“From Silver Lake’s settlement the ranches branch out in the valley, and there are some fine haciendas among them, the rancheros being rich in cattle and horses, and a mixture of Americans and Mexicans of the better class.”
“You surprise me, Cody, and interest me greatly,” said Colonel Carr.
“I was greatly surprised and interested myself, sir, during the two days and nights I was in the valley.
“All seems peaceful there, too, and yet upon that valley rests a cruel curse, for it is under a ban of outlawry that is most mysterious, and the more terrible because the actors are unseen, unknown, and therefore secret foes.
“Upon this strange community hangs my mission of duty that I ask to go upon.”
“Well?”
“I was struck with the beauty of the valley, the apparent wealth of the rancheros, and where I stopped was the home of an American, who was half Mexican, for he had had a Texan for his father, who had married a lady of Mexico. He received me with the greatest hospitality, and we became so friendly that he told me that night, as we sat together, of the ban upon the fair valley.
“I questioned him closely, for I wished to know all that I could discover, and he made known, though with considerable dread at doing so, that the curse upon the community was from the deeds of a secret foe or rather foes. Who that foe was no one could tell, and yet he was most in evidence at every ranch in the valley, upon which he levied tribute or blood money, I may say, and got it.”
“But how did he do this?”
“By a placard stuck on the gate of a ranch house, or hacienda, demanding a certain sum to be placed in a designated spot on a day or night named, under the penalty, if refused, of a death in the family.”