Jim Waring of Sonora-Town; Or, Tang of LifeKnibbs, Henry Herbert
General
Jim Waring of Sonora-Town; Or, Tang of Life
Knibbs, Henry Herbert
Western stories
When in Sonora, Waring frequented the Plaza Hotel. He had arranged with
the management that his room should always be ready for him, day or
night. The location was advantageous. Nearly all the Americans visiting
Sonora and many resident Americans stopped at the Plaza. Waring
frequently picked up valuable bits of news as he lounged in the lobby.
Quietly garbed when in town, he passed for a well-to-do rancher or
mining man. His manner invited no confidences. He was left much to
himself. Men who knew him deemed him unaccountable in that he never
drank with them and seldom spoke unless spoken to. The employees of the
hotel had grown accustomed to his comings and goings, though they seldom
knew where he went or definitely when he would return. His mildness of
manner was a source of comment among those who knew him for what he was.
And his very mildness of manner was one of his greatest assets in
gaining information. Essentially a man of action, silent as to his plans
and surmises, yet he could talk well when occasion demanded.
It was rumored that he was in the employ of the American Government;
that he had been disappointed in a love affair; that he had a wife and
son living somewhere in the States; that for very good reasons he could
not return to the States; that he was a dangerous man, well paid by the
Mexican Government to handle political matters that would not bear
public inspection. These rumors came to him from time to time, and
because he paid no attention to them they were accepted as facts.
About an hour after he had left Donovan's office, Waring entered the
Plaza Hotel, nodded to the clerk, and passed on down the hallway. He
knocked at a door, and was answered by the appearance of a stout,
smooth-shaven man in shirt-sleeves. They chatted for a minute or two.
Waring stepped into the room. Presently he reappeared, smiling.
After dinner he strolled out and down the street. At a corner he edged
through the crowd, and was striding on when some one touched his arm. He
turned to confront the Mexican youth, Ramon. Waring gestured to Ramon to
follow, and they passed on down the street until near the edge of the
town. In the shadow of an adobe, Waring stopped.
Ramon glanced up and down the street. "The police--they have asked me
where is my Uncle José. I have told them that I do not know. The police
they asked me that."
"Well?"
"But it is not that why I come. They told me to go to my home. It was
when I was in the prison that the policia talked in the telephone. He
spoke your name and the name of Señor Bill Donovan of the Ortez Mine. I
heard only your name and his, but I was afraid. You will not tell them
that I was with my Uncle José?"
"No. And thanks, Ramon. I think I know what they were talking about. Go
back home, pronto. If you were to be seen with me--"
"The señor is gracious. He has given me my life. I have nothing to
give--but this." And Ramon drew the little silver crucifix from his
shirt and pressed it in Waring's hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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