Frederick R. Bechdolt

“ And two swarthy men from Sinaloa, in steep-crowned sombreros and wide-mouthed trousers faced along the sides with leather, assured each other fervently in their own tongue two minutes later that they would yet have a reckoning with the Texas man who had promised them a safe and easy job.
“It may be,” one whispered, when they had dragged their victim into the shadow of the mesquite bushes, enwrapped as tightly as a cocoon, “this is the wrong man.” ”

“ Bronco Bob answered idly. He noticed that the peculiar light seemed to have grown brighter in the deep-set eyes. Mogollon laid a calloused hand upon his shoulder.
“A hundred feet more of the crosscut, an' I'll reach the vein. She'll go more than eight foot wide, and she'll average a hundred dollar's, free millin', to the ton.”
“That's fine,” said Bronco Bob.
“It's goin' to take about a thousand dollars,” Mogollon went on as if he had not been interrupted, “and I aim to leave yo' in on the ground floor.” ”

“ When Bull turns over them papers next week, jest watch that ol' scoundrel make tracks fer the mine and offer Williams good money fer some stock.”
“Ef it wasn't fer his wife,” Pony Deal growled, “I'd be fer runnin' that ol' hyena out of camp. Why couldn't he let us in on this?”
“I was thinkin',” Bronco Bob drawled, “why cain't we cut in, anyhow? Bull can show us Beaver's report when the wagons come in.”
“But,” Pony Deal interrupted, “we cain't do no business till the fat man gets his bad news; and by that time Beaver has got his figgers too. He'll burn the wind out to the mine.” ”

“ A FEW evenings later Bronco Bob rode into Paradise and got a sour greeting from the group around Beaver Smith's whisky-barrel.
“This ol' badger of yourn,” Bull Lewis explained, “is gettin' to be a pest.”
“Meanin'?” asked Bronco Bob.
“Mogollon,” the teamster answered. “He's tryin' to sell a half int'rust in that there hole in the ground of his.” ”

“ Be shore to give me mine the very fust thing, as soon as yo' hit Paradise. Keep yo'r mouth shet, and ef the's anything in it, I'll see yo' get yo'r share.'
“I tol' him I'd 'tend to it, and we had a drink. After that, I lit out to find you fellers.”
“I don't jest get the hang of this,” Curt Wilcox complained when the teamster had finished his narrative. Bronco Bob chuckled.
“Beaver aims to buy in cheap,” said he. “The ore that he has stole will tell how rich the vein is. The Williams man will get a report showing about half the values. ”

“ Bronco Bob retorted serenely.
“The's a heap of things the law allows that don't go here,” Bull Lewis asserted darkly. “I've seen men run outa camp that wasn't half the nuisance Mogollon has got to be. He clamped down on me this afternoon, an' I thought I never would get shet of him.”
“He thinks,” Curt Wilcox growled, “he's doin' a man a favor. He says he's got a shore thing, an' he wanted me to put up a thousand dollars to throw in with him on the deal.”
“He nailed me when I was down in the corral shoeing that mean little mouse-colored mule the other day,” Pony Deal chimed in. ”

“ I don't believe one of 'em ever expects to find anything, no more than I think one of them ol' soaks on Myers Street really figgers he's goin' to drink all the whisky in Tucson. But they keep on trying ontel they die.”
“I reckon,” Pony Deal chimed in, “Bull is right. I done spent a year in New Mexico, which is full of sheepherders an' prospectors; an' I have seen a man work hard fer six months so's he could make a stake to gopher round on a hot mountainside where the Apaches was as thick as fleas on a Mexican dog. ”

“ By the time they had ministered to his needs at the whisky-barrel, Bronco Bob had done quite a bit of swift thinking.
“Where did yo' go from Chilson's, Beaver?” he asked briskly.
“I dunno what's bitin' yo' fellers,” the other told him. “Anybody would think I'd robbed a stage, the way yo' act. Ef yo've got to know, why, I done rode out to the mine an' put one over on that there Williams thief by gettin' a hunk of his minin' stock off'm him. Who's been beatin' yo' up, Bull?”
“Boys,” Curt Wilcox interrupted, “my insides is feelin' sort of cold. ”

“ Mogollon turned his head to look again upon the signs of former mining activity, and the three partners smoked on in noncommittal silence.
“'Pears like nobody has been workin' her lately.” There was a mingling of diffidence and eagerness in his tone which did not escape Bronco Bob.
“Last time I heard of anybody burrowin' in that there shaft,” said he, “was ten or twelve years back. A feller by the name of Hassayampa Bill come down into this country with two pardners and found seven men mining here. Him and his outfit done laid fer 'em on the dump one mo'nin' when they was coming to work ”

“ Then Santa Cruz Castañada brought in the wagon-train from Tucson at the week-end, and four Tombstone miners, who had come with him as passengers, wrestled with Ma Smith's cooking at the boarding-house that evening. To those who had followed him to the rear of the store after the meal, the wagonmaster confided that he had hauled a half-ton of provisions, along with much steel and giant powder, consigned to the claim.
“Looks like this fat man aims to back his play,” Curt Wilcox commented. Bull Lewis chuckled. ”