JIM THE CONQUEROR

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3272, 27 February 1937, Page 2

JIM THE CONQUEROR

By PETER B. KYNE -

"Now, then," Hobart continued, "we're going to lick the Antrim crowd, and some of them and perhaps some of us are going to get killed. More of them, I think. The survivors will prefer a charge of murder against any of the men they have recognised during the fight, and the bail will be about twentyfive thousand dollars each in cash or fifty thousand in bonds. We will assume that four of our men will be recognised. That means you must provide one hundred thousand

in cash or two hundred thousand in bonds."

"I'm good for that in bonds." "Well, then, make your arrangements in advance with the district attorney. You'll be in Los Algodones this afternoon, all night and tomorrow forenoon. Tomorrow afternoon you will ride back, with the sheriff, who will be on his way out to your ranch to arrest your men. You will have a perfect alibi, because this fight will have been pulled off in your absence, so you will be quite free to look after the comforts of your defenders." Don Jaime pondered. He much preferred, when his men were in danger defending the master's interests, to share that danger with them. On the other hand he realis-

ed that the issue was not to be fought entirely at the water-holes; that in the courts he would be needed much more than in any other arena of battle. He knew Ken Hobart was talking sense, and that the sensible thing to do would be to heed his advice. So he heeded it. And in heeding it he experienced no qualms of conscience, no feeling that he was playing safe while others fought his battles. The employees of the Rancho Valle Verde were scarcely employees in the modern sense. Rather were they retainers, fierce partisans of the Higuenes tradition, men to whom it was a religion to fight for the master in defence of their bread and butter. This tribute of loyalty" the ancestors of Don Jaime had demanded as a right; with the passage of time it had come to be accorded without compulsion and become a commonplace thing, to be accepted as Don Jaime accepted hot weather and cold, good fortune and evil. "Very well, Ken," he agreed. "Enrico Caraveo knows every foot of this range; once he locates the sheep he'll know what water they will try for this evening. The rest I leave to you. Perhaps you had better loan me your rifle, in case I should run into some of Antrim's herders after leaving you here. When you return to the ranch help yourself to my arsenal. I have every brand of rifle my foolish fancy

coveted; select the one you like best, then let your men help themselves. Better use steel-jacketed bullets. I have dum-dum ammunition for use on the bandits that favour me with an occasional raid, but a sheepherder is such a pitiful creature, perhaps we had better be as kind as we can." He helped himself to the ranger's rifle and scabbard and fastened it along his saddle. It was a Mauser carbine, and the ammunition was carried in clips of five in pockets on a buckskin vest. Don Jaime donned the vest and, with a nod to the ranger, headed his horse across country in the direction of Los Algodones. It was some months since he had ridden a horse. For many years his trips around his ranch, between his ranch and the county seat had been made by automobile. He paused now, thinking of the twenty-mile ride back to the ranch; deciding he would spare himself that hardship, he shouted to Hobart: "Ken, send one of the boys into Los Algodones with the motor and the horse trailer attached, to bring my horse and me home."

"Seguro," Hobart shouted back.

Don Jaime rode his horse along the side of the valley, gradually climbing to the summit of the hilly range on its southern boundary. Here he paused and looked off to the rolling lands below. They were dotted with sheep, standing in long rows a dozen deep, head to head, cropping the dry feed to the grass roots and trampling the roots with their sharp small hoofs. The complaining bleat of the lambs created a continuous diapason of discord. It was true that the lands whereon the Antrim sheep grazed were not the property of Don Jaime Miguel Higuenes. They were State lands (for Texas never surrendered her public lands to the Federal Government) and, undoubtedly, Antrim had as legal a right to graze his sheep there as Don Jaime had to graze his cattle. Nevertheless, by custom and usage, it had come to be known as the Higuenes range. Don

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Jaime's grandfather had purchased with cheap land scrip the acreage along the watercourses and around the springs, and by this control of the water the Higuenes dynasty had for generations exercised nominal control over the public lands adjacent thereto. And, since this was a common practice, regarded as an adroit business move but never as a wanton usurpation of the public domain, cattlemen and most sheepmen had respected the Higuenes control.

For the grass on this controlled range the Higuenes family paid nothing. There was an unending dispute between them and the sur-veyor-general, who sought from their use of the land some revenue to the State. To the State's feeble charge of trespass by the Higuenes cattle, the reigning Higuenes had always replied with a polite offer to bear half of the expense of fencing the lands it held contiguous to the State and thus prevent trespass. Since this constituted a fair and reasonable, nay, legal, method of adjusting trespass disputes between individuals, the reigning Higuenes had always held that the State should also accept his proposition. The State, considering this, dis-

covered that the expense of fifty miles of fence would not be warranted on the hypothesis that any revenue would subsequently accrue by reason of the sale of grazing permits on the fenced lands of the State since, with the Higuenes family controlling all the waterways and waterholes, no man would be foolish enough to seek a grazing permit! Pending the adjustment of this ancient dispute therefore, the matter slumbered officially at Austin, the State capital, and Don Miguel Jaime Higuenes neglected to fence his fee lands contiguous to the water; also he neglected to supply herders to confine his cattle to his fee lands, wherefore they wandered over the State lands at will! Of this situation wily old Tom Antrim had decided to take advantage. In ordinary years he would not have risked the adventure, since nobody knew better than he that a dispute over water and grass in the country is always tantamount to an adventure. But his own range had been grazed over; it had been a dry year in his part of the country, he Imd the sheep on his hands, they were not ready for the market, nor was he ready to accept the market price for unmarketable sheep. He had to maintain them, and in his dilemma he turned quite naturally to one of the earliest laws of human nature, to wit, that a desperate man is justified in taking desperate measures.

He was familiar with the law of trespass. If the owner of fee lands did not fence then?, he could not prosecute successfully the owner of loose live stock that wandered thereon! And Don Jaime Higuenes could not afford to fence the small acreage around springs and waterholes and the narrow forty-acre

strips along watercourses, some of which went dry in the summer. If he did his own live stock could not get in for water! Of course, as Antrim knew, Don Jaime might have counter-attacked by scattering quantities of saltpetre on the grass of his fee lands. They were his lands and he could put saltpetre on them if he desired. Saltpetre will not hurt cattle, but it kills sheep. However, when Antrim figured the area upon which his antagonist would have to scatter sufficient saltpetre to be a menace he knew Don Jaime would never resort to this expedient. It would require too much saltpetre and too great a labour bill to scatter it and maintain it in sufficient quantities to do its work. Therefore, Antrim reasoned, he ran but one risk, and that was a battle to keep his sheep, not from

trespassing on unfenced lands, but

from drinking Don Jaime's water. However, there were many waterholes and many watercourses to guard, and perhaps Don Jaime would not guard them all; perhaps if Antrim appeared with a strong armed guard of herders Don Jaime would not force the issue. Under the circumstances Tom Antrim decided to accept the risks, because the stakes, if he won, were high. He was an arrogant man and because of Don Jaime's Castilian blood (Antrim referred to it as Mexican blood, which predicates a mixture of Indian) he had a contempt for the fighting qualities of the Higuenes family. He had declared, often in public, that Don Jaime was too yellow to buck a white man. All these things Don Jaime Miguel Higuenes considered as he gazed over the country that, by hook and crook, had been sacred to four gen-

erations of his people. He had but one real advantage, one legal right. His fee lands were unfenced and hence a suit for trespass could not live, but he did have the right to drive trespassing live, stock off his fee lands before they should have an opportunity to drink. If held off long enough they would perish of thirst, and if while driving them off he and his men were attacked by the owners of the trespassing live stock they would be clearly within their legal rights if they defended themselves. (To be continued)