiii hciidpleOo of yours, Seo here, you loyal little devil you don't own nie a ihlng do you got me? not it thing;! You'll only bother me. WI enn't gunrnntco you any protoc lion, and I won't have you dogging along to bait some ow' elso after mo. I npproelatH hov yoiffeel, mid I admlro you for It. But this Isn't India It'n Mexico n synonym for hell. I don'l want to bo rudo to you, but I simply can't and won't stand for any noil 'sense hocatisu I refuso to take any blame If anything happena to you." ''Will Sahib Buck grant Hie leave. to speakT' , it won't do any good,' ebduratoly HVsrred Williams, sliak(Hg hla iead angrily. "If you hadn't boon "sodding along behind mu rill night I'd hare been 'a mile further up In thofre hills already, Aa It In, I suppose my colTcu In1 spoiled, N.ow, seo here, Jlleijilra If you'vo got unytlilng up your sleevo worth while Just you sit down hure on tho ground and fndu away. 'That's tho way you can be of some real service to inc. Just vanish down Into thu ground or up Into the air any way that suits you. 'Como out nt Kl Tlgro mine If you want to I won't kick If I Hud you tliero hut if I catch sight of 'ou again In thu meantime I'll shoot yoti myself, an help mo Boh I" Jltendra regarded him solemnly. "As Suhlh Buck wills, so bo It," he quietly replied. Without stmt her word Williams whirled on his heel and hurried .back to his coffee pot. An hour afterward he stopped Ills horse at the fringe of the timber-line of the Chlrachaua range and swept the arid hills be neath with hlrf binoculars. There was no sign of the Hindu nor of any other living human being. With a grunt of relief he spurred up the trail. Nine daya later, unutterably weary, untrlde a horse whoso palatal amble and emaciated ribs signified an exhaus tion proportionate to that of his rider, Buchanan Williams drew rein In the thick group of pines overlooking Kl Tlgro camp, where It clung to the side of a precipitous ravine In the majes tic mountains of the const range. Thu pack burro had long since been nn abandoned luxury. A few hundred feet below was the trcasuro which had been hidden in nature's safe-dejHiHit vault since the dawn of creation uhdrt, uued of, until his supreme engineering knowledge and superb energy had reached down to drag It to the light of day. "I I'm I uttered Williams, as he carefully scanned the camp through his glass for signs of hidden enemies. "Manuel und his friends seem to have other business than running Kl Tlgre Just now, at least. Wonder If Scotty was wrong?" He gave a llttlo chortle of satisfac tion us the glass focused on the door to the underground bullion house and supply chamber. It was marred and battered, bHt evidently It had resisted the efforts of the pillagers to enter It "Not so easy to bore through steel reinforced concrete," laughed the weary man. "Lucky I followed my kunch and stuck those worn-out mine rails Into the cement mixture when I hung that door. Well, I've got to take a chance. I suppose, and I'd better take It la daylight than after dark. There's somu canned stuff lnnlde my-cellar.and 1 guesa.lt won't taste so awful btd nf ter n diet of frlioles and berries. If Pacheco and his gang do stvuop down on me, I might make a stand In the bullion-vault uatll they starve me out, anyway I" He rode fearlessly down the narrow path with the quiet poise of a man who Is willing to risk all for the thing hll bralu has built and his hands secured. The cluster of desolate-looking mln era' cabins on both sides of the road up which supplies were brought from Cullaraa, flfty odd miles to tho west, almost unnerved him. Hia home shied violently J something quivered in the hushes on his right Wllllama gHmnaod at the half-naked brown body and covered It with his pistol, while he steadied tho fright ened animal with his other hand. The bush's parted. Out upon the flat rock, within a doaea feat of the alarmed American, poked a turhaned head, beneath which. a tbw, worn, ascetic, face smiled Into the'muzzle of tlio ready weapon. "Good morning, Sahib Buck," piped tho diminutive figure as It squatted Weakly upon the slab of flro-blttea granite, gaslag late tho nmasod and pitying oyoa of kl Ttgro'a owner. Book Wllllama could not at one re ply. 7 Ko waa fascia tod by tho rant look upon Jltondra's feature an eostatk gleam, sack as a follows of Moham med might wear when he at' last ho ketds the shlmmoriag minarets of Mooea shlalag brightly serosa tho kot sag)ds. sifsjstykig ska sad ac grlmsff. V ' OHATTill V. "fJTtfffgvsjl mfwHWi "How did you got here?" cemandol the magnate. (, "Tb waya of my -people, are not the ways of yours, sahib. Did you not give me permission to como? And who am I that I should presume to disobey you or thu gods?" "Tho gods?" "VlBhnu and SIyr," Nulanmcd the Hindu, "Thoy, too, am hero. Huh tho snhll) novcr rend the lines ot one of ills own peoplo? , "Far or forcot to me Is near; ' 8)ndoW uiiil sunllKlit are the same;,. Tito vnnluli&d gbija to me appear,. And ono to mo are shame und fame," ft W .0 ft If "Hut It's incredible,"' returned' 'thu lnliio owner, "I rodo my horsu ulmoM to denth and there were limes wlion I had all I could do to get through," Ho gazVd, more and more mystified, at tho. gaunt flgUre who seemed to have forgotten fatigue or hunger nt tha mere sight of him. Jltendra was naked to his loins, which were girded with n cloth almost tho same hue as his body, Ills legs and feet were bare, and siivo for a thick something. swathed about his neck und his snow-Whlto tur ban, ho was othcrwlso nude. It was Inexplicable and tlio Incongruity of the poetry which tho Hindu had quot ed, together with his davotldn, added to tho American's perplexity. Then his oycH'fcll upon tho feet of thu llttlo brown man. , Ho Whs conscious of a swift, re morseful throb. Tho feet wero hare bruised, cut, swollen, bleeding the feet of a man who, has plodded across thu flinty surface of tho open country, who hilH unhesitatingly kept on through chaparral, woods, streams tho feet of a man unused 'to unremitting pursuit. Buck Williams gulped thcru was a lump In his throat. ' "You have followed mo till of theso nine days afoot?" ho sternly de manded, "Yes, Sahlh Buck," replied tho Ori ental, "I pray the sahlh not to turn away Jils face from that of his serv ant." "But 1 did not see you once." "I remembered the sahib's threat of punishment," meekly returned Jlten dra. "But why of course it's absurd even tb think of It but why in the devil didn't you work the occult stuff, Jltendra that, is, If yon could? I'm , sorry to have caused you all this trou ble and worry. If you could send your astral body on ahead and then follow It well, I wouidn't .have cared. Why didn't you do that?" "Sahib, It m not permitted to In voke the powers of the gods when our own egortu will avail. Only when no other means sre at hand for deliver ance may I call upon Vtahnu snd Siva." Thcru was nothing to bo gained by discussion? Williams decided. Yet he could not Imagine in what manner the Oriental had anticipated his own ar rival. "You were ahead of me?" he asked. Jltendra bowed. "How did you know this wss Kl Tlgro? There are many other mines around these hills." Thn Hindu silently stretched his hand, pointing to tho hugo sign on the company stnru above them. The mlno owner laughed. "It was a feolUh question, wasn't It? I guesa I'm nlmost too tired to think straight Well, we'd better be getting up to camp," continued Williams. He dismounted stiffly from the horse, and the other dropped lightly to the road, meekly following In the Year. "I'm a man of my word, Jltendra; and while I can't promise that you'll ever live long enough to resume your Jour ney at Kl Paso, I'll be glad of your company until Scotty and the other boys arrive from Cullacan. If you get In bad, remember, I gave you tho straight dope on this proposition, and don't blame me." A careful search of the premises dis closed no pseudo-lniurrectos la am bush. Williams, much relieved, permitted Jltendra to aid in carrying a supply ot canned food to his own house, a stout adobe building somewhat higher than the others, with Its back against the hill. His horse was picketed along side, where the thick grass carpeted the. slope, and a brook beyond obviated tho necessity of fetching water up the steep ascent from the bed of the creek far below. Tho two ate ravenously, but Jlten dra scrupulously abstalard from any thing except vegetables. He glanced at the American and Angered a car ef condensed milk longingly. "Take It there's lots wore is tho storehouse," said Williams kindly, Jltendra bowed his thanks and ripped oh the top with an opener. "In my country," the observed, "we drink the milk of the goat." But Buck Williams, worn and weary, only half understood him. He relaxed In Ids chair and slept as sleeps a man who feels at last a degree of comparative safety after many perils. Onco ho fancied he heard the notes of a life, but drowsed off again, to dream of the Invincible spirit of the men of '78, who rebelled against op pression, laying down their lives that their descendants might onjoy the blessings of liberty. He saw vividly an army ef soldiers la buff and blue, with cocked hats, marching.' across tha muddy Rle' Grand, and before the stem and In domitable man who led them Manuel racboea and a is ragged bandits sou precipitately, But the dream passed: at loast the J phaatasmsgoria of, tko Ooatweatal army, wltk Washington at Us hoad, faded, .while oddly enough,-tho fea tures of Paehooo norshitod. Semcthlag was gripping hla sjpta swaMy.. Husk Williams tried to rbie, h 1 , He half leaped from tho .somfort- aMe chair in which h had'.kion sit ting. His heavy eyes widened. s y Opposite him sat Manuel Pacheco' himself, pu hla faco tm ovll leer; and triisHPil ilkn it chicken in tho corner was tho Hindu, gazing mutely nt him With n enviously Intent expression. "Wolcomo to Kl Tlgre. Senor Wll limns," sneered tho ox-fqrcnuin. "I Jmvo been expecting you for sorao days." - , Buck Williams struggled futiiely. A 'mwhldo tJwtn, had been looped teVJWl ill vtoowv, uchhul ids JhjcJEi PAOR THREW "'"" throwfng' fiis shoulders so fftFouToC plnco that tho pnln was frightful. An 'othor twist of tho samo lurlnt had pinioned his wrists, his knees and (inkles being left free. Naturally a man of strong Impulse, Williams ceased to wrench nt the lu oxoruble thongs, but cursed nlH fo, , iner mlno foreman with expletives oi n high dynamic .quality. . Pacheco merely ndjustcd bin heavy,) gold-fringed epuulets and complacent ly patted away an Imaginary wrlnkloj in thu neat hluo coat he wore iih Jhi signaled to tho other moznx, standing respectfully but curiously beyond thu door. "Asnlst Senor William and hlit servant to horses," he curtly directed. It was already sunrise. Otitsldo tho Iioiiho the two wero securely bound t iho aulmafs, and thu party started down tho t.'nll toward trie coast. At thu fork of tho highway leading on Um loft to Cullacan, thoy debouched to tho rhjlit. "Where nro you taking tia?' Im periously demnnded Kl Tlgrn's owner. '"The commiindanto lit Zapatlllo thf sires your presence, senor," leered Pacheco. "I'll get you for this, you greawr dogl" exclaimed, tho American. For answer Pacheco drove his hoinn between tho animal WIIIIuiuh was rid ing and Jltendra's mount, leaned over and struck the American it htmvy blot across his unprotected face. Although half-blinded with rage nt tho blow, Williams an Instant later iclt a strange thrill of somu event out of tho ordinary, Pacheco drew back, hi brutish faco wreathed In a grin of fe rocious triumph; but tho smile sud denly stiffened, Ho reeled in his saddle; a second later his eyes almost started from their sockets with agony. His cigar-colored features grew purplish and a fleck of foam rose to his gasping Hps. Ills bridle-hand relaxed; convulsive ly his legs drove the spurs on tho high topped boots into tho sides of thuhorsa he was riding. The animal reared, pawing the clr with a peculiar and un accountable terror, and would have bolted had not ono of the command grasped It by the reins. Buck Williams gazed mutely at tho retribution which had struck down tho bandit. Tho outcry of the privates ho scarcely heard. He did not need their chorus of alarm to know that Pacheco was ilylng wns dead. Yet there had been nothing abso lutely nothing save only the quick bending of Jltendra's lean body In tho captain's direction a awlft Inclination nf the turhaned head at tho Instant following tho cowardly blow. Tho sergeant, Jesus Cornhndo, vol leyed a command and tho column halved, while thu corpso of Munuel Pacheco was stripped of uniform and equipment. Following the unique but simple Mexican Insurrccto mothod o( promotion, Corabado donned thu neat blue Jscket, with Its heavily fringed epaulets, und buckled the sword around him. On the same principle, a corpbrat substltnted tho former sergeant's coat for bin own, and a private Is his shirt sleeves put on tho corporal's Jacket "Volantel" cried the new captain. The soldiers closed In and tho col umn moved' forward. Manuel Pachec that was lay rigid and stark on tn caliche, gazing at tho cerulean sky with fixed and slghlless eyes. Buck Williams turned to look at Jltendra. The Oriental's face was In scrutable. He was gazing straight ahead, Immovable, as If beholding somo sceno yet to emerge from tho womb of time. They rode on for several miles, tti American growing more and moro per plexed. Something from somewhero had annihilated the man who had verited hla brutality In a contemptible blow upon tho face of ouo powcrleM to resist. Had Buck's hands been unbound, Manuel Pacheco, ex-foreman In thJ employ of the Kl Tlgre mine, would never have dared to offer such aa affront to its owner; no, not If he had been in the center of a regiment of disciplined troops instead of a mem company of ragged peons whoso coun terfeit military air only hclghtcne-i their rlOjlculous appearance und mag idtlcd their Ignorant swagger. They were banditti, not patriots; and their movements now wcro thus of a body of half-terrlfled, yet revenge ful men actuated by somo Intelligence superior to their own. The hideously sudden and unexplained death of their previous commander had dazed theni. The more he thought, the more In comprehensible the whole affair ap peared to Buck Williams. Ho knew Mexico. Bis acquisition of the min eral land on which Kl Tlgre was lo cated had been achieved during the last years' of 'the Dlas regime. Tko very name of the mine Itself had boon derived from him. Kl Tlgre sig nlflod "Tho Tiger," and. that name had fallen once from tho lips of a thieving peon, who waa overtaken and effectu ally chastised by Buck himself tor stealing camp supplies in the early days of kls operations, For Buck was named "The Tiger' because of his implacable fury waeo, any attempt to victimise him was mad by the eubtle methods which Mexican ushally employ with a "gringo" uu accustomed to their ways. Now "The Tiger' was bound fast to the hack of u horse, en rduto to' kouio .tribunal of whoso authority ho was Ig- iiornnt but of whoso Judgments h could guess, , TTo be continued next wook.) Tt mli-lit. howavor: boocbnomlcal io afoot Mr. '-Uoovor'proHldn.' Hft could do ills proBldonlng and 'food, controlling, all nt Iho au'mq UiUo.