BORDER SEARCH 9

del used the same trail going back to ruby as he had comming south. he tried to stay off the sky line and in low places as he traveled along he decided it was better to avoid the trouble the bandits brought than confront it. as he neared the boarder he had a whif of dust hanging in the air. he slowed and at the same time pulled his rifle from the scabbord under his leg. he simply laid it across his lap after he cocked it. as he neared the border the ground leveled out. no more protection. there in front of him , lined out in front of the international boundrey were rurales , six of them. thier weapons were still holstered. these men had a reputation for being mean and ruthless. as he neared them one from the center rode forward to meet him. " buenos dias senor, where have you been and what have you been doing in mexico?" del explained his reason for being in mexico as best he could that he didnt believe he would be back.he didnt know if the rurales were alined with the revolutionists or the goverment. he was being careful of what he said. he simply stated he wanted to return to the USA. the mexican corpral moved aside and waved his men to the side for del to pass." senor, if you cross again be careful bandits abound here. if you find it needful to return our camp is just a ways down there."the corpral pointed to the south west." we will be more than happy to escort you any where in the area," " muchas gracias corporal. i shall remember that in the future," del rode on thru and crossed into the arizona side with a little wave of good by to the rurales. when del rode back into town at ruby he saw that andy had moved his wagon out of the street and was now makeing a camp in the vacant lot with del and maxine. she sat on a stool next to the wagon. as usual she was pouted. andy was no where in sight. " did you find harry?" she demanded. del didnt answer immediatly. but instead pulled the rig from his horse" yes i found him. he maybe here in a few days. you dont want to go down there. the bandits are every where and i was stopped by the rurales before i could get across the line. the rurales arnt much better than the bandits. they were just genrous today letting me return with my weapons." " but i want to go see the mine!"maxine demnded. "NO!" was all del said as he hobbled his horse . " you want to die or worse?"