BORDER SEARCH 30

maxine and del were horse back following the wagon driven byandy and haveing as a passenger maxines brother harry. they were going back to tucson. del thought possibly they were the last americans to leave ruby.every day it was possible for the mexican revolition to spill over the border into ruby. he didnt think it wise to be there. about five miles out of ruby they started finding discarded belongings of some of the folks who had left the day before. no one said anything but del had a concerned look on his face and had pulled his rifle from the sabbord and laid it accross his lap in the saddle. andy and harry both produced weapons.another mile along they found the store keeper from ruby, he was shot and had been dead at least a half of day. his wagon stood to one side, the team gone and the contents rifled and scattered. andy pulled his team to a halt and stepped down from the wagon handing the lines to harry. a shovel with a broken handle lay next to the wagon. andy picked it up and stepped into the brush at the road side. del kept his rifle at the ready as did harry. the desert ground wasnt to hard and in just a few minutes andy had scraped a hole that would hold the body. no one said a word. andy dragged the corpse to the hole and as gently as possible laid it in the hole then started covering it up. dels horse stomped and snorted. looking into the brush del could see horsemen moveing about. he pointed to the back side of the wagon and motioned for maxine to move there. she did without a word. del whistled low to andy who looked up from his chore. del nodded toward the oncomeing horsemen.. andy droped the shovel and going to the wagon retreaved his rifle and stood behind the off side front wheel. out of the brush rode five vaqueros. del recognized them as the rurales who had escaped the revolutionarys. they were a ragged bunch, as they rode up one came forward. " gringo, we let no one leave without paying tribute to mexico"a toothey grin crossed his face. "this isnt mexico amigo, and we pay tribute to no one. so i would advise you to step aside. we just buried the last person you extracted tribute from. you could easily join him."del had shifted his rifle to bear on the rurale s mid section. for a count of 20 no one moved or spoke. but from the wagon came the click of two more rifles being cocked. "senor, we are poor. we have nothing give us just a little of what you have." the mexican leaned forward and at the same time moved his hand back to the pistol butt on his hip. "if you touch that gun........" del didnt get to finish. his rifle roared as well as the two at the wagon. in a instant the rurales force was cut to ribbons. they never got off one shot. andy walked around the end of the wagon and started collecting the horses. harry came and picked up the weapons and put them in the wagon. maxine stood there in shocked disbelief. " you want to bury these?" andy asked del. " no, leave them as a warning. lets get on up the road we dont know what else we will find on the way."del shook his head.maxine rode next to him, that she was scared beyond belief was plain to see.