"God is not hasty--He will punish in His own way
when it best suits Him. And perhaps you will profit much if you are more
regular to mass instead of wasting the cool hours of the morning in bed.
Think well of what I have said, my children."
But the cow-punchers were not punished and they swore they would not
leave the vicinity until they had all the steers they wanted, and at
their own price. And one night their herd stampeded and was checked
only in time to save it from going over the canyon's edge. And for some
reason Sanchez kept out of the padre's way and did not go to confess
when he should, for the padre spoke plainly and set hard obligations for
penance.
The cow-punchers swore that it had been done by some Mexican and said
that they would come to town some day soon and kill three Mexicans
unless the guilty one was found and brought to them. Then the padre
mounted his donkey and went out to them to argue and they finally told
him they would wait for two weeks. But the padre was too smart for
them--he sent a messenger to find Senor Dick Martin, and in one week
Senor Martin came to town. There was no fight. The Gringo rowdies were
cowards at heart and Martin could not shoot them down in cold blood,
and he could not arrest them, because he was not a policeman or even a
sheriff, but only a revenue officer, which was a most foolish law.
Pages:
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63