Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/637

Rh station of Willcox, on the "Southern Pacific," that General Crook's command had recrossed the frontier, and that he himself was in the hotel of that very place. Hearing this, and that, further, the troops with the Indian prisoners would be in early next day, I at once applied to the conductor for a stop-over check; for I had a through ticket for Sonora, and local travel on the Southern Pacific is ten cents a mile. But he had then already given the signal for starting the train, and I had nothing to do but clamber on board again. One hope remained; it was an up-grade for the next twenty-five miles, and an extra engine was assisting from Willcox, to which it would return from Dragoon Summit, where I secured the coveted stop-over. The engineer—to his credit let me say it—refused me a ride on the engine, saying it. was against orders; but after he had got the old machine spinning down the steep incline, he found I was a passenger, and could not then well put me off.

Willcox, which lies as near the point of departure for the Apache country as any station on the Southern Pacific, consists of two straggling lines of shanties and frame houses, and presents a bold front, with a saloon in every other building. It is an outfitting station, and has several well-stocked stores and large corrals. Though it was Saturday, and Crook's forces were momentarily expected, the town was very quiet, and but few of the inhabitants were intoxicated; save one poor devil, who lay dead drunk on the platform scales all day. He must have been