Chapter 1
With the pickaxe over his head, Bill Harrington puffed. He lowered his hand in a semi circular arc and struck the ground. Then he puffed again and raised the pickaxe above his head, again in a semicircular arc. Then he puffed, loudly this time and was just about to lower it into the silver laden ground below when he heard a shout "Faster, we need more production, or you will not get full wages" . It was the overseer. A fat, bald well dressed middle aged man who looked extremely out of place with his gentlemanly clothes in these dark gas lamp lit cave of the Janos Silver mine. Nevertheless Bill couldn't resist but have a better look at him from the back as he walked with his strong leather whip in one hand and a loud whistle in another.
Huh, a pittance they already paid, thought Bill. How can they pay any less?
But atleast his salary being an American worker was 1.5 times more than the native ones. He couldn't even bear to look at his Mexican co-workers, they were treated no better than slaves, they laboured day and night in this mine, with its gas lamps casting ghastly shadows on the dark hellish walls glistening with the shine of unprocessed silver and they received barely enough to eat once a day................occasionally. Huh, it was not his duty to care, the world wasn't created equal anyway.
But presently he puffed and dug away. Again and again and again, his muscles straining until his shift finally ended.
By the time he had removed his miners uniform, handed it over to the inventory man and came out of the mine premises, he was sweating like a soaked cloth. Outside, it was night. But the town of Janos was hardly going to sleep. For the nighttime was opportunity time for its 10 dozen Cantinas, Saloons, Bordellos and gambling dens all bedecked with cheap decorations and colorful lights like a bride on her wedding night. Only in this case, the crafty bride was the whole town and the unsuspecting grooms were the dozens with their wage money.
As half a dozen cheap smelly prostitutes brushed past him and drunk miners in their soiled clothes laughed around, Bill couldn't help but sigh, by the time the sun was going to be up, more than half of these poor sobs would have lost all their wages to this savage border town. He felt his own throat going dry, he longed for a whiskey, at any cost, even if that meant spending a huge chunk of his paltry wage. Fortunately, a saloon was close by. As he was about to turn the lane, he felt a hand on his shoulders.
As he looked behind, he saw two huge hombres. Both were much taller than 6 feet and were extremely muscular. In their hands, they held large batons. They were a fancy sight to watch. As he was about to ask them who they were, the taller of the two spoke "We are from the silver mine, you need to come with us".
"But my shift is over" cried Bill.
The man laughed, he adjusted his Sombreo and took out a Colt peacemaker from his belt. Then he extended his hand, Bill had no other option but to give in. He started walking with them towards the Western direction of the town, but that was completely in a different direction from the mine. For two minutes, there was silence, then Bill could not resist the curiosity. "Who are you, and where are you taking me" he asked. Again, the taller man answered, "We are going to see Senior Rodriguez". "What, he wants to meet me!" Bill exclaimed. The man nodded a Yes. Helmer Rodriguez, he was the head of the mine. To see him meant only two things, promotion or a quick death. Bill gulped and wondered which of the two he was in for.
Rodriguez lived on the western edge of the town in a luxurious old Spanish estate. As Bill was led in, he couldn't help but notice the lavishness of it all, servants, chandeliers, fine clothes, fine people, and also how it contrasted with the sad reality of the town outside. Presently, the tall man motioned to him at a large door. In his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed that he had made it to the door of Rodriguez's study.
"Go inside, and don't forget to salute" the guard said.
Bill knocked. A second later, a hoarse loud voice answered "Come in".
Bill opened the door and was immediately greeted with a whole wall of books, files and manuscripts. In the center was a large oil painting of Porfirio Diaz, the current president of Mexico, more like an all powerful dictator. So hungry he was for power, that four years previously, in 1884, he had even removed his own puppet from the presidency.
And then, in one dark corner of that study, sitting on a wooden desk, he saw Rodriguez, he was dressed in a fine red suit. For a moment Bill took in his sight, and then Rodriguez spoke "You are Bill Harrington, American worker, joined last year in the Silver mine, is that correct?".
"Si Senior" answered Bill.
"Hmm, Bill, so last week one of my men had gone north to America for some work, and he came back with some interesting information regarding you. I did not believe him at first, it was surprising!" exclaimed the head.
Bill panicked, he wondered what news it could be. For a moment he thought Rodriguez would kill him. After a whole minute of uneasy silence had passed, he mustered up the courage and asked "Wwhat".
"Is it true that you once held a degree in Geography?" asked Rodriguez.
"Yes" answered Bill.
"Is it true that you have left your family?" asked the head.
"Yes" came the answer.
"Now tell me Bill, is it true that you are the son of a rich tycoon with deep pockets?" asked the head again smiling.
Bill smiled back for a second, then he answered "No..........................I was".
