Hi peeps here is the finale of the colorados adventure, hopefuly Jim will never have a similar problem.

Don Jose de La Mancha

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good afternoon my friends.:

well things were fairly quiet for a few days, then I noticed an unusual no of mules and Indians moving around our little mining settlement. I cornered one of the Indians that liked me, and proceed to give him the third degree until he finally opened up. They were gathering together for an assault on the mine to kill the foreman and any one else that got in their way. They were merely waiting for their known killer to arrive to lead them.

I found that part of his salary was to be one of the twins of the foreman. I told him to tell the others that I was responsble for all of them, including their safety, which included being their medical officer.. and I couldn't allow this to happen, he blinked, then left carrying the message to the group.

Now understand that Mexico in her magnificence, did not allow any firearms for her citizens, despite it being clearly stated in their consitution, so we had 'no' firearms, but the Indians did, and knew this..

For a few days I escorted the twins to and from their quarters to the cook shack and back, making a show of it for the watching Indians benifit.. The best that I could do for a weapon a quarter staff, which if handled correctly is actually a very efficient weapon for close in combat.. .

There was no way that we could leave with the foreman, assuming that they would allow it, since the road down was so slow that any one going directly down the side could beat any vehicle, nor could we go to the airfield, so La bert and I were stuck with protecting him and his little family or abandoning them, . This neither La Bert, nor I, could even think of doing because of our personal moral code. Nor would you.

We commenced rearranging the main quarters which afforded the best defense since it was surrounded by drop offs on 2 sides. Our main weakness was the fact that the house was on a cutout section of the hill. While we could shift various things around to protect from fire coming in from the front, we were very vulnerable to fire coming from the hill in the back. They could merely sit up there and shoot holes in the roof. We eventually had a small secure area.

we were asked if we wished an airplane sent up to evacuate with, we had to reluctantly thank them and say no. When we asked if they could send up a state policeman or two or send up arms. They then explained that where we were was effectively a no mans land, no one claimed authority for it,.nor would they assume law enforcement responsibility for it, so we were on our own if we refused the airplane. as for sending up arms , no way ..

Since we had an abundance of torvex (ammonium Nitrate explosive for mining, similar to dynamite) I sat on a bench in plain sight, in fact I moved the bench to where they could see me easier, and commenced to make up improvised grenades. I tied two sticks together with 6 ft of line with separate fuses and detonators. This would discourage anyone from picking one up and trying to throw it back. Both were connected with the main fuse for about 2 inches,

I then sat with the Bert lighting small sections of fuse, which I lit and she timed, I then threw them out into the patio in plain sight, obviously timing their burn rate. I did this with elaborate gestures for the watching Indians benefit. They were about 50 meters away, but took an interest in what I was doing, I could see them explaining to one another. Finally I used a short stick and tossed it out into the patio where it exploded with a gratifying boom. the watching Indians looked a bit uncomfortable and were moving around.... .

While we were in the midst of this, my friend and top boss Koppie, landed on a bounce hop in a Cessna, and came down to the camp. I accused him of being just as big an idiot as we were, he just grunted, However psychologically it was a tremendous boost against the Indians, it was easy to see that they were not pleased to see our reinforcement.

The next day when the expected killer was due to arrive, Koppie and I went through my little routine of tossing experiments, so when I had their undivided attention I gave Koppie two full sticks tied together to throw. frankly the made two simultaneous huge impressive explosions, our Indians were quite impressed.

we then set up our final internal defense system. We had an assayers balance table which consisted of a 4" x 4 ft x 6 ft concrete slab on top of concrete legs set in bed rock to eliminate any vibration.. I told her to hide under it when they started shooting, She just looked me in the eye and said "no way Jose, if you go, I want to go also" that's my lovely little wifey sigh.

Well the killer Indian arrived and met the men. I could see much arms waving and fingers pointing in our direction and the patio, I presume that they were explaining my little psychological play, he finally left on his mule obviously in complete disgust

The next day everything returned to normal and nothing was said, except that the men seemed to have a different opinion of me, more respect.? So the foreman was allowed to leave with his twins who grew up to be married, rather than having a fate worse than death.

My reputation grew a bit after this, word spreads rapidly in the back country. Koppie said that he wouldn't have missed it for any amount of money, he still talks of it. hehe

.Don Jose de la Mancha....