Originally Blaze had come to the Rio
Grande valley as a stock-raiser, but the natural advantages of the
country had appealed to his gambling instinct, and he had "gone
broke" buying land.
He had located, some fifteen miles below the borders of Las
Palmas, and there he had sunk a large fortune; then as a first
step in his colonization project he had founded the town of
Jonesville. Next he had caused the branch line of the Frisco
railroad to be extended until it linked his holdings with the main
system, after which he had floated a big irrigation company; and
now the feat of paying interest on its bonds and selling farms
under the ditch to Northern people kept him fully occupied. It was
by no means a small operation in which he was engaged. The venture
had taken foresight, courage, infinite hard work; and Blaze was
burdened with responsibilities that would have broken down a man
of weaker fiber.
But his pet relaxation was reminiscence. His own experience had
been wide, he knew everybody in his part of the state, and
although events in his telling were sometimes colored by his rich
imagination, the information he could give was often of the
greatest value--as Dave Law knew.
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