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swung tightly back into place, sealing up the canyon wall, Stooping, she lifted a cluster of trailing hop and grape vines and arranged them over the door. No one would have taken note of the door, although he might have suspected water on account of the green spot that hid the mouth of the cave.

    “‘Fearing the burros would get my scent, I began to make my getaway. The prospector knew that an Indian's horse or burro would snort and jump if he got the scent of a white man; and that the white man's animal would act the same way if he scented an Indian.

    “‘I had not gone far when one of the girls caught five burros on the hillside and tied them up. The other girl was covering the burro tracks in the canyon. I knew by these signs that they soon would be leaving the canyon.

     “‘I believed the spring lay in a sacred cave which might contain a cache of valuables as well as a supply of sotol. I came to the conclusion to come back and look around the first chance I got. I could not make out why Indian maids had been sent to distill sotol unless it was that the cave was known only to a certain family and not to the whole tribe.

    “‘On the way back I came upon some mule bones; I also found a part of a Mexican "aparejo", or packsaddle. Had the mule been killed by Indians, or had he wandered away from his packers with the piece of rope tied to his halter and got caught in the brush to die of starvation? I took note of a pile of waste that looked like ore sacks, but being in a hurry, I did not stop to examine anything.

    “‘As I was still a good way from the American side of the boundary, I did not let the grass grow under my feet, for I did not know whether or not my American officer had got me a permit from Mexican authorities. Just on the line I met a company of Mexican rurales and learned from their "capitan" that I had the right to cross the boundary.