who owned a little store in the town of Vallecitos, a bit
of land and a few thousand sheep. Alcatraz was a tall boney old man, and
was of nearly pure Navajo Indian blood, as one could tell by the queer
crinkled character of his beard and moustache, which were like those of a
chinaman. He was simple and direct like an Indian, too, lacking the
Mexican talent for lying and artifice. In his own town he was a petty
czar, like Alfego, but on a much smaller scale. By reason of being
_Hermano Mayor_ of the local _penitente_ chapter, and of having most of
the people in his own neighbourhood in debt to him, he had considerable
power. He was advising men to sell their lands, and was lending more money
on land than it was reasonable to suppose he owned. Beyond a doubt, he had
been won by MacDougall's dollars.

Ramon found Alcatraz unresponsive. The old man listened to a long harangue
on the subject of the race issue without a word of reply, and without
looking up. Ramon then played what should have been his strongest card.

"My friend," he said, "you may not know it, but I am your brother in the
blood of Christ. Do I not then deserve better of you than a gringo who is
trying to take this country away from the Mexican people?"

"Yes," the old man answered quietly, "I know you are a _penitente_, and I
know why. Do you think that I am a fool like these _pelados_ that herd my
sheep? You wear the scars of a _penitente_ because you think it will help
you to make money and to do what you want. You are just like MacDougall,
except that he uses money and you use words. A poor man can only choose
his masters, and for my part I have more use for money than for words." So
saying, the blunt old savage walked to the other end of his store and
began showing a Mexican woman some shawls.

Ramon went away, breathing hard with rage, slapping his quirt against his
boots. He would show that old _cabron_ who was boss in these mountains!

He went immediately and hired the little _adobe_ hall which is found in
every Mexican town of more than a hundred inhabitants, and made
preparations to give a _baile_.

To give a dance is the surest and simplest way to win popularity in a
Mexican town, and Ramon spared no expense to make this affair a success.
He sent forty miles across the mountains for two fiddlers to help out the
blind man who was the only local musician. He arranged a feast, and in a
back room he installed a small keg of native wine and one of b