“You said it, brother,” Curtin admitted, “and as for me, you may count me in; I’m ready even for stealing horses or cattlerustling.”
“That’s what I like to hear. What chances are you expecting to have after, let’s say, four weeks?” Dobbs asked. “Pocketpicking and the Islas Marias.”
“Islas Marias? Are there new oil-fields?”
“No, you sap,” Dobbs put him right; “that’s the penal colony where you will go if the pocketpicking goes wrong and somebody grabs you firmly by your wrist. It isn’t just a vacation to be on those islands, if you ask me. Do you know why the pictures of the Holy Virgin you see here in all churches show a knife stabbed into her breast? That knife has been thrust into the heart of the Virgin by someone who had come back alive from the Maria Islands. There are very few guards on these islands, but you can’t escape by swimming or going off in a small canoe, because they are guarded by half a million ferocious man-sharks.”
“Pretty place, I have to say,” Curtin laughed. “And so pocketpicking and the like are out. Who wants to be guarded by sharks?”
“That’s what I said. So I think we shuffle off tomorrow. The sooner we leave, the better. In this town we spend our money for nothing; when we’re on our way, we’re actually investing our money. I’ll talk it over tonight with old man Howard.”
“With him?” asked Curtin. “What for? You don’t mean to take him along? He’s too old. We might have to carry him on our back.”
Dobbs didn’t agree. “Now don’t you make a mistake about that old man. He may prove tougher than both of us put together. Those old guys are like good old leather more often than not. Besides, there’s another point to think of. To tell the truth, I don’t know much about prospecting. Frankly, I don’t know anything of what gold looks like in the sand. It may lie there right in front of you and you won’t know it. You may think it’s only another sort of rock or dust or clay or what have you. Then what? All your hard work and sweat is no good if you can’t make out what is the real stuff and what is plain dirt. He’s an oldtimer at that job. He sure knows gold when he sees it, and he knows how to lift it. That’s what we need. I tell you, we must have him, an experienced guy like him. Question is, will he go out with us puppies? Fact is, we should congratulate ourselves if he does.”
“I never thought of it that way. I think you’re right. Let’s ask him right now.” Curtin no longer had any objections.
On coming to the Oso Negro they found Howard lying on his cot reading about bandits in a pulp.
“Me?” He was right afire. “Me? What a question? Of course I’m going. Any time, any day. I was only waiting for one or two guys to go with me. Out for gold? Always at your service. I take the risk and make the investment. Let’s see, how much do we have?”
He took a pencil and began scribbling on blank spaces of a newspaper ad. “I’ve got three hundred bucks ready cash here in the bank. Two hundred of them I’m all set to invest. It’s the last money I have in the world. After this is gone, I’m finished up. Anyway, if you don’t take a risk, you can’t make a win.”
Curtin and Dobbs also began to go over their property, which consisted of what was left from the wages made under Pat’s Contract. It didn’t amount to very much. All their money put together did not come up to what the old man meant to invest.
“Well, I’m afraid this won’t go a long way.” Howard had made a list of the most essential provisions and tools needed, and he saw that even these modest expenses could not well be met with the money they had.
Dobbs took a deep breath. He remembered his lottery ticket.
“Don’t you get superstitious,” Curtin warned him. “I’ve never yet seen a person who won anything worth while in a lottery.”
“It won’t cost me anything to look at the list, will it?” Dobbs rose from his cot.
Curtin laughed heartily. “I’m going with you, Dobby. I wouldn’t miss seeing your long face when you look for your number and don’t find even the last figure of your ticket, that assures you you’ll get your money back. All right, let’s go and have the free circus.”
There were lists everywhere. They were hanging in front of every sweet-shop and cigar-counter to make it as easy as possible for people to examine them. Most of the lists were printed on white cotton goods because they were examined so frequently and so nervously that those printed on paper did not last long, and they had to last for a year, since premiums were payable any time inside of twelve months after the drawing.
At the tobacco-stand outside of the Bristol Hotel there hung a list.
“Just came in, the list, caballeros,” said the girl in charge of the stand.
“And what now? Hey? What about superstition now, you sap?” Dobbs patted the list in a caressing way. “That’s the sugar papa likes. Just look at this fat rich printed number smiling at you. That’s my number. That’s what it is. Know how much it means in cold cash for my twentieth? One hundred pesos. A full hundred. Welcome, sweet little smackers.”
“All right, you win. But this is an exception, and only the dumbs ever win; that’s my idea.”
“Your idea all right.” Dobbs felt superior with his hundred pesos easy money. “Maybe it’s the dumbs that make the money. Doesn’t matter. Point is to have the dough. And besides, you have to have a good hand to buy the right ticket, see? How does a dumbhead know which is the winning number and which not? Tell me that. I picked the right number, didn’t I?”
Meanwhile they had come to the agency where the tickets were paid. The ticket was carefully examined, because smart fellows could change the printed numbers of tickets so well that even experienced tellers were, at times, deceived. But the ticket was okayed and Dobbs received his money.
“Now it’s my turn again to get a hundred to make our investments as even as can be.” Curtin was trying to think of a way to get some money. At this moment boys were running along the street with bundles of papers under their arms.
“San Antonio Express! The Express! The Express, acaba de ilegar, just arrived by train!” they were yelling. One stopped in front of Dobbs and Curtin and offered the paper. Curtin bought it. Hardly had he glanced at the front page when he said: “Here is the solution. That guy here, see his name? He owes me a hundred dollars and I see he is now in the big money. He’s bought a corner at Commerce Street. I’ll wire him. He’s a square shooter. He’ll ship the dough.”
So they went to the Western Union cable office and with a few words Curtin told the old pal of his plight. The same night the pal from San Antonio cabled him two hundred dollars instead of the borrowed hundred.
“Didn’t I tell you he’s on the level, that old pal of mine over in good old S.A.? That’s what you may call a friend in need.” Curtin felt not less superior now than Dobbs had felt on cashing his lottery ticket in the morning.
“We’d better not wait long,” Howard suggested. “Let’s take off tomorrow.”
They agreed. Next day they took the night train to San Luis Potosi, where they boarded the train for Aguascalientes to reach the main line going north. Four days later they were in Durango.