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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19083-8.txt b/19083-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a68f86 --- /dev/null +++ b/19083-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6665 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Border Boys Across the Frontier, by +Fremont B. Deering + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Border Boys Across the Frontier + + +Author: Fremont B. Deering + + + +Release Date: August 19, 2006 [eBook #19083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE +FRONTIER*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 19083-h.htm or 19083-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083/19083-h/19083-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083/19083-h.zip) + + + + + +THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER + +by + +FREMONT B. DEERING + +Author of + "The Border Boys on the Trail," + "The Border Boys with the Mexican Rangers," + "The Border Boys with the Texan Rangers," + "The Border Boys in the Canadian Rockies," + "The Border Boys Along the St. Lawrence." + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher +pointed out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa.] + + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers ---------- New York +Copyright, 1911, by +Hurst & Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE TRAIL OF THE HAUNTED MESA + II. THE SAND STORM + III. A NIGHT ALARM + IV. SOME QUEER TRACKS + V. THE HOLLOW ALTAR + VI. THE LEGEND OF A FORGOTTEN RACE + VII. WHAT CAME ACROSS THE DESERT + VIII. THE DARK FACE OF DANGER + IX. IN THE MESA DWELLERS' BURIAL GROUND + X. A NEW MEXICAN STYX + XI. THE CAMP OF THE GUN-RUNNERS + XII. MADERO'S FLYING COLUMN + XIII. IN THE CAMP OF THE INSURRECTOS + XIV. "DEATH TO THE GRINGOES!" + XV. A RACE FOR LIFE + XVI. WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE + XVII. BOB HARDING DOES "THE DECENT THING" + XVIII. THE TABLES TURNED + XIX. BUCK BRADLEY'S AUTOMOBILE + XX. AT THE ESMERALDA MINE + XXI. AN ACT OF TREACHERY + XXII. AT ROSARIO STATION + XXIII. JACK MERRILL'S "SPECIAL" + XXIV. THE ATTACK ON THE MINE + XXV. THE LAST STAND.--CONCLUSION + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher pointed out +beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +As it flared up, all three recoiled with expressions of dismay. At +their very feet was a deep chasm. + +A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. Almost before they +realized it, they had swung around the curve. + + + + +The Border Boys Across the Frontier. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE TRAIL OF THE HAUNTED MESA. + +"Can you make out any sign of the mesa yet, Pete?" + +The speaker, a sun-bronzed lad of about seventeen, mounted on a bright +bay pony with a white-starred forehead, drew rein as he spoke. Shoving +back his sombrero, he shielded his eyes from the shimmering desert +glare with one hand and gazed intently off into the southwest. + +"Nope; nary a speck, so fur. Queer, too; we ought to be seein' it by +now." + +Coyote Pete, as angular, rangy and sinewy as ever, gazed as intently in +the same direction as the lad, Jack Merrill, himself. The pause +allowed the remainder of the party to ride up. There was Ralph +Stetson, a good deal browner and sturdier-looking than when we +encountered him last in "The Border Boys on the Trail"; Walt Phelps, +the ranch boy, whose blazing hair outrivaled the glowing sun; and the +bony, grotesque form of Professor Wintergreen, preceptor of Latin and +the kindred tongues at Stonefell College, and amateur archaeologist. +Lest they might feel slighted, let us introduce also, One Spot, Two +Spot and Three Spot, the pack burros. + +"I always had an idea that the Haunted Mesa formed quite a prominent +object in the landscape," put in Professor Wintergreen, referring to a +small leather-bound book, which he had just taken from one of his +saddle-bags. + +"And I always had an idea," laughed Ralph Stetson, "that a landscape +meant something with brooks and green trees and cows and--and things, +in it." + +The young son of "King Pin" Stetson, the Eastern Railroad King, looked +about him at the gray desert, above which the sun blazed mercilessly +down with all the intensity of a burning glass. Here and there were +isolated clumps of rank-odored mesquite, the dreariest looking +gray-green bush imaginable. The scanty specimens of this variety of +the vegetable life of the desert were interspersed here and there by +groups of scraggly, prickly cacti. Across such country as this, the +party had been making its way for the past day and a half,--ever since, +in fact, they had left behind them the foothills of the Hachetas, +where, as we know, was located the ranch of Jack Merrill's father, and +had entered the dry, almost untravelled solitudes of the Playas. + +Jack Merrill consulted a compass that was strapped to his wrist. + +"Well, we're keeping steadily in the right direction," he said. +"Nothing for it but to keep on going; eh, Pete?" + +"When yer cain't turn back, 'keep on goin's' a good word," assented the +philosophical cow-puncher of the Agua Caliente, stroking his +sun-bleached yellow moustache and untangling a knot in his pony's mane. + +"It's up to us to get somewhere where there is water pretty quick," put +in Walt Phelps; "the last time I hit the little drinking canteen I +noticed that there wasn't an awful lot left in the others." + +"No, and the stock's feelin' it, too," grunted Pete, digging his big, +blunt-roweled spurs into his buckskin cayuse. + +Followed by Jack on his Firewater, the professor on his queer, bony +steed as angular as himself, Ralph on Petticoats--of exciting +memory,--and Walt Phelps on his big gray, they pushed on. + +The heat was blistering. In fact, to any one less accustomed to the +arduous intensity of the sun's rays in this part of the country, it +would have proved almost insupportable. But our party was pretty well +seasoned by this time. + +All of them wore the broad, leather-banded sombreros of the plainsmen +except Professor Wintergreen, who had invested himself in a gigantic +pith sun-helmet, from beneath which his spectacled countenance peered +out, as Ralph said, "Like a toad peeking out from a mushroom." For the +rest, the boys wore leather "chaps," blue shirts open at the neck, with +loosely knotted red handkerchiefs about their throats. The latter were +both to keep the sun off the back of their necks and to serve as +protection for their mouths and nostrils against the dust in case of +necessity,--as for example, when they struck a patch of burning, biting +alkali. Of this pungent stuff, they had already encountered one or two +stretches, and had been glad to muffle up the lower part of their faces +as they rode through it. + +As for Coyote Pete, those who have followed his earlier experiences are +pretty familiar with that redoubtable cow-puncher's appearance; suffice +it to say, therefore, that, as usual, he wore his battered leather +"chaps," faded blue shirt, and his big sombrero with the silver stars +affixed to the stamped leather band. In a holster he carried a rifle, +as did the rest of the party, as well as his well-worn revolver. The +others had provided themselves with similar weapons, although theirs +glittered in blatant newness beside Pete's battered, but well-cleaned +and oiled, "shootin' iron." + +While they are pressing onward, with the Hachetas lying like a dim, +blue cloud far behind them, let us tell the reader something about the +quest that brings our party into the midst of this inhospitable place. +As readers of "The Border Boys on the Trail" know, Professor +Wintergreen had accompanied Jack Merrill and Ralph Stetson from +Stonefell College, some weeks before, to spend a vacation on the Agua +Caliente Ranch, belonging to Jack's father. The professor, as well as +being on a vacation, was in a sense on a mission, for he bore with him +the commission of a well-known institute of science in the East to +investigate some of the mesas of this part of the world, and also to +procure relics and trophies of the vanished race that once inhabited +them, and accurate measurements of the strange formations. + +Since their arrival at the ranch, some weeks before, events had so +shaped themselves as to render the immediate undertaking of his mission +impossible. The descent of Black Ramon de Barros on the ranch, as we +have related, and the subsequent abduction of the boys to the old +Mission across the border, had so fully occupied their attention, that +all thought of the professor's errand had been lost sight of. + +With Black Ramon, thanks to the boys, forever banished from his +cattle-rustling raids, and the subsequent tranquility of routine life, +had come a recollection of the professor's quest. Coyote Pete, a few +days before this story opens, had volunteered to act as guide to the +professor and his party to a mesa seldom visited except by wandering +Indians and occasional cow-punchers. This was the Haunted Mesa, the +location of which was so difficult to reach that previous relic-hunting +expeditions had not included it in their travels. + +Mr. Merrill was the more willing to allow the boys to go along, as he +had been suddenly summoned into Chihuahua province, in Mexico, by +reports of trouble at a mine--The Esmeralda--he owned there. Rumors of +an insurrection had reached him--an insurrection which meant great +peril to American interests. He had, therefore, lost no time in +setting out to ascertain the true state of affairs at his mine, which, +while a small one, was still likely to develop in time into an +extremely valuable property. + +Leaving the ranch in charge of Bud Wilson, he had started for the +Mexican country without waiting for the departure of the professor's +expedition. A short time later, "Professor Wintergreen's Haunted +Mesans," as the boys insisted on calling themselves, had likewise +started on their quest. With them, at Jack Merrill's invitation, went +Walter Phelps, the son of a ranching neighbor of Mr. Merrill. Walt, it +will be recalled, had shared the perils and adventures of the boys +across the border, as related in the previous volume, and had been the +instrument of piloting them out of the mysterious valley in which Black +Ramon kept his plundered herds. + +Mr. Merrill's last words had been ones of caution. + +"Remember, boys, that if this trouble in Mexico attains real +proportions, life and property along the border may be in great danger. +In such a case, it will be your immediate duty to turn back." + +"But, Dad," Jack had said, "you don't expect that plundering +insurrectos would have the audacity to come northward into the Playas?" + +Mr. Merrill laughed. + +"I didn't say there was any danger even here, my boy. Least of all, +out in that barren country. If there is an insurrection, it will +doubtless be put down without any trouble, but it is always well to be +prepared." + +Like his brother ranchers along the border, Mr. Merrill at that time +had no idea of the seriousness or extent of the insurrection. Had he +had, he would, of course, have prohibited the party leaving the ranch. +As it was, he, in common with his neighbors, deemed the insurrection +simply one of those little outbreaks that occur every now and again in +Mexico, and which hitherto had been promptly squashed by Diaz's army. +And so, with no real misgivings, the party had bidden the bluff, +good-natured rancher good-by, little dreaming under what circumstances +they were to meet again. + +But all this time we have been allowing our party to travel on without +bestowing any attention upon them. As the afternoon wore on, Coyote +Pete began to feel real apprehension about reaching their destination +that evening. Walt Phelps' fear about the water had been verified. +The supply was getting low. Provided they could "pick up" the mesa +they were in search of before sundown, however, this was not so serious +a matter as might have been supposed. Coyote Peter knew that there was +a well at the mesa, the handiwork of the ancient desert-dwellers. + +The really serious thing was, that although they had apparently been +traveling in the right direction, they had not yet sighted it. The +cow-puncher knew, though he did not tell his young companions so, that +they should long since have spied its outlines. Of the real +seriousness which their position might shortly assume, the boys had as +yet, little idea. Coyote Pete was not the one to alarm them unless he +was convinced it was really necessary. + +Suddenly, Jack, who had been riding a little in advance of the rest, +gave an exclamation and pointed upward at the sun. + +"Say, what's the matter with the sun?" he exclaimed. + +"Sun spots, I suppose," put in Ralph Stetson jokingly. + +"I see what you mean," spoke up the professor; "it has turned quite +red, and there seems to be a haze overcasting the sky." + +"It's getting oppressive, too," put in Walt Phelps. "What's up, Pete?" + +The cow-puncher had, indeed, for some time been noticing the same +phenomenon which had just attracted their notice, but he had hesitated +to draw their attention to it. Now, however, he spoke, and his voice +sounded grave for one of Pete's usually lively temperament. + +"It means that ole Mar'm Desert is gettin' inter a tantrum," he +grunted, "and that we're in an almighty fix," he added to himself. + +"Is it going to rain?" inquired Ralph Stetson, as it grew rapidly +darker. + +"Rain?" grunted Pete. "Son, it don't rain here enough to cover the +back uv a dime, even if you collect all the water that fell in a year. +No, siree, what's comin' is a heap worse than rain." + +"An electric storm?" queried the professor. + +"No, sir--a sand storm," rejoined the cow-puncher bluntly. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE SAND STORM. + +As he spoke, a queer, moaning sort of sound, something like the low, +distant bellow of a steer in pain, could be heard. The air seemed +filled with it. Coming from no definite direction, it yet impregnated +the atmosphere. The air, too, began noticeably to thicken, until the +sun, from a pallid disc--a mere ghost of its former blazing self--was +blotted out altogether. A hot wind sprang up and swept witheringly +about the travelers. + +"Ouch!" exclaimed Ralph Stetson suddenly. "Something stung me!" + +"That's the sand, son," said Coyote Pete. "The wind's commencin' ter +drive it." + +"Is it going to get any worse?" inquired the professor anxiously. + +"A whole lot, afore it gits any better," was the disconcerting reply. + +"What'll we do, Pete?" asked Jack, turning to the cow-puncher. + +It had now grown so dark that he could hardly see Pete's face. It was +hot, too, with a heavy, suffocating sort of heat. The wind that drove +the myriads upon myriads of tiny sand grains now darkening the air, was +ardent as the blast from an opened oven-door. + +"Get your saddles off, quick! Lie down, and put your heads under 'em," +ordered the cow-puncher, briskly swinging himself out of his saddle as +he spoke. + +The others hastened to follow his example. It was not a minute too +soon. Already their mouths were full of gritty particles, and their +eyes smarted as if they had been seared with hot irons. The ponies +could hardly be induced to stand up while the process of unsaddling was +gone through. As for the burros, those intelligent beasts had thrown +themselves down as soon as the halt was made. With their heads laid as +low as possible, and their hind quarters turned to the direction of the +hot blast, they were as well prepared to weather the sand storm as they +could be. + +The instant the saddles were off the ponies, down they flopped, too, in +the same positions as their long-eared cousins. The bipeds of the +party made haste to follow their animals' example, only, in their case, +their heads were sheltered as snugly as if under a tent, by the big, +high-peaked, broad-flapped Mexican saddles. + +It was well they had made haste, for, as Pete had said, the sand storm +was evidently going to get "a whole lot worse before it got better." +The air grew almost as black as night, and the wind fairly screamed as +it swept over them. Jack could feel little piles of sand drifting up +about them, just as driven snow forms in drifts when it strikes an +obstruction. How hot it was under the saddles! The boys' mouths felt +as if they would crack, so dry and feverish had they become. + +"Oh, for a drink of water!" thought Jack, trying in vain to moisten his +mouth by moving his tongue about within it. + +All at once, above the screaming of the wind, the lad caught another +sound--the galloping of hoofs coming toward them at a rapid rate. For +an instant the thought flashed across him that it was their own stock +that had stampeded. He stuck his head out to see, braving the furious +sweep of the stinging sand. + +He withdrew it like a tortoise beneath its cover, with a cry that was +only half of pain. Through the driving sand he had distinctly seen +three enormous forms sweep by, seen like dim shadows in the gloom +around. What could they have been? In vain Jack cudgeled his brains +for a solution to the mystery. + +The forms he had seen drift by had been larger than any horse. So +vague had their outlines been in the semi-darkness, however, that +beyond an impression of their great size, he had no more definite idea +of the apparitions. That they were travelling at a tremendous pace was +doubtless, for hardly had he sighted them before they vanished, and he +could not have had his head out of its shelter for more than a second +or so. + +While the lad lay in the semi-suffocation of the saddle, his mind +revolved the problem, but no explanation that he could think of would +fit the case. "Might they not have been wild horses?" he thought. + +But no,--these were three times the size of any horse he had ever seen. +Besides, their blotty-looking outlines bore no semblance to the form of +a horse. + +But presently something happened which put the thought of the +mysterious shadows out of his mind. The wind began to abate. To be +sure, at first it hardly seemed to have diminished its force, but in +the course of half an hour or so the party could once more emerge, like +so many ostriches, from their sand-piles, and gaze about them. + +Very little sand was in the air now, but it was everywhere else. In +their eyes, mouths, ears, while, if they shook their heads, a perfect +little shower of it fell all about them. The animals, too, struggling +to their feet out of the little mounds that had formed around them, +were covered with a thick coat of grayish dust. It was a sorry-looking +party. With red-rimmed eyes, cracked, parched lips and swollen +tongues, they looked as if they had been dragged through a blast +furnace. + +The sky above them now shone with its brilliant, metallic blue once +more, while ahead, the sun was sinking lower. In a short time it would +have set, and, as Ralph Stetson, in a choked voice, called for "Water," +the same thought flashed across the minds of all of them simultaneously. + +If they didn't get water pretty soon, their predicament promised to be +a serious one. + +An examination of the canteens showed that not much more than a gallon +remained. If only they could yet "pick up" the mesa before dark, this +would not be so serious a matter, but, situated as they were, it was +about as bad as bad could be. + +"Waal," said Pete, at length, stroking the last grains of sand out of +his bleached moustache, "waal, I reckon we might as well hang fer a +sheep as er lamb, anyhow. Ef we don't hit water purty soon, we'll be +thirstier yet, so we might as well fill up now." + +"Illogical, but sensible," pronounced the professor, leading an eager +rush for the water canteens, which were carried on the pack burros. + +"Here, hold on; that's enough!" cried Jack, as Ralph Stetson bent over +backward with the canteen still at his lips. + +"Why, I haven't begun to drink yet," protested Ralph. + +"Chaw on a bullet, son," advised Pete. "Thet's highly recommended for +the thirst." + +"Water suits me better," grumbled Ralph, nevertheless yielding the +canteen to Jack. The lad drank sparingly, as did Pete and the others. +Ralph, alone, of all the party, appeared not to realize how very +precious even the little water that remained might become before long. + +Refreshed even by the small quantity they had swallowed of the tepid +stuff, they remounted, and Pete clambered up upon his saddle. While +his pony stood motionless beneath him, he stood erect upon the leather +seat. From this elevation, he scanned the horizon on every side. Far +off to the southwest was sweeping a dun-colored curtain--the departing +sand-storm, but that was all. Otherwise, the desert was unchanged from +its previous aspect. + +"Let me hev a look at thet thar compass," said Pete, resuming a sitting +posture once more. + +Jack extended his wrist. + +"The compass is all right, I know," he said confidently. + +"And I know that we've bin hitting the right trail," declared Pete. +"Last time I come this way was with an old prospector who knew this +part of the country well enough to 'pick up' a clump of cactus. If +that compass is right, we're headed straight." + +"Yes--if," put in the professor. "But are you quite sure it is?" + +This was putting the matter in a new light. Not one of the party was +so ignorant as not to know that, in the many miles they had traveled, +the deflection of the needle, by even the smallest degree, might have +meant a disastrous error. + +"Why, I--I--how can it help being right?" asked Jack, a little +uncertainly. + +"Which side have you been carrying your revolver on?" asked the +professor. + +"Why, you know--on the left side," rejoined Jack, with some surprise. + +"And the compass on the left wrist?" + +"Yes. Why? Isn't it----" + +"No, it ain't!" roared Pete. "I see it all now, perfusser; that thar +shootin' iron has bin deflectin' ther needle." + +"I fear so," rejoined the professor. + +Under his direction, Jack moved the compass into various positions, and +at the end of a quarter of an hour they arrived at the startling +conclusion that they had travelled perhaps many miles out of their way. +The metal of the weapons Jack carried having, as they saw only too +clearly now, deflected the needle. + +"What an idiot I was not to think of such a possibility!" exclaimed +Jack bitterly. + +"Not at all, my boy," comforted the professor. "The same thing has +happened to experienced sea-captains, and they have navigated many +miles off their course before they discovered their error." + +"All of which, not bein' at' sea, don't help us any," grunted Pete. +"Suppose now, perfusser, that you jes' figger out as well as you kin, +how far wrong we hev gone." + +"It will be a difficult task, I fear," said the professor. + +"It'll be a heap difficulter task, ef we don't hit water purty soon," +retorted the cow-puncher. + +Thus admonished, Professor Wintergreen divested himself of his weapons, +and, taking out a small notebook, began, with the compass before him, +to make some calculations. At the end of ten minutes or so, he raised +his head. + +"Well?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"Well," rejoined the professor, "it's not as bad as it might be. We +are, according to my reckoning, about twenty-five miles farther to the +south than we should be." + +He consulted his notebook once more. + +"The bearings of the mesa require us to travel in that direction." He +indicated a point to the northward of where they were halted. + +"And it's twenty-five miles, you say?" asked Pete. + +"About that. It may be more, and again it may be less." + +"Waal, the less it is, ther better it'll suit yours truly. This stock +is jes' about tuckered." + +With the professor now bearing the compass, they set out once more, +this time taking the direction indicated by the man of science. + +"Suppose the professor is wrong?" Ralph whispered to Jack, as they +urged their almost exhausted cayuses onward. + +Jack shrugged his shoulders. + +"What's the use of supposing?" he said. + +It was sun-down, and a welcome coolness had begun to be noticeable in +the air, when Jack gave a shout and pointed directly ahead of them. + +"Look, look!" he cried. "What's that?" + +"That" was only a small purplish speck on the far horizon, but it broke +the monotony of the sky-line sharply. Coyote Pete scrutinized it with +keen eyes for a moment, narrowing his optics till they were mere slits. +Then-- + +"Give me the glasses, perfusser," he requested. Every one in the party +knew that their lives, or deaths probably, hung on the verdict of the +next few seconds, but Pete's slow drawl was more pronounced and +unperturbed than ever. He put the glasses to his eyes as unconcernedly +as if he were searching for a bunch of estrays. Presently he lowered +them. + +"Is--is it----?" began Jack, while the others all bent forward in their +saddles, hanging on the rejoinder. + +"It is," declared Pete, and he might have said more, but the rest of +his words were drowned in a ringing cheer. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A NIGHT ALARM. + +"How far distant do you imagine it is?" inquired the professor, as they +rode forward with their drooping spirits considerably revived. + +"Not more than fifteen miles--if it is that, 'cording ter my +calcerlations," decided Pete. + +"Then we should arrive there by ten o'clock to-night." + +"About that time--yep. That is, if none of ther stock give out +beforehand." + +"Why do they call it the Haunted Mesa?" inquired Jack. + +"Some fool old Injun notion 'bout ghosts er spirits hauntin' it," +rejoined Pete. + +"Just as well for us they have that idea," said Walt. "They'll give it +a wide berth." + +It flashed across Jack's mind at that moment to tell about the vague, +gigantic shapes he had seen flit by in the gloom of the sand-storm. +But, viewed in the present light, it seemed so absurd that the boy +hesitated to do so. + +"Maybe I was mistaken after all," he thought to himself. "There was so +much sand blowing at the time that I might very well have had a blurred +vision." + +The next minute he was doubly glad that he had refrained from telling +of his weird experience, for the professor, in a scornful voice, spoke +up. + +"Such foolish superstitions did exist in the ancient days, when every +bush held a spirit and every rock was supposed to be endowed with +sentient life. Happily, nowadays, none but the very ignorant credit +such things. By educated people they are laughed at." + +Pete, who was jogging steadily on ahead of the rest of them, made no +rejoinder. Ralph, however, spoke up. + +"What would you do, if you were to see a spirit, professor?" he +inquired, with an expression of great innocence in his round, plump +face. + +"I'd take after it with a good thick stick," was the ready reply. +"That is, always supposing that one _could_ see such a thing." + +Darkness fell rapidly. Night, in fact, rushed down on them as soon +almost as the sun sank behind the western rim of the desert. To the +south some jagged sierras grew purple and then black in the fading +light. Fortunately there was a moon, though the luminary of night was +in her last quarter. However, the silvery light added to the +brilliance of the desert stars, gave them all the radiance they needed +to pursue their way. + +The travelers could now perceive the outlines of the Haunted Mesa more +clearly. It reared itself strangely out of the surrounding solitudes, +almost as if it were the work of human hands, instead of the result of +long-spent geological forces. + +"Wish we were there now," breathed Ralph, patting his pony's sweating +forequarters, "poor old Petticoats is about 'all in.'" + +"It's purty hard to kill a cayuse," rejoined Pete. "I've seen 'em +flourish on cottonwood leaves and alkali water--yep, and git fat on it, +too. Be like a cayuse, my son, and adapt yourself to carcumstances." + +"Very good advice," said the professor approvingly, as the desert +philosopher concluded. + +As Pete had conjectured, the ponies were far from being as tuckered out +as they appeared, despite their sunken flanks and distended nostrils. +As the cool night drew on, and they approached more nearly to the +upraised form of the mesa, the little animals even began to prick their +ears and whinny softly. The pack animals, too, seemed to pluck up +spirits amazingly. + +"They smell grass and water," commented Pete, as he observed these +signs. + +Shortly after ten, as had been surmised, they were among the +bunch-grass surrounding the mesa. Striking such a spot after their +long wanderings on the hot desert, was delightful, indeed. Presently, +too, came to their ears the tinkling sound of flowing water. + +"It's the overflow from them old-timers' well at the base of the mesa," +pronounced Pete, listening. + +"Yes, and here it is," cried Jack, who had been riding a short distance +in advance, and had suddenly come across a small stream. + +The water was but a tiny thread, but it looked as welcome just then as +a whole lake. Cautioning the boys to keep their ponies back, Pete took +a long-handled shovel from one of the packs, and soon excavated quite a +little basin. While he had been doing this, the boys had had to +restrain their thirst, for the ponies were almost crazy with impatience +to get at the water. It required all the boys' management, in fact, to +keep them from breaking away and getting at the water. In the heated +condition of the little animals, this might have meant a case of +foundering. At last Pete let the thirsty creatures take a little +water, and afterward they were tethered to a clump of brush, while the +boys themselves assuaged their pangs. After their first ravenous +thirst was quenched--which was not soon--they took turns in dashing +water over each other's heads, removing the last traces of the +sand-storm. This done, they all declared that they felt like new +men,--or boys,--and a unanimous cry for supper arose. + +"Let me see, now," mused Pete, gazing up at the purplish, black heights +of the mesa above them, "as I recollect it, there's only one path up +thar. The good book says, foller the strait and narrer path, but it +don't say nothing about doing it in the dark, so I reckon that the best +thing we can do will be to camp right under that bluff thar, whar the +water comes out, till it gets to be daylight." + +This was agreed to be an excellent plan, and, accordingly, the stock +having been tethered out amidst the bunch-grass, the packs were +unloaded, and the work of getting a camp in shape proceeded apace. In +that part of New Mexico, although it is warm enough by day, nightfall +brings with it a sharp chill. It was decided, therefore, to rig up the +tents and sleep under their protection. The three canvas shelters of +the bell type were soon erected, and then, with mesquite roots, Coyote +Pete kindled a fire and put the kettle on. Supper consisted of corned +beef, canned corn and canned tomatoes, with coffee, hard biscuit and +cheese. + +"I'll bet we're the first folks that have eaten a meal here for many a +long day," said Jack, looking about him, after his hunger had been +satisfied. + +"It is, in all probability, fifteen hundred years or more since the +first inhabitants of this mesa dwelt here," announced the professor. + +"My! My! You could boil an egg in that time," commented Pete, drawing +out his old black briar and lighting it. He lay on one elbow and began +to smoke contemplatively. + +The others did not speak for a few moments, so engrossed were they with +the ideas that the professor had summoned up. Once, perhaps, this +dead, black, empty mesa above them had held busy, bustling life. Now +it stood silently brooding amid the desolation stretched about it, as +solitary as the Sphinx itself. + +The spot at which they were camped was the sheer, or cliff side of the +mesa. At the other side they knew, from Coyote Pete's description, +were numerous openings and a zig-zag pathway leading up to the very +summit. It was on this summit, which according to the most accurate +information obtainable had once been used for the sacrificial rites of +sun worship, that the professor expected to find the relics for which +he was searching. + +For an hour or two the lads discussed the dead-and-gone mesa dwellers, +with an occasional word from the professor, who was deeply read on the +subject. This was all so much Greek to Pete, who solemnly smoked away, +every now and then putting in a word or two, but for the most part +lying in silence, looking out beyond the black shadow of the mesa +across the moonlit desert toward the rocky hills to the south. + +Suddenly, the lanky cowboy leaped to his feet with a yell that +punctured the silence like a pistol-shot. In two flying leaps, he had +bounded clear over the professor's head, and was in among the tents, +searching for his pistol. Before one of the amazed group about the +fire could collect his senses at the sudden galvanizing of Coyote Pete, +he was back among them again. + +"Wow!" he yelled into the night, "come on, there, you, whoever you are! +Come on, I say! I'll give you a fight! Yep, big as you are, I ain't +skeered of you." + +"Pete! Pete! Whatever is the matter?" gasped Jack, who, with the +others, was by this time on his feet. + +"Matter?" howled Pete. "Matter enough. I do begin to think this place +shore is haunted, or suthin'. As I lay there, I felt suthin' tiptoeing +about behind me, and when I whipped suddenly round ter see if one of +the critters hadn't broken loose, what did I see but a great, big, +enormous thing, as big as a house, looking down at me. Afore I could +say a word, it was gone." + +"Gone!" echoed the others. "What was it?" + +"Wish you'd tell me," sputtered the cow-puncher, looking about him, and +still gripping his gun, "I never saw the like in all my born days." + +"Well, what did it look like?" + +"Hard to tell you," rejoined Pete. "It was as big as that." He pointed +right up at the moon. + +"As tall as the moon? Oh, come, Pete, you had dropped off and were +dreaming," laughed Ralph. + +"Who said it was as tall as the moon?" demanded the excited cow-puncher +angrily. "I only meant to convey to your benighted senses some idee uv +what it luked like." + +"Well, how high was it?" asked Jack, in whose tones was a curious note +of interest, for a reason we can guess. + +"About twenty feet, as near's I could judge. It had red eyes, that +glared like the tail-lamps of a train, and it spat fire, and it----" + +"Whoa! Whoa!" laughed Walt Phelps. "Now we know it was a nightmare, +Pete. The dream of a rarebit fiend. You ate too much crackers and +cheese at supper." + +"How was it we didn't see it?" asked Ralph, who had not spoken up till +now. + +"Why, you were lying with your back toward the direction it came from," +explained Pete. + +"An interesting optical delusion," declared the professor. "I must +make a note of it, and----" + +"Wow! There it goes ag'in." + +"Where? Where?" chorused the boys. + +"Right off there! Look! Look!" + +The lanky cow-puncher, fairly dancing about with excitement, pointed +out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa. Sure enough, there were +three or four enormous, black, shadowy shapes, traveling across the +sands at a seemingly great speed. + +"Get your rifles, boys!" yelled Jack. + +The weapons lay handy, and in a jiffy four beads had been drawn on the +immense, vague shapes. + +But even as their fingers pressed the triggers, and the four reports +rang out as one, the indefinite forms vanished as mysteriously as they +had appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SOME QUEER TRACKS. + +The hour, the surroundings, and the utter mystery of the whole affair +combined to make the sudden appearance and vanishment of the great +shadowy shapes the more inexplicable, not to say alarming. Small +wonder was it that the inquiring faces that turned toward each other +were a trifle whiter than usual. + +"What do you make of it, Pete?" asked Jack. + +"Stumped, by the big horn spoon!" was the expressive response. + +"No doubt, some natural phenomena, with a simple explanation," came +from the professor. It was noted, though, that his angular form seemed +to be somewhat shivery as he spoke, and that his teeth chattered like +dice rattling in a box. + +"Natural phe-nothings!" burst out Pete. "The things, whatever they +was, were as solid as you or me." + +"How was it they didn't make any noise, then?" inquired Ralph, +practically. + +"Waal, son, you jes' take a run on the bunchgrass, and you'll see that +you won't make no racket, nuther." + +Ralph did as he was directed, and it was really wonderful how silently +he sped over the springy vegetation. + +"Maybe it was somebody putting up a scare on us," suggested Walt, +rather lamely. + +"They couldn't rig up anything as big as that," said Jack decisively, +"besides, there's another thing--I didn't tell you because I thought I +might have been mistaken, but I saw those same things this afternoon." + +"What?" went up in a perfect roar of incredulity. + +"Say, is this some kind of a josh?" asked Coyote Pete suspiciously. + +"Never more serious in my life," Jack assured him, and then went on to +relate the strange experience that had befallen him when he had poked +his head out from under the saddle in the sand-storm. + +"If they weren't so enormous, I should say they was horses," said Pete; +"but the biggest horses that ever growed never even approached them +critters--spooks, er whatever they are." + +"There are giants among men," suggested Walt, "why shouldn't there be +giants among spooks, too?" + +"You get to Halifax with that spook talk," said Coyote Pete scornfully. +"I'll bet my Sunday sombrero that whatever them things is, there's some +sore of human mischief back uv it. But what is it? Who put it up?" + +"Yes, and what for, and why?" laughed Jack. "I tell you, fellows," he +went on, "it's no use of our racking our brains to-night over this. +The best thing we can do is to set a watch. Then, if they come again, +we can try a shot at them. If not, why then in the morning we'll make +an investigation; eh?" + +"Durn good advice," grunted Coyote Pete. "Now, I'd suggest that ther +perfusser takes ther fust watch, and----" + +"No, no, my dear sir; really, I--I have a cold already. A-hem--ach-oo!" + +The man of science, it seemed, had really developed serious bronchial +trouble in record time. + +"Why, professor," said Jack mischievously, "haven't I heard you say +that you'd like a chance to investigate such a phenomenon as this?" + +"Hum, yes--yes, my young friend. I may have said so, yes. And any +other time I should be only too pleased to--Good Land! what's that?" + +With the agility of a grasshopper, the professor had jumped fully three +feet, as one of the pack-burros, nosing about behind him, accidentally +butted him in the small of his back. The others burst into a roar of +laughter, which they could not check. The professor, however, adjusted +his spectacles solemnly and looked about him with much dignity. + +"I thought I saw a book I had dropped, almost in the fire," he +explained glibly, "so I jumped to get it before a hot ember fell on it." + +"I had no idea you could jump like that, professor," laughed Jack. +"You should have gone in for athletics at Stonefell." + +It was finally decided that Walt and Ralph should stand the first +watch, and Coyote Pete and Jack the last part of the night. The +professor, after carefully drawing tight the curtain of his tent, "to +keep the cold out," as he explained, retired. Soon after, Jack and the +cow-puncher also went to bed till the watch should summon them to go on +duty in their turn. + +But the night passed without any reappearance of the strange shapes +which had so upset the tranquility of the little camp, and, viewed in +the fresh light of a new and glorious day, somehow the affair did not +seem nearly so ominous and awe-inspiring as it had the night before. +Breakfast, as you may imagine, was speedily disposed of, and, having +seen to the stock, the party started out to explore the mesa itself. + +As has been said, the side upon which they had camped the night before +was nothing but a sheer cliff. Under the guidance of Coyote Pete, they +now set out to encircle the strange precipitous formation. Their +hearts beat high, and their eyes shone with an aroused sense of +adventure as they strode along. + +The professor carried with him a small volume containing a partial +translation of the symbols and sign language of the ancient tribe whose +domains they were about to invade. Jack had a coil of stout, half-inch +manila rope, about two hundred feet in length. Walt Phelps' burden was +a shovel, while Ralph Stetson carried an axe. All bore with them their +revolvers, and Coyote Pete carried, in addition, a rifle. + +"Are you afraid of anything?" the professor had asked him, as he +noticed the sun-bronzed plainsman pick up this latter weapon. + +"Waal," Pete had rejoined, with a portentous wink at the boys, "you +never kin tell in this wale of tears what you're a-goin' up +aginst--queer shapes, fer instance." + +As they strode along, naturally the subject of the shadowy forms which +had alarmed them the night before arose. Jack would have liked to +investigate them right then and there, but, after all, he decided with +the rest of the party, that an exploration of the mesa was the first +thing of importance to be accomplished. And an interesting sight the +great abandoned aboriginal beehive, was, as they rounded the +inaccessible side and emerged upon the portion which faced toward the +northwest. + +Pete's recollection had not played him false. There was a rough +pathway constructed up its face upon this side, and at the top were +three tiers of holes bored in the rock face. These were evidently +intended for windows, as a larger aperture was just as evidently meant +for a door. The path, which zig-zagged up the face of the mesa was +about eight inches in width, not more, at its base, and varied--so far +as they could see from below--from that breadth to a foot, as it grew +higher. + +From the base to the summit the mesa was probably about one hundred and +fifty feet in height, the windows not commencing till within twenty +feet of the top. Its length at the base was, roughly, three hundred +feet, and its thickness varied from three hundred feet or more at the +center, to a few feet at each end. Roughly, then, its basic outline +was that of an irregular parallelogram, while its profile was that of a +flat-topped cone. For some moments the little group stood in silence +as they gazed up at the yellowish-gray walls of the once-active mound. + +Finally, recovering from their reverie, they set out after Coyote Pete +to scale the narrow pathway leading to the summit. But, as the +cow-puncher set his feet on the lowermost part of the path, he gave an +exclamation of astonishment and pointed downward. + +There in the dust was a footprint,--several of them, in fact. + +It was a startling discovery in that isolated part of the desert to +come upon the traces of human occupancy. Robinson Crusoe on his desert +island could not have looked any more astonished at the imprint of the +savage's sole, than did Coyote Pete. He stood looking down +speechlessly at his discovery, while the others crowded about him, +asking a dozen questions at once. + +"If the sand-storm had hit this section, we'd been able to form some +idee of how long ago them hoofs was planted there," said Pete; "but as +it is, ther feller who wondered how ther apple got in ther dumpling +didn't hev a harder problem than the nut we've got to crack." + +"There must have been several of them," said Jack, who had been gazing +in the dust, which lay thick on the pathway to the summit of the mesa. + +"A dozen at least," nodded Pete. He tipped back his sombrero and +scratched his ruffled hair, fairly at a standstill to account for what +they had encountered. + +"Mightn't it have been prospectors?" asked Ralph. + +"Might hev bin, yes," agreed Pete; "but, fer one thing, my son, +prospectors don't usually travel in dozens." + +"Hum--that's so," assented Jack, who at first had greeted Ralph's +suggestion eagerly. + +"Look here!" cried Ralph suddenly, holding up a glittering object which +he had just discerned in the bunch-grass at the base of the mesa. + +"What is it, my boy?" inquired the professor. + +Ralph extended the object for their inspection. + +"A strange coin," cried Walt. + +"Not so blamed strange, either," said Pete, picking it off the boy's +palm and examining it. "It's a Mexican peso." + +"Then the men who were here were Mexicans?" cried Jack. + +"Not so fast, my boy," admonished Pete. "Might as well say that every +feller who finds a Canadian dime in his pocket is a Kanuck. Say," he +suggested suddenly, "suppose you boys jes' see if you can find any +tracks around the base of the mesa." + +They scattered and looked carefully about them, but the bunch-grass +grew in quite a broad belt all about, and no footmarks could be +discerned. Nor did a careful examination of the grass show any broken +or trampled blades, as would have been the case had ponies been there +recently. + +"That decides it," announced Pete, after this last fact had been +ascertained, "whoever made those foot-marks wasn't here recent, that's +a fact. But who could they have been, and what brought them here?" + +"Maybe Indians," suggested Ralph sagely. + +"Yep, if Indians wore boots, which they don't," grinned Pete, while +poor Ralph colored to the roots of his hair over the general laugh that +arose at his expense. + +"I think," announced the professor finally, "that it would be our best +plan to go ahead exploring the mesa. After all, there is nothing here +that can hurt us. Those ruffians of Black Ramon's have been driven out +of the country, and, anyway, they would not be likely to come here. As +for Indians, their reservation is many miles to the north-east. +Whoever was here, was either on a scientific quest, like ourselves, or +else unfortunately lost in the desert." + +"Jes' ther same," grunted Pete, in a low voice that nobody overheard, +"I'd like ter know what all this means: Big, shadowy shapes flitting +around in ther night, and footsteps here in ther mornin'. It don't +look right." + +He took a swift glance all about him. In every direction lay the +desert--glittering, far-reaching, lonely as the open sea. The only +break in the monotony came to the south--on the border--where stretched +the rocky, desolate ridge. + +"No one wouldn't come here without an object," reasoned Pete to +himself, as they began the ascent of the narrow, tortuous trail, "now, +what in thunder could that objec' hev bin?" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE HOLLOW ALTAR. + +"Magnificent indeed!" + +The words, falling from the professor's lips, echoed hollowly against +the walls of the lofty, vaulted chamber in which the adventurers found +themselves, after traversing a narrow passage leading inward from the +causeway. + +The walls of this chamber, which must have been fully thirty feet in +height at its greatest altitude, were formed of the soft rock, out of +which it had been excavated apparently uncounted ages before. They +were daubed with grotesque figures in faded, but still discernible, +colors. Most of these figures had to do with scenes of violence, and +in almost all of them the figure of what appeared to be an enormous +rattlesnake, with human head and arms, predominated. + +Among the mural decorations were some that puzzled the professor +considerably. They were crude drawings of men in what appeared to be +intended for boats. The professor found these inexplicable. The very +idea of boats in that arid spot seemed absurdly out of place. Why, +then, should the mesa-dwellers have depicted them? + +Light was furnished to the chamber by an irregularly shaped hole in the +roof above. Although there was plenty of illumination, it had yet been +some moments before the adventurers, coming out of the brilliant +sunlight outside, grew used enough to the gloom to make out their +surroundings. When they did so, the first words uttered were those of +the professor recorded above. + +Like some queer, long-legged bird, the man of science, with a giant +magnifying glass held up to his eye, sped hither and thither on his +long, angular limbs, inspecting minutely the drawings and crude +attempts at decoration. Already he had out his tape-measure and +sketch-book, making observations and recording measurements. +Presently, however, he recalled himself from the first heat of his +enthusiasm. + +"After all," he said, "we shall have plenty of time in which to explore +this chamber, which seems to have been used as a council hall. Let us +examine the remainder of this remarkable place." + +"You may well call it that, perfusser," grunted Pete. "It's remarkable +fer the dust thet's in it, if nothing else. But what I'd like to +know," he added to himself, "is jes' whar the owners of them footsteps +vanished themselves to." + +Which brings us to a remarkable discovery, made a few moments before +our party had entered the "Council Hall," as the professor called it. + +As you may imagine, they had traced the footsteps with some care, +hoping to come upon a solution of the mystery of their origin. Picture +their astonishment, then, when you are told that the footsteps abruptly +vanished at the summit of the zig-zag trail. Although dust lay thick +on the chambers within the mesa, not a solitary foot-mark marred its +soft gray surface. With the exception of the numerous footsteps on the +trail to the summit, there was no other sign of human visitors. + +Like most old plainsmen and all wild animals, Pete was suspicious of +anything he couldn't understand, and it certainly did seem inexplicable +that a party of men should have visited the mesa and contented +themselves with running or walking up and down the causeway outside, or +promenading the summit. Such, however, appeared to be the only +explanation, and as such they were forced to accept it. + +But such speculations as these were far from monopolizing the minds of +the professor and the boys. They eagerly traversed chamber after +chamber, finding these latter to be small "apartments," so to speak, +giving upon a common passage just beyond the "Council Hall." The +professor told them that each of these small chambers was formerly the +home of an aboriginal family. In the floor of the passage he pointed +to numerous bowl-like holes, which, according to him, had been used for +the sharpening of spears and arrow heads. + +In some of the small chambers specimens of rude pottery were found, all +ornamented with the same figure of the human-headed rattlesnake. +Evidently the form represented must have been a deity of the tribe. +Each of the small chambers was lighted by one of the holes cut in the +face of the cliff, which they had noticed from below. The boys darted +in and out of the various rock chambers, like ferrets in a rabbit +warren, followed at a more leisurely pace by the professor and Coyote +Pete. + +"Maybe we'll find some treasure," suggested Ralph Stetson, as, with +flushed faces, plentifully begrimed with dust, they paused in the last +of the rocky chambers. + +"Say, you've got treasure on the brain, ever since we found that chest +of Jim Hicks' in the passage-way under the old mission, and started our +bank accounts," laughed Jack. "You must be forgetting that this mesa +has been visited frequently by cattlemen and wandering prospectors." + +"Well, I should hardly call it frequently, Jack," put in Professor +Wintergreen, who was now standing with Coyote Pete at his elbow, in the +narrow entrance to the rocky chamber. + +"Nope," added Coyote Pete; "you can bet your boots we didn't come here +except when we had to. In the past, though, it made a mighty good +watering-place for the cattlemen driving from one section of this +country to another. Sence they cut up that land over to the westward +inter farms, though, the big cattle drives have stopped, and I don't +suppose any one's bin around here for a long time, 'cepting those +varmints whose feet-marks we seen." + +"How do you know they are varmints?" laughed Walt Phelps. + +"Don't see what business they'd hev here otherwise, and----" began +Pete, but a perfect tempest of laughter at his expense drowned the rest +of his speech. + +"Well, now that we seem to have pretty well explored the habitation +part of the mesa, let us make our way to the summit," suggested the +professor. + +With a whoop and yell, the excited boys followed the suggestion at +once, and a dash up the narrow causeway followed at imminent risk of +one of another losing his footing. + +"Hey, hold on thar!" yelled Pete, as they dashed upward, "we don't want +no funerals here, an' it's er drop of more'n a hundred feet to ther +ground." + +This rather checked the boys' enthusiasm, and they went more slowly +thereafter. + +The summit of the mesa was found to consist of a small plateau, about a +quarter of an acre in extent, perfectly bare, and shaped like a saucer. +Near the center was the hole which gave illumination to the council +hall below them, while in a spot almost exactly in the middle of the +queer elevation, was a rough, square erection of sun-baked brick. This +was about twelve feet in length, five feet in height, and six feet or +so through. Apparently it had once been a kind of an altar. The +professor thought this assumption tenable, as it was known that the +aborigines who had once inhabited the mesa had been sun-worshipers. + +"Ugh!" shuddered Jack, as he gazed at the altar. "And they used to +offer human sacrifices here." + +"I think it altogether likely," said the professor calmly; "probably +that altar has witnessed the immolation of more than a hundred victims +at a single tribal ceremony." + +Ralph Stetson was clambering up on the altar as the professor spoke, +but at hearing these words he hastily descended again. + +"I guess I'll defer examining it till some other time," he said +decidedly. + +From the summit of the mesa a wonderful view could be obtained. At +that altitude the rocky, desolate range of sierras to the south could +be seen clearly, although a mile or so distant. + +"Thar's the border yonder," said Pete, pointing. + +"And over across there is father, I guess," said Jack. "I hope he +found everything at the Esmeralda all right." + +"Sure he did," said Pete confidently. "I tell you, these greaser +uprisings don't amount to a busted gourd. Mister Diaz's tin soldiers +come along, and 'pop-bang! Adios!' It's all over." + +"But I have heard that in this case the insurrectionists of Northern +Chihuahua are exceptionally well provided with arms and ammunition," +objected the professor. "The American government can't make out from +whence they are supplied with guns and munitions of war." + +"Huh, where'd they git 'em from, I'd like to know?" snorted Pete. "The +border is well guarded at any point where they would be likely to ship +'em across, and----" + +"How about the _unlikely_ points?" inquired the professor amiably. + +"Um--ah--well," began Pete, somewhat stumped by this last, "I don't see +what that's got to do with it." + +"But I do. Mexicans, my friend, are, as you should know, a cunning +race. Moreover, those of them who dwell along it know the border far +better than any white could ever hope to. By the admission of our own +secret agents, it has hitherto been impossible to find how the arms, +which the Chihuahua rebels are receiving, can reach them. It is +obvious, however, that there must be some way in which they do, +hence----" + +"Waal, perfusser, hev it your own way," grunted Pete, rather red and +angry. The professor's logic did indeed seem unassailable. The rebels +of Northern Chihuahua were getting arms--but how? The cow-puncher and +the boys recalled now a visit made to Mr. Merrill's ranch some weeks +before by a party of United States secret agents. + +The men were puzzled and angry over their failure to locate the "leak." +Somehow arms were being shipped across the border into Chihuahua from +American soil, but just how had hitherto baffled all the efforts of +their ingenuity to discover. + +"There, there, don't be so easily offended," counseled the professor, +perceiving Pete's palpable irritation. "After all, the matter has +nothing to do with us. We are here to measure the mesa for scientific +purposes, not to get into arguments over how a band of insurrectos are +getting their arms. Come, boys, to work. Let us begin at the top, by +measuring the altar. Suppose, Jack, you lay the tape on it, while I +make a rough field sketch of the structure." + +The boys, now over their first repulsion to having anything to do with +the altar, about which such grisly memories clustered, eagerly began to +carry out these orders, while Coyote Pete seated himself on the side of +the summit overlooking the travelers' camp below, and amused himself by +throwing small bits of detached rock down at the unoffending One Spot, +Two Spot and Three Spot. + +The base of the altar being duly measured and recorded, Jack, tape in +hand, followed by the others, clambered up its rough sides, which +afforded an easy foothold, for the purpose of ascertaining the +dimensions of the top. To the lad's astonishment, however, there was +no summit. That is to say, the altar was hollow. + +The professor exhibited considerable scientific excitement on hearing +this. The man of science had been greatly puzzled over the total +absence of any traces of the human sacrifices he knew must have taken +place there. He now hailed Jack eagerly. + +"Are there not some bones or traces of sacrifices inside it, my boy?" +he inquired excitedly. + +"Nary a bone," shouted Walter cheerfully. + +"Hold on, though," cried Jack. "There are some queer-looking things +down in one corner." + +Lowering himself inside the altar, he made for one corner of the +erection, in which he had spied a heap of fragile-looking bones of some +kind. + +"Skeletons of snakes!" he cried, holding up one of these for the +inspection of the professor, who had by this time hoisted his bony +frame over the top of the altar and now stood beside them. + +"That's right, my boy; they are serpents' skeletons. Doubtless in +their sacrificial ceremonies these people also offered up rattlesnakes, +which seem to have been a sort of sacred reptile among them; much as, +in a sense, the cat was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, and the python +is worshiped in certain parts of India." + +"But, professor," protested Jack, "if, as you say, numerous human +sacrifices were offered here in the past, why do we not find any human +remains here?" + +"Who can say, my boy? Many of the habits of these pre-historic peoples +are veiled in mystery. We can only surmise and reconstruct. They may +have burned them or disposed of them in some other way." + +"Say!" exclaimed Ralph suddenly. "This floor sounds to me as if it was +hollow; maybe there's a chamber or something underneath." + +The boy, who had been stamping about with a vague sense of making some +such discovery, hailed them with excited looks. + +"Hollow, you say?" asked the professor, with every appearance of deep +interest. + +"Yes, listen!" + +Again Ralph stamped about. There was no question about it--the +stone-paving, of which the floor of the altar was formed, gave out an +unmistakably hollow sound. + +The professor was down on his hands and knees instantly, searching +about, like a hound on the scent. In the meantime the others stamped +about in other parts of the interior, but only where Ralph's feet had +given out the hollow sound did the floor appear anything but solid. + +"Queer!" exclaimed the professor, as, after a considerable search, he +rose to his feet covered with dust and streaming with perspiration, +"there should be some sort of trap-door here, to judge by the sounds, +but so far as I can see, the joints between the pavement are perfectly +tight, and I can find no ring or lever which might open such an +aperture." + +"Perhaps----" began Ralph, but he was interrupted by a sudden wild yell +from Pete. + +"Wow! Yee-ow! Come here quick, everybody!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE LEGEND OF A FORGOTTEN RACE. + +Leaping and scrambling over the top of the hollow altar to the best of +their abilities, the four explorers found their cow-puncher friend +dancing wildly about on the edge of the mesa, in imminent peril of +tumbling over altogether. He was wildly excited, and, as they emerged, +he pointed down over the cliff edge. + +"Whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Jack, regarding the antics of the +usually staid cow-puncher with amazement. + +"The stock! Look at the stock!" yelled Pete. + +Peering over the edge at the bunch-grass belt in which their ponies +were tethered, the adventurers saw a spectacle which might well have +been calculated to excite the cow-puncher. One Spot, Two Spot and +Three Spot were tearing round and round at the end of their tethers, in +the wildest alarm, evidently, while the cayuses were stamping and +snorting, with distended nostrils and wild, frightened eyes. + +"What's the matter with them?" gasped Walt, astonished at the sight, as +well he might be. The desert was as empty as ever, and there was no +sign of anything in the rocky hills to the south that might have +excited their alarms. + +"Thet's jes' it," said Pete. "What is the matter with 'em? They ain't +actin' up thet er way fer nuthin', you kin bet." + +"Something must have scared them," said Jack. "Maybe it was those +rocks you were throwing down." + +"No, it warn't that, son. Ole One Spot he looked up here a minute ago, +and giv' his eye a knowin' wink, as much as ter say: 'Go ahead; I know +you won't hurt us.' No, siree; it's suthin' they've smelled out, er +seen, that's given 'em the scare of their young lives." + +"Maybe it was something on the other side of the mesa. Let's go and +look," cried Jack. + +Followed by the others, he ran across the flat summit, but an earnest +inspection of the surroundings on that side failed to reveal any +explanation for the animals' sudden terror. For all the strange +objects that lay about them, they might have been in the middle of a +desolate ocean. + +"No wonder they call this the Haunted Mesa," snorted Pete. "I tell +you, perfusser, ther sooner you git them thar measurements a-measured, +and we're hiking out of this neck of the woods, the better I'll be +pleased. 'Tain't natural, all these queer goings on." + +"Maybe a coyote or something scared them," suggested Ralph. + +"And them used ter seeing 'em every day," scoffed Pete. "Guess again, +son. It takes something with hoofs, horns and red fire about it to +scare a burro, and you kin bet your Sunday sombrero on that." + +"Well, I propose that we adjourn the meeting till after dinner," +laughed Jack; "all in favor, will signify by saying 'aye.'" + +The chorus that answered him left no doubt of "the sense of the +meeting," and a rapid descent of the mysterious mesa was begun. A good +meal was not long in being prepared, thanks to Coyote Pete's skill as a +camp cook. Seated over their dinner, the main topic of conversation +was naturally the unaccountable occurrence of the morning. But +although a score of explanations were advanced, nobody could hit on one +that seemed to fit the case. + +"This water is singularly pure and sparkling,"' said the professor +finally, by way of changing the subject, and holding up his full tin +cup. + +"Yep; I remember hearing old cowmen say that there's no water in New +Mexico any better than this from the Haunted Mesa," said Pete, +stretching himself out, and lighting his inevitable after-meal-time +pipe. "Though that ain't sayin' a heap," he admitted. + +"Wonder how those old what-you-may-call-ums ever managed to dig such a +well?" questioned Ralph. + +"Comes to my mind now," said Pete, "that it ain't exactly a well. An +old Injun that used ter hang around with the Flying Z outfit tole us +oncet that thar was a subterranean river flowed under here, and that +once upon a time afore all the country dried up, considerable more +water came to the surface here than there does now." + +"A subterranean river?" asked the professor, at once interested. + +"Yes, sir," rejoined Pete, "and not the only one in the West, either. +There's one in Californy that flows underground fer purty near fifty +miles, as I've heard tell." + +"This is most remarkable," said the professor. "I, too, have heard of +subterranean rivers in this part of the world, but I have never had the +opportunity to explore one. Did this Indian you speak of ever tell you +where this river emerges?" + +"He said it come out some place across the frontier in Chihuahua; I +don't jest rightly recollect where," said Pete carelessly, as if the +subject did not interest him much, as indeed it did not. + +"I don't see what use a subterranean river is to anybody, anyhow," he +went on. "If it was on top, now, it might be some use." + +"But this is most interesting," protested the professor, while the boys +lay about with their chins propped in their hands in intent attitudes. +"Then, too, if this river exists, perhaps it is even navigable." + +"Why, professor!" exclaimed Jack. "Is it not possible that it was to +this river that those drawings of boats that interested and puzzled you +so much had reference?" + +"Quite possible, my boy," agreed the man of science. + +"I wish we could find some way of getting down into it," said Ralph +wistfully, poking at the ground, as if he thought he might force an +entrance that way. + +"Thar you go," laughed Pete. "Giv' you boys a cayuse, an' you'll ride +him to death. I jes' mentioned that a lying, whisky-drinking old Injun +had sprung a pipe-dream about a lost river, and thar you go navagatin' +it in a Coney Island steamboat." + +The boys could not help bursting into a laugh at the cow-puncher's +whimsical way of talking. The professor joined in, too, for none +realized better than he did that for a moment he, too, had been quite +carried away by the idea. + +"I expect that it is as you say, Pete," he agreed. "These Indians are +most unreliable people. If anybody was to believe all the weird +legends an Indian tells him, he would spend the best part of his life +on wild-goose chases. Why, the Indians of the Mojave desert in +California can even tell a circumstantial story about a buried city of +Mojave. According to their contention, a great flood, occurring long +ago, wiped it out and buried it in the sands of the desert." + +"Has any one ever tried to find it?" asked Jack. + +"Many expeditions have been fitted out for the purpose, my boy," was +the rejoinder, "but so far no trace has ever been found of it, and it +is, no doubt, like the lost river of which Pete was telling us, a mere +myth." + +"I didn't say it was a miff," protested Pete. "I jes' said I didn't +believe it." + +The remainder of that afternoon was spent in making more measurements +and sketches of the interesting mesa, and the boys, on their own +account, conducted a search for a possible entrance to the lost river. +But, as may be supposed, they found none. + +"I guess as romance-seekers we are not a success," said Jack, as at +sun-down they prepared to quit. "Just think, what a proud bunch we'd +have been if we could say we--The Border Boys--discovered the lost +river of the mesa dwellers." + +"We might be a sorry bunch, too," amended the practical Walt. "I tell +you, Jack, I don't want anything to do with lost rivers, especially +when they are underground." + +"Walt, the spirit of adventure is lacking in you," laughed Jack. +"You'd never make a Don Quixote----" + +"A donkey who?" asked Walt innocently. + +"Oh, you're the limit," chuckled Ralph, going off into a roar of +laughter at the ranch boy's expense. + +That evening the animals' pasture was changed to the opposite side of +the mesa, where they could find fresh grass. The camp, however, was +left as it was. After supper watches were assigned, as usual, the +latter part of the night guardianship falling to Coyote Pete and Jack +once more. When, soon after midnight, Walt and Ralph Stetson aroused +them, there was nothing much to report except that One Spot had engaged +in a spirited kicking match with his brethren. Outside of that, all +had been, to quote Walt: + +"Quiet along the Mesomac." + +"We'll patrol round the whole mesa," said Coyote Pete, as he and Jack +shouldered their rifles, "meeting by the stock on the other side." + +After a few words more, the two sentries strode off into the darkness +in different directions, meeting, as arranged, by the stock. Neither +had anything to report, and in this way they kept up the night watch +for an hour or more. They had met for the sixth time by the tents +containing their sleeping comrades, when from the opposite side of the +mesa came a shrill neigh of terror, followed by sounds of wild +galloping and snorting. + +"Something's up!" shouted Pete, as, with his rifle in readiness and +followed closely by Jack, he tore around the mesa to ascertain the +cause of the trouble. + +As the two sentries emerged into view of the spot in which the stock +had been tethered, they came upon a spectacle which, for a moment, +caused them to recoil as abruptly as if a deep canyon had suddenly +opened up before them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WHAT CAME ACROSS THE DESERT. + +That which brought the two--the plainsman and the lad--to such an +amazed halt was nothing more nor less than the sight of the huge forms +which had appeared to Jack in the sand-storm and which had given them +such an alarm the night before, and which doubtless, as they now viewed +it in a flash of intuition, had almost stampeded the stock while their +owners were exploring the top of the mesa. But Coyote Pete was not the +man to remain long rooted in astonishment. + +With one quick jerk, he raised his rifle, and a vivid spatter of fire +followed. As the report died out, one of the great forms sank to the +ground with a scream that sounded almost human. The others glided off +in the same direction as they had the night before, and vanished in the +same mysterious way, before the thunderstruck Jack could get a shot at +them. + +"They're real, at any rate," exclaimed Coyote Pete, showing in his tone +of relief, that until the great shadowy mass had sunk before his +bullet, he had had some doubts of that fact. + +"W-w-w-w-what is it?" came a frightened voice at their elbows, and, +looking around, they saw the professor, in pajamas striped like a +barber's pole, gazing apprehensively about him. Close behind him came +Ralph Stetson and Walt, their weapons clasped determinedly, and +evidently ready to face whatever emergency the sudden shot had +betokened. + +"Yes, what is it--Indians or bears?" demanded Ralph, entirely forgetful +of the fact that bears are not wont, as a rule, to roam the barren +desert. + +"Dunno, but we'll see in a minute," said the cow-puncher, in answer to +the excited questions. Followed by the rest, he made his way forward +to where the great bulk that he had shot lay still and motionless on +the ground. Even Jack owned to a slight feeling of apprehension as +they neared the great form,--harmless as, whatever it might be, it had +now become. + +As for the stock, they were still plunging wildly about and snorting in +a terrified fashion, and, had it not been for their stout raw-hide +tethers, they would undoubtedly have stampeded. + +Drawing a match, Pete held it high as he neared the stricken bulk +outstretched before them. The next minute he gave an astonished cry: + +"A camel!" + +"A _what_!" gasped the entire group in unison. + +"Jes' what I said, a backterian camel," reiterated Pete, striking +another match. + +They could all see then that he spoke the truth, astounding as it +seemed. The creature that lay still before them, a bullet through its +brain, was a veritable, undoubted specimen of the Bactrian species. + +"But--but--great heavens!" cried Jack, hardly able to believe his eyes, +"how,--what----" + +"What on earth is a camel doing out here on the New Mexican desert?" +the professor finished for him. + +"Going eight days without a drink," suggested Ralph in an undertone; +but none of the party was in a mood for humor just then. + +It was Pete who solved the mystery. + +"I've got it," he exclaimed, "and I'm a plum-busted idjut not to have +thought uv it afore; I've hearn about 'em often enough. This here +backterian camel must be one of that bunch of Circus Jesse's." + +"Circus Jesse! Who was he, or she?" asked Jack. + +"Why, he was a feller what owned a big eastern circus, but owned a +ranch out here as well. It struck him one time that if camels was good +for transportation purposes over the Sahara desert they ought ter be +just as good here. So, what does he do but start a camel express from +Maguez ter Amadillo over the border, with some of the backterians frum +his circus." + +"And didn't it work?" asked Ralph. + +"No. That is, it did fer a while, till ther novelty wore off, and then +folks went back ter ther old reliable mule or burro. Circus Jesse, he +got so blamed sore, that one fine day he turned the whole shootin' +match of his backterians loose, and packin' his trunk, let the country, +and resolved in futur' ter stick ter his circus." + +"Was that long ago?" asked Jack. "I shouldn't have thought the +creatures would have lived long without being recaptured." + +"It's about five years since Jesse got out, I reckon," rejoined Pete, +"an' fer a while camel-hunting was a popular sport. By an' by, +however, they got so wary no one could get near 'em, and, except fer a +scare they'd throw inter a prospector now and ag'in, we never heard no +more of 'em. I'd clean fergotten all about 'em, till I made this one +inter cold backterian meat." + +"I suppose they found food and water here and regarded the Mesa as +their own property," declared Jack. + +"That's about it. This is a place that's seldom visited, and I guess +they just figgered out that they'd found a happy home." + +"But what became of the rest of them?" asked Ralph, who had been +apprised by Jack of the strange vanishment of the dead creature's mates. + +"Must uv gone down that draw I noticed frum ther top uv ther mesa +to-day," explained Pete. "Yer see, frum here, it would look as if they +vanished inter the solid earth when they entered it, bein' as how you +can't see there's any kind of a gully there till you get up high." + +The next morning this was found to be the true explanation. Tracks on +the bottom of the gully showed plainly how the strange desert wanderers +had effected their disappearance in such a startling manner. But it +was some time before Pete could sit down to a meal without being +reminded of his "fire-spouting spook," which had cast such alarm into +the camp the first night. The boys spent a week more at the mesa, +during which time Professor Wintergreen obtained voluminous notes on +one of the most interesting specimens of its kind in the south-west. + +The days passed tranquilly, and, with the exception of the duty of +removing the carcass of the dead camel, nothing to interrupt the +routine of survey work occurred. The mates of the dead beast had +evidently decided not to revisit their pasture grounds, for they did +not put in a reappearance. + +"Well, boys," said the professor one morning when they were all +gathered at the summit of the mesa, "I guess that to-morrow morning we +can say good-by to the scene of our rather tame adventures. My work is +complete." + +"How about the subterranean river?" asked Ralph, but a howl of derision +from the others silenced him. + +"Subterranean fiddlestick," burst out Jack, but the professor silenced +him. + +"The existence of such a stream is not so improbable as you seem to +think," he said, "and Master Ralph is to be commended for his +enterprising desire to locate it, but I think that our investigations +have shown that if such a river ever did exist and the mesa dwellers +had access to it, that the entrance, wherever it might have been, has +vanished long ages ago." + +Pete had taken no part in this conversation, but had wandered about the +top of the mesa rather aimlessly, from time to time looking sharply at +the surroundings beneath him in the alert manner of one whose life has +been passed in the open places. + +Suddenly he gave a quick exclamation and pointed off into the +north-west. + +"Look! Look there!" he exclaimed, riveting his eyes on something his +keen vision had sighted, but which remained as yet invisible to the +boys. + +"What's coming--another storm?" asked Ralph. + +"I don't know what it is yet," rejoined the other in a strangely uneasy +tone, "it looks like--like----" + +"A pillar of dust," exclaimed Jack, who had by this time sighted it, +too, and had come to the aid of the unimaginative plainsman. + +"So it does," cried the others, who now, with the exception of the +short-sighted professor, could also see the approaching dust-cloud. + +"What can it be?" wondered Walt, peering eagerly in its direction. + +"Somebody riding. Several of 'em, I should say, by the dust they're +raising," rejoined Pete bluntly. + +The boys exchanged quick glances. Somebody riding across that arid +waste? Their destination could only be the mesa, then, but who could +it possibly be? + +Had they been able to solve the riddle at that instant, they would have +scattered pell-mell for their ponies, and made the best of their way +from the Haunted Mesa, but, not being endowed with anything more than +ordinary sensibilities, it was, of course, impossible for them to +realize the deadly peril that was bearing down upon them in that +dust-cloud. + +"I can see things more clearly now," cried Jack, as for an instant a +vagrant desert air blew aside the dust-cloud and revealed several +riders, surrounding some cumbersome, moving object in their midst. + +"There's a wagon!" he cried, "a big one, too, and surrounded by +horsemen. What can it mean?" + +"That we'd better be skedaddling as quick as possible," shot out Pete, +brusquely. + +The professor, who had wandered away from the group and was down inside +the hollow altar, was hastily summoned and apprised of the strange +approach of the mysterious cavalcade. + +"Why, bless me, boys, what can it mean?" he cried, nimbly attempting a +flying leap over the edge of the altar in his haste to ascertain for +himself the nature of the approaching party. + +Suddenly, however, as his feet touched the top, and he was scrambling +over, he gave a sharp cry and fell back within the altar with a gasp of +pain. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Jack, running to the side of the ancient place of +sacrifice. + +The professor lay prostrate within. His face was white and set and +beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. + +"My--my ankle," he groaned. "I broke it some time ago, and in hurrying +to clamber over the top of the altar I fear I have snapped it again. +Oh!" + +He gave a heartrending groan of pain. The boys stood stricken with +consternation. It was going to be a long and difficult task to get the +professor out of his present predicament, and there seemed need for +haste. + +"Here, put this under your head," said Jack, stripping off his jacket +hastily, and throwing it within, "I'll tell Coyote Pete about your +accident, and we can get remedies from the packs." + +But when Jack turned, only Ralph and Walt stood beside him. The sturdy +cow-puncher had vanished. + +"He's gone to get the glasses," explained Walt. + +Presently Coyote Pete, very much out of breath from his dash down the +path and up again, stood beside them. He had the glasses in his hand, +and lost no time in applying them to his eyes. He had not had them +there two minutes when he gave a quick exclamation and turned hastily +to the boys. + +"Lie down; lie down, every one of you," he ordered sharply. + +They lost no time in obeying, as they knew that the old plainsman must +have an excellent reason for such a command. The next instant Pete +himself followed their example. Crouching low, he once more peered +through the glasses above the edge of the cup-like depression. + +"Who are they?" asked Jack in a low voice, wriggling his way to Pete's +side. + +"I'm not sure yet, but they are all armed. I caught the flash of +sunlight on their rifles. If they are Mexican insurrectos, we are in a +bad fix." + +"Mexicans! What would they be doing this side of the border?" + +"That remains to be seen. But I don't like the looks of it." + +"Suppose they are Mexicans, Pete, would they do us any harm?" + +"That depends a whole lot on whether they are on lawful business or +not." + +"You mean----" + +"That I don't like the looks of it. If there's an insurrection in +Mexico, those fellows are after no good on this side of the border. +They may be some band of cut-throats, who are taking advantage of the +disturbances to raise Cain." + +"Good gracious," exclaimed Jack, "and the professor's just injured +himself so that we can't move him for some time anyhow." + +Coyote Pete turned sharply on the boy. + +"What's he done?" + +"Broken his ankle, or, at any rate, seriously sprained it." + +Pete's rejoinder to this was a long whistle of dismay. He said +nothing, however, but once more applied the glasses to his eyes. Jack +saw him gnaw his moustache, as he gazed out over the desert. The +dust-cloud was quite close now--not more than a mile away. The boys, +with their naked eyes, could easily catch the moving glint of metal. + +"Well, Pete, what do you think?" inquired Jack eagerly, as the +cowpuncher at length set down the glasses. + +"That we're in Dutch," was the expressive rejoinder. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE DARK FACE OF DANGER. + +"Are we in actual danger?" + +It was Ralph who put the question. The Eastern lad looked rather white +under his tan. Walt, however, seemed as imperturbable as ever, and +gazed out at the approaching horsemen with no more sign of emotion than +a tightening of the lips. + +Coyote Pete's reply was a curious one. He handed the boy the glasses, +and said curtly: + +"Take a squint fer yourself." + +Ralph gazed long and earnestly. Pete talked the while in low undertone. + +"Do you recognize him--that fellow on the big black horse? I'd know +that horse ten miles away, even if I didn't know the man. He's----" + +"Black Ramon de Barros!" burst from the Eastern lad's astounded lips, +while the others gave a sharp gasp of surprise. + +"That's the rooster. Here, Jack; take a look." + +The boy, as you may suppose, lost no time in applying the glasses to +his own eyes. Viewed through the magnifying medium, a startling +moving-picture swung into focus. + +Surrounding a big, covered wagon, of the prairie-schooner type, were +from ten to a dozen wild-looking Mexicans, their straggling elf-locks +crowned by high-peaked sombreros, and their serapes streaming out +wildly about them, whipped into loose folds by the pace at which they +rode. As Coyote Pete had said, there was little difficulty for any one +who had seen him once, in recognizing Black Ramon de Barros. His +magnificent black horse--the same on which he had escaped from the old +mission--made him a marked man among a thousand. The wagon was drawn +by six mules, and driven by a short, stocky, little Mexican. The +horsemen seemed to act as escort for it. Evidently they had no fear of +being observed by hostile eyes, for, as they advanced, they waved their +rifles about their heads and yelled exultingly. + +Fortunately for the party on the summit of the mesa, their stock was +tethered on the opposite side of the formation to that on which the +cavalcade was approaching. Thus, Black Ramon and his men could not see +that the mesa was occupied. Jack caught himself wondering, though, how +long it would be before, and what would happen when, they did. + +"Have you got any plan in your head?" he asked, turning to Pete, as he +laid the glasses down. But for once, to his dismay, the old plainsman +seemed fairly stumped. The danger had come upon them so suddenly, so +utterly unexpectedly, that it had caught them absolutely unprepared. +They had not even a rifle with them on the mesa summit, and it was now +too late to risk exposing themselves by descending for weapons. There +was nothing to do, it seemed, but powerlessly to await what destiny +would bring forth. + +"You boys get back to the altar. You can act as company fer the +profusser, and it will be a snug hiding-place in case of trouble," +whispered Pete. "I wish to goodness we'd brought the stock up inside +the mesa, and then those fellows might never have discovered we were +here. I don't see how they can help it, as things are, though." + +"They'll be bound to see our footmarks in the assembly hall," said Jack. + +"Not bound to, lad," rejoined Pete. "You see, they may be only going +to make this a watering-place fer their stock, and then press right on." + +"Press right on across that rocky range yonder?" + +"Hum," resumed Pete, "that's so. They couldn't very well get that +wagin across that, could they?" + +"Whatever do you suppose they've got a wagon for, at all?" asked Jack. + +"I've got my own ideas, lad, and I'll find out afore long if I'm right. +Now, you and the other boys get back in that altar. If it gets too hot +here, I'll jump in and join you. If the worst comes to the worst, we +ought to be able to lay hid in there fer a while." + +"In the meantime what are you going to do?" + +"Keep my eyes and ears open. There's something mighty strange about +this whole thing." + +The boys knew that obedience to Pete's commands was about the best +thing they could do at the moment, so they hastened to conceal +themselves within the altar, which afforded a comfortable hiding-place, +even if it was a trifle hot. The poor professor was in great pain from +his ankle, but Jack, after as able an examination as he could give the +injured member, was unable to find that it was anything more than a +severe sprain. + +It did not take the professor long to become acquainted with what had +happened within the last fifteen minutes, and, in his anxiety over the +outcome of their situation, his pain was almost forgotten. + +"If we only had the rifles," he breathed in such a savage voice that +had the circumstances been different the boys could have smiled at the +odd contrast between his mild, spectacled countenance and his +bloodthirsty words. + +It seemed hours, although in reality not more than half an hour +elapsed, before Coyote Pete returned. His reappearance was not an +orderly one. Instead, he landed in the interior of the altar in one +bound. His face was streaming with sweat, and he looked anxious and +worried. + +"What news?" asked Jack. + +"The worst," was the rejoinder. + +"Have they found our camp?" + +"Not yet, but that's only a question of a few minutes now. At present +they are unhitching and cooking a meal. Luckily the shade at this time +of day lies to the north-west of the mesa, so that they may not explore +the other side for some time." + +"Let us hope not. But what have you found out about them? What are +they doing here?" + +"Just what I suspicioned. They are a part of a gang of gun-runners." + +"Gun-runners?" + +"Yes. From listening to their conversation, I have found out that this +insurrection's a heap worse than we ever supposed. Half of Chihuahua +is up in arms ag'in the government, and they are plotting to blow up +railroad bridges, cut wires, and paralyze the country generally. Then +they are goin' ter raid all the American mines and get the gold." + +"Why, dad's mine's in Chihuahua, close to the border," gasped Jack. + +"I know it. I heard that greaser ragamuffin, Black Ramon, mention his +name. Your dad's the first one they're goin' after----" + +"The scoundrels." + +"They owe him a grudge, you know, and now's their chance to get even." + +"Do they know that dad is in Mexico now?" + +"I didn't hear that. All I found out was what I told you, and that, as +I said, they are running guns across the border. That wagon's loaded +up with machine-guns in heavy cases. They are labeled as agricultural +machinery, and were taken off the train by white accomplices seventy +miles or more from here. They chose this part of the border, I guess, +as even Uncle Sam would never suspect any one of trying ter get guns +over them hills yonder." + +"Well, they can't take a wagon over those rocky, desolate places. How +are they going to get them across, do you suppose?" asked the +professor, his pain almost forgotten in the tense interest of the +moment. + +"That's just the funny part uv it," said Pete; "they never mentioned +the mountains. You don't suppose there's any other way they could get +'em over the border, do you?" + +"Maybe they have an airship," suggested Walt Phelps. + +"Maybe," said Pete quite gravely, "I wouldn't put nothin' past a +greaser." + +"Hush!" exclaimed Ralph suddenly, "somebody's coming." + +With beating hearts they sank into absolute silence. The three boys +crouched at one end of the hollow altar, the professor and Coyote Pete +bundled together into as small a space as possible at the other. + +Voices, conversing in Spanish, could now be heard, and, from the +inflection, the boys judged that whoever was talking was very much +astonished over something. + +"I recognize that voice," said Jack suddenly, in a low whisper, "it's +Ramon de Barros." + +The other two boys nodded. Ralph Stetson's heart beat so hard and fast +that it fairly shook his frame. Truly the predicament of the party was +a terrible one. Discovery by as wolf-hearted a band of ruffians--if +they were all like their leader--as ever infested the border, was +inevitable within the next few minutes. Taking into consideration +their connection with Black Ramon in the past, it was unlikely in the +extreme that any mercy would be shown them. Never had any of them +looked so closely into the dark face of danger. + +Suddenly the listeners, crouching in their hiding-place, heard a shout +of astonishment from the Mexicans. + +"They've seen our camp over the edge of the mesa!" exclaimed Pete in a +low, tense voice; "in another minute they'll start looking for us." + +As he spoke, the voice which Jack had recognized as Black Ramon's, +uttered a crisp, curt command of some sort. The lads could hear +footsteps hurrying hither and thither. Without doubt, the order that +meant their probable doom had just been given. + +"I can't stand this a minute longer," cried Ralph suddenly. The boy's +eyes were blazing wildly. Clenching his fist, he sprang to his feet. + +"Come back here, you blockhead," snapped Jack, tugging his friend down. +Ralph came backward sprawling, and landed in a heap in Jack's lap, +knocking Walt Phelps with him. Together the three boys were tangled in +a struggling heap. + +"Get up," whispered Jack. "They'll hear us. You----" + +He stopped short. All at once an astonishing--an incredible thing--had +happened. The floor beneath them,--the solid floor, as it had +seemed,--began to tremble. + +Before any of the amazed lads could utter a word, the foundation upon +which they rested tipped, and, with a loud, ringing cry of terror from +Ralph, they were plunged out of the sunlight into blackness as +impenetrable as the pocket of Erebus. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +IN THE MESA DWELLERS' BURIAL GROUND. + +Down, down, they plunged, bumping and scraping painfully in the +darkness. Terror had deprived them of speech or the power of uttering +a sound, or they would have shouted. As it was, however, when they +finally landed in a heap on some hard surface at the foot of the steep +declivity down which they had fallen, it was some seconds before any of +them breathed a word. Then it was Jack who spoke. + +"Fellows!" + +"Yes, Jack." The rejoinder came out of the darkness in Walt Phelps' +voice. + +"Ralph, are you there?" + +"No; I'm dead. That is, I feel as if every bone in my body had been +broken. What in the name of Old Nick has happened?" + +"Thank goodness there are no bones broken," breathed Jack thankfully, +as Ralph spoke, "as to what happened, you can take your own guess on +it. My idea is that there was some sort of hinged trap-door at the +bottom of that altar, and that when our combined weight came upon it at +the time I pulled Ralph down, the blamed old thing tipped and dumped us +down in here." + +"That's my idea, too," chimed in Walt. "Can't account for it in any +other way. But what is 'here'? Where are we?" + +"You can answer that as well as I can," was the rejoinder. "Anybody +got a match? Oh, here; all right, I've got some, plenty in fact--a +whole pocketful." + +Jack struck a lucifer, and as its yellow glare lit up their +surroundings, they could not repress a cry of astonishment. They had +landed at the foot of a steep flight of stairs, at the summit of which +they correctly surmised was the trap-door through which they had been +so startlingly dumped. + +"Good gracious, did we fall down all those?" murmured Ralph, rubbing +his elbow painfully. + +"Guess so. I know I feel as if I'd been monkeying with a buzz-saw," +same [Transcriber's note: came?] from Walt Phelps. + +"Well, fellows," said Jack, as the light died out, "the question now +before us is, what are we going to do?" + +"Try to get out again," said the practical Walt Phelps. + +"All right, Walt. Then we'd better remount those steps--slower than we +came down them--and try to reopen that trap-door. We can't leave Pete +and the injured professor like this." + +The boys clambered up the steps without difficulty. They were deep and +shallow, and were cut out of the living rock. At the head of the +stairs, however, a disappointment awaited them. Try as they would, +they could not discover any means of reopening the stone trap-door in +the floor of the hollow altar. Apparently, after dumping them through, +it had closed as hermetically as before. + +The flickering light of the matches from Jack's store illuminated looks +of despair on their faces as they realized that they were trapped. + +"Try pounding on it and shouting," suggested Ralph. + +Although Jack deemed it of little use, he and Walt followed this +suggestion, and together the three boys beat and hammered on the +massive stone above them till their hands were raw. There was no +response, however. Apparently the stone was too thick for a sound to +penetrate to the outer air. Terror, that was almost panic, seized Walt +and Ralph, as they realized that they were prisoners in this +hermetically sealed dungeon. Worse than prisoners, in fact. Prisoners +had food and at least hope. They, unless they could find a way out, +were buried alive. Even Jack's stout heart experienced a deadly +feeling of depression, as he realized this. He concealed his despair +from his companions, however, and, with all the cheerfulness he could +muster, addressed them in the darkness. Matches had now grown too +precious to squander. + +"Well, fellows, we've got to find another way out." + +"Oh, it's no good," moaned Ralph despairingly, "we're doomed to die +here. We might as well sit down and wait for death to come." + +"Say," cut in Jack briskly, "if it was light enough to see, I'd give +you a good licking. Doomed to die, indeed! Not much. It's a cinch, +isn't it, that if there is an entrance to this place there must be an +outlet, too? Very well, then," he hurried on, without waiting for an +answer, "let's find that outlet." + +The logic of this speech might be questioned, but of its good sense, +under the circumstances, there was no doubt. + +"You're right, Jack," said Ralph. "I'm ashamed of myself for doing +the baby act. Come on, let's set out at once." + +"That's the talk," said Walt heartily; "if there's a way out, we'll +find it." + +"And if not?" asked Ralph, his spirits flagging again. + +"We'll discuss that later," declared Jack briskly. + +Returning again to the landing--if such it might be called--upon which +they had terminated their abrupt descent into the interior of the mesa, +some more of the precious matches were lit. As the last flickered out, +the boys fancied that some feet from them they could see a black mouth, +like the entrance of a tunnel, or rather a continuation of the one into +which they had been thrown. + +"Come on, boys," exclaimed Jack. "It's the only thing to do. We can't +turn back, and, as Pete says, 'there ain't nothing to do but go ahead.'" + +Not without some misgivings did the three lads plunge forward in the +darkness, feeling their way with outstretched hands as they entered the +tunnel. A close, musty smell, as of things long mildewed and moulded, +filled the air, and an oppressive silence lay on everything. +Unconsciously, since entering this place, their conversation had been +all in whispers. + +The tunnel they were now traversing was bored on a pretty steep down +grade. So steep, in fact, that Jack concluded, after about a quarter +of an hour of slow and cautious traveling, that they must be below the +level of the desert. For the last few minutes they had been conscious +of a peculiar thing. This was that the silence of the tunnel had given +place to a deep-throated roaring, not unlike the voice of a blast +furnace. Where it came from, or what it was, they had no idea. It was +a most peculiar sound, though, steady as a trade-wind, and seeming to +fill the whole place with its deep vibrations. + +"What can it be?" gasped Walt, as they paused by common consent to +listen. + +"Maybe the wind roaring by the entrance to this place," suggested Jack +hopefully. + +This thought gave them new courage, and, on Ralph's suggestion, Jack +struck another match from his store. As it flared up, they all three +recoiled with expressions of dismay. + +At their very feet--so close that the tips of their boots almost +projected over it--was a deep chasm. The black profundity of it loomed +in front of them gapingly. A few paces more, and they would have been +precipitated into the abyss. Jack, suppressing a shudder, leaned +forward and held the match as far over the edge as he dared. As the +depths of the great crevasse were illuminated by a feeble flame, he +shrank back with a sharp intake of his breath. + +[Illustration: As it flared up, they all three recoiled with +expressions of dismay. At their very feet was a deep chasm.] + +The place was a charnel house! + +No mystery now as to what had become of the human remains of the grisly +sacrifices of the ancient mesa dwellers. There, piled in that dark +chasm beneath them, were great piles of decaying bones and gleaming +skulls. Hundreds of them extended toward the surface in a ghastly +pyramid. No wonder the underground place into which they had +penetrated smelled musty and unpleasant. + +"It is the mesa dwellers' burial ground!" exclaimed Ralph in a +quavering voice, as, clinging to Jack's arm, he bent forward. + +"Yes," rejoined Walt with a shudder, "and but for Providence, we should +have plunged downward into it ourselves." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Jack, in a voice filled with repulsion. "Don't let's +think of it. See, the path takes a turn here. Come on, let's go +ahead, but follow me closely and keep in to the wall." + +"Not likely to take any chances of missing the road, after seeing +that," spoke up Walt, as once more the three youths, who had been so +strangely plunged into this predicament, began to tread the +subterranean regions once more. + +As you may imagine, they went with due caution. But no more dangers +menaced them, and as they progressed the path began to widen. All the +time, however, the strange roaring sound had been growing louder, until +now it had attained almost deafening proportions. Still they had come +upon no explanation of what it could be. Jack had privately concluded +it to be the sound of the wind, forcing its way into some crevice. +This theory seemed to be the more tenable as the last match which he +had struck had only been kept alight with difficulty, so strong had +been the draught that now puffed up toward them. + +Far from alarming them, however, this gave them renewed hope. It meant +that, in all probability, they were nearing an outlet of the strange +underground place. Had it not been for the predicament in which they +had left the professor and Coyote Pete, the three lads would have felt +a real interest in exploring the cavern, now that they had grown +accustomed to their surroundings. So far as they had been able to make +out, the tunnel they had been treading was partially the work of human +hands and partially the work of Nature. The great rift in which lay +the accumulation of human remains was evidently the result of some +volcanic upheaval. The path, however, was so graded and formed that +there seemed no reason to doubt that it had, at one time, been made by +the ancient mesa dwellers. + +"Seems to me we ought to find out what that roaring sound means before +we go any farther," suggested Ralph suddenly. + +"That's a fine Irish bull," laughed Jack. "How are we going to find +what it is unless we do go farther?" + +"That's so," agreed Ralph, somewhat abashed. "Come on, then." + +A few paces more brought them to an abrupt turn in the path, as they +could feel by their constant touching of the inner wall. + +"Better strike another match," said Walt. + +"Yes; here goes," agreed Jack. Both boys shouted, to make themselves +heard above the now thunderous roaring of the strange noise. + +A shout of surprise that rose even above the mysterious roaring, +followed the striking of the match. Beyond the turn the path took a +steep drop downward, and beyond that--the boys could hardly believe +their eyes as they gazed--was the glint of rushing water. + +"The subterranean river!" was the amazed cry that broke from the lips +of all three. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A NEW MEXICAN STYX. + +"The subterranean river!" + +The words echoed back weirdly from the vault-like chamber into which +they had now penetrated, and at the bottom of which the stream, upon +which the light of the match had glistened, flowed rapidly. Within +this spacious place the noise was not nearly so loud as it had been +when confined in the narrow tunnel, which, in fact, acted much as a +speaking-tube would have done. + +"It can't be!" gasped Ralph, unwilling to believe his own eyes. + +"But it is," cried Jack, as, all thoughts of their predicament +forgotten in this strange discovery, they made lavish use of their +matches on gaining the edge of the stream. The river was about twenty +feet in width, and they speedily saw that the roaring sound they had +heard during their progress through the tunnel was produced by a +waterfall some distance above, over which the river plunged into a sort +of basin at their feet. + +But this was not the most astonishing thing they found in that first +brief but comprehensive inspection. Affixed to the rocky wall at one +side of the chamber was a large, bronze lamp. An eager overhauling of +the utensil showed it to be filled with oil, and apparently it was not +so very long since it had been lighted. + +Hastily applying a match, Jack soon had the rocky chamber lighted, and +they could now survey the place into which they had blundered, at their +ease. In size it was about the same dimensions as the Council Hall of +the mesa, which lay, they knew not how many feet, above them. The +river roared down along one side of it, forming a deep, turbid pool +just beneath the waterfall, by which it entered the place. + +To their astonishment, the boys now spied in one corner of the chamber +several empty boxes piled up. Remains of excelsior and sacking were +within them, and they bore the stencilled marks, "Agricultural +Machinery, With Care." + +Instantly what Pete had related to him concerning the conversation of +the men accompanying Black Ramon flashed into Jack's mind. Could it be +possible that they had stumbled upon the place utilized by the +gun-runners to convey their ammunition across the border? At this +instant, there came a shout from Ralph, who had been peering about the +place. + +"A boat!" + +"A what?" The incredulous cry burst from both Jack and Walt. + +"It is a kind of a boat, anyhow. Come here, and look for yourselves." + +Ralph was bending over the rocky marge of the subterranean river at a +part of the chamber farthest removed from the waterfall. The water +here flowed comparatively slowly, most of its force having been +expended in the pool beneath the fall. Sure enough, Ralph had been +right. Moored to the bank by two stout ropes attached to iron bars +driven into the rock, was a boat--if such a name can be given to the +flat-bottomed, floating appliance, upon which the thunderstruck boys +gazed. + +The boat, or rather float, was about twenty feet in length and some +five feet in beam. It was not unlike, in fact, one of those shallow +craft used by duck hunters, only it was square at each end. Evidently +it would hold a considerable quantity of freight. More excelsior and +burlap litter in the bottom of it showed that whatever had been the +contents of the boxes, it had apparently been used to transport them. + +"Boys, we've tumbled over the discovery of the age!" exclaimed Jack, in +what was for him, a strangely excited voice. + +The others were not less moved. Their eyes were round and their jaws +dropped in incredulous wonderment, as they gazed before them. + +"Will somebody please pinch me?" + +It was Ralph who spoke, turning a countenance solemn and startled upon +his comrades. + +"No need to do that, Ralph. You're wide-awake; make no mistake about +that." + +"But--but I don't understand," began Walt in a puzzled tone. "What is +this place, what----" + +"What is it?" echoed Jack. "It's the gun-runners' underground +railroad. Can't you see it? This river, so the old Indian legend +says, emerges across the border. In some way these Mexicans heard of +it, and learned the secret of the hollow altar. No wonder the +government has not been able to find out how the rebels got their arms +across the border." + +"Well, what are we going to do, now we've found it?" + +Walt, the practical, propounded the query, as they stood there, +half-stunned by the rapidity with which unheard-of events had happened +within the last half-hour. + +"Why, I--upon my word, I don't know," laughed Jack, brought up with a +round turn by the hard-headed Walt. + +"I do," rejoined Walt. + +"What then?" + +"Escape to the open air." + +"You mean it?" Somehow, in his excitement, Jack had not gone as far as +this daring suggestion. And yet it was, after all, the only thing to +do. But suddenly another thought occurred to the boy. + +"The professor and Coyote Pete, how can we leave them?" + +"Well, we can't do them any good by remaining buried here, that's +certain," replied Walt, in his sensible way. + +Jack and Ralph nodded agreement. + +"On the other hand, if this river really leads out into Mexico, we can +take the subway to freedom and then, when we emerge, find out the best +thing to do. Maybe we can fall in with some government troops or +authorities of some kind." + +"But suppose the insurrectos are in power wherever this river comes +out?" + +The question came from Ralph. + +"We'll have to take chances on that, I suppose." + +"Hark!" came suddenly from Jack. + +Far back somewhere in the tunnels they had threaded they could hear +loud shouts and cries. The sound of the pursuit boomed out even above +the noise of the waterfall. + +"They're after us!" exclaimed Jack. + +"Shall we take the boat?" Walt's usually calm voice shook a little as +he asked the question. + +"It's our only chance. Come on, in with you, Ralph." + +Ralph hesitated no longer, but jumped into the little contrivance. A +sort of oar lay in the bottom. He thrust it over the side. + +"The water's only about three feet deep," he announced. + +"So much the less chance of our being drowned," rejoined Jack. + +The lad had his knife out--a heavy-bladed hunting weapon. As soon as +all was ready he would cut the ropes and set the boat free on the +turbulent current. + +"All right!" cried Walt, as he clambered in and took his place by Ralph. + +Jack gave a hasty look around, and the next instant made a flying leap +into the little craft. So fast had Black Ramon and his followers taken +up the trail after they had discovered that the boys had found the +secret of the hollow altar, that they were already entering the chamber. + +Ramon was in the lead. The glare of the lamp fell full on his +parchment-like features, as with a roar of recognition, he sighted the +boys. + +Ping! + +Something whizzed past Jack's ear, and, chipping the rock above, +showered the occupants of the boat with fragments. The sharp report of +the Mexican's revolver filled the place. With a quick movement, Jack +slashed the rope nearest him. If he had not been in such a hurry, he +would have seen that the other should have been severed first. As it +was, he had cut the one that held the boat's bow to the stream. +Instantly the flat-bottomed craft swung dizzily around, and still held +by her stern mooring, dashed against the bank. + +For a minute the boys feared she was stove in, but there was no time to +waste on an examination. + +Slash! + +One stroke of the knife severed the remaining rope, already drawn as +taut as a piano wire. But, as Jack's knife fell, the place became +filled with shouts and confusion. + +Ramon had been a little in advance of his men, and now they were all in +the place. A second's glance showed them what had happened. Not only +were the boys about to escape, but if they did not stop them the secret +of their underground route across the border would be discovered, and +its usefulness at an end. + +No wonder they strained every nerve to reach the boys. Ramon himself +had bounded to the side of the subterranean river as the boat swung +round. As her gunwale had struck the bank, he had leaped aboard. But +before he could use his revolver, Walt's powerful arm knocked the +weapon out of his hand, and it fell on the bottom of the boat. With a +snarl of rage, Ramon flashed round on the boy. But whatever the +Mexican might have been able to do with knife or pistol, he was no +match for the muscles of the American lad. + +Walt fairly picked the lithe form of the gun-runner from the floor of +the boat as Jack's knife fell across the remaining rope. With a splash +and a loud cry, Ramon pitched overside into the stream. As he fell, +though, he managed to clutch the side of the craft and he hung on, +desperately endeavoring to draw himself up into the boat. + +His followers, seeing what had happened, rushed down on them. A +tempest of bullets rattled about the boys' heads as they felt the rope +part. It was no moment for sentimental hesitation. Walt raised his +foot, and the next instant brought his heavy boot down with crushing +force on Ramon's clinging fingers. + +With a yelp of pain, the fellow let go and was rolled over and over in +the river, while half a dozen of his men waded in to rescue him. + +"Yip-ee-ee-ee! We're off!" yelled Jack, with a true cowboy yell. The +lad was carried away by the excitement and thrill of the adventure. + +With a lurch and a bump, the frail craft carrying our three young +friends shot forward. The lamp-lit panorama as Ramon, dripping and +cursing, was hauled out of the water by his band, flashed before their +eyes for a brief moment. The next instant dense darkness fell about +them. + +At what seemed to be a mile-a-minute pace they were hurried forward +into the unknown. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE CAMP OF THE GUN-RUNNER + +Jounced against the rough, rock walls, bumped over shoal places, and at +times whirled almost broadside on by the swift current, the queer, +flat-bottomed boat containing our three young friends was hurried +through the darkness. It was the maddest ride any of them had ever +taken, and, as we know, they had been through some thrilling +experiences since they had first stood on the railroad station platform +at Maguez. Had they known it, they could have controlled the boat more +or less with the rough oar--the one with which Ralph had sounded the +depth of the river--but, of course, they were inexpert in the +management of such a craft. They could do nothing but keep still and +trust to luck to bring them safely out of their extraordinary +predicament. + +After some ten minutes of this, the current seemed to slacken a little +and the walls narrowed. Jack stretched out a hand and, to his +astonishment, his fingers were swept along a rope stretched down the +side of the tunnel. This solved a problem he had been revolving in his +mind--namely, how did the Mexicans get their boat back after it had +delivered its cargo of arms? The explanation was now a simple one. +Evidently they hauled it back by the use of this rope. "It must have +been hard work, though," thought Jack. + +Conversation was impossible in the confines of the tunnel which, in +places, was a mere tube in the rocks; the roar of the water was almost +deafening. It was so black, too, that they could not see one another's +faces. Of real alarm Jack did not feel much, and for an excellent +reason. It was apparent that the Mexicans had used this underground +route across the border many times, and, if they could make the +passage--terrifying as it seemed--in safety, there was every reason to +suppose that the boys could make it with the same security. + +What worried Jack most about their situation proceeded from a far +different cause. There was little reason to doubt that at the other +end of the tunnel, wherever that might be, Black Ramon or his +superiors, arming the insurrectionists, had guards posted to receive +the smuggled guns. If no opportunity of escaping from the boat +presented itself before they were hastened out of the exit of the +tunnel, their situation would be just as bad as ever. Ramon would, of +course, lose no time in following them up, either by a spare boat, +which he might have had concealed in the vaulted chamber, or else on +his fast, coal-black horse which he might ride across the rocky range, +far above the subterranean stream. + +In the event of their falling once more into the hands of Ramon, Jack +could not repress a shudder as he thought of what the probable fate +would be. Ugly stories had from time to time floated across the border +concerning the manner in which Ramon, in his cattle-rustling days, +dealt with his prisoners,--stories of torture and suffering that made +one shudder even to listen to. If the apparent leader of the +insurrectionist gun-runners had cause for animosity against the boys +before, it was surely redoubled now. Not only had they accidentally +penetrated the secret of the Haunted Mesa, but they had toppled the +former leader of the cattle-rustlers ignominiously into the water, an +insult which Jack knew the man's nature too well to suppose he would +easily either forgive or forget. + +In such gloomy reflections was he occupied when a sudden shout from the +others roused him from his reverie, and, looking up, he saw that the +tunnel through which the river flowed was growing higher, broader, and +lighter. The darkness had now been exchanged for a sort of semi-gloom, +in which the almost black rock gleamed wetly where the hurrying current +of the stream had washed its base. + +"We're near the end!" shouted Walt to the others. + +Jack nodded. Suddenly his eye fell on Ramon's revolver, which lay at +the bottom of the boat as it had fallen when he toppled overboard. One +cartridge had been discharged, leaving but four good shells in the +chamber, but in an emergency those four, the lad knew, would be better +than no weapons at all. He regarded this as distinctly a piece of good +luck--this finding of the pistol. He examined it and found that it was +a heavy weapon of forty-four caliber. + +Hardly had he had time to observe all this before the boat, without the +slightest warning, shot out into daylight, very much as a railroad +train emerges from a tunnel. A swift glance at their surroundings +showed Jack that they had floated into a sort of natural basin amid +some wild, bare-looking hills. The banks of this basin were clothed +with a sort of wild oat and interspersed with a small blue wild flower. +Here and there were clumps of chapparal. But what pleased the lad most +was the fact that, although not far from them a rude hut stood upon the +bank, there was so far no sign of human occupancy of the place. + +Seizing the steering oar, Jack ran the boat up alongside a spot where +the bank shelved gently down to the water's edge, and ran her, nose up, +on the sand. + +"Hoo----" began Ralph jubilantly, his spirits carrying him away, but +Jack's hand was over his mouth in a second. + +"The less noise we make the better," he breathed, stepping out of the +boat on tiptoe and signing to the others to do the same. With scarcely +a sound, they landed and stood at length on the grassy carpet sloping +down to the sandy beach. + +So far not a sound had proceeded from the hut Jack turned to his +companions with a cautious gesture. + +"Wait here while I investigate," he whispered, "and be ready to jump +back into the boat and shove off at a minute's notice." + +They nodded and turned to obey, as Jack, as silently as he could, crept +on toward the hut, his revolver clasped ready for use at the slightest +alarm. The Border Boy did not mean to be caught napping. In this +manner he reached the wall of the hut nearest to the river, in which +there was a small, unglazed window. Cautiously raising himself on +tiptoe, Jack peered within. + +In a rough chair, by a table covered with the untidy remains of a meal, +was seated an elderly Mexican, as shriveled and brown as a dried bean. +The regularity with which he was "sawing wood" showed that he was as +sound asleep as it is possible for a man to be. Still Jack knew that +there are men who sleep with one eye open, so he did not relax an iota +of his vigilance as he crept around the corner of the house. On the +opposite side he found a doorway, and, noiselessly gliding in, he had +the pistol to the Mexican's ear before whatever dreams the man might +have been having were even disturbed. + +"Caramba, sanctissima! Santa Maria!" yelled the man, springing to his +feet as if propelled by springs. But the uncomfortable sensation of +the little circle of steel pressed to the nape of his neck brought him +back again into the chair in a second, trembling like a leaf, and +gazing in terror at the determined young figure standing over him. + +"Keep quiet and I'll not hurt you," said Jack, adding as an +afterthought: "Do you speak English?" + +"Me spiggoty 'Merican," sputtered the trembling old Mexican. + +"All right, José, then listen: Are there any horses here?" + +The old man's eyes held a gleam of intelligence. + +"Cavallo, señor. One, two, t'ree horse over heel." + +"Oh, over the hill, are they?" said Jack to himself, then aloud: "You +come and show them to me." + +"Mocho easy to find," protested the Mexican. + +Jack smiled to himself. He had been right, then. The old man was +trying to trick him. Assuming a sterner air, he thundered out, + +"Tell me where these horses are or I'll kill you!" + +The threat proved effectual, as Jack had hoped it would. Dropping all +his attempts at subterfuge, the Mexican told the boy that the horses +were in a gully not a hundred feet from the house. On the Mexican +being escorted there, still with the pistol held close to his head, his +words were found to be true. + +Three horses, ready saddled and bridled, stood in the gulch, apparently +reserved for the use of any one about the camp who should need them in +a hurry. + +This much ascertained, Jack marched the Mexican back to the hut, where, +with a rope, he leisurely proceeded to bind him. Then, amid the +fellow's tears and supplications--for he evidently thought he was about +to be killed--the boy marched him to the river bank. Walt and Ralph +were naturally bubbling over with questions, but they said nothing as +Jack sternly ordered the aged Mexican to board the boat. + +There were more prayers and tears, but finally the shriveled old chap +got on board, and the boys shoved him off. The current rapidly bore +him off down the stream and presently he vanished between the two +points of land through which the river made its way out of the basin. + +"Well, he's off for a good, long ride," said Jack, as with howls and +yells from its passenger the boat vanished from view. + +"Why didn't you just bind him and leave him in the hut?" asked Ralph. + +"Because Ramon may be along at any moment, and the old fellow might +give him some information concerning us we wouldn't like to have +published," was the rejoinder. "In that boat he is in no danger and +will simply take a long and pleasant ride, and won't be in a position +to do us any mischief when he is finally rescued." + +The boys were full of admiration for Jack's strategy, and openly +expressed their congratulations on the skillful way he had carried +things through, but the lad waved them aside impatiently. Rapidly he +told them that their best course was to get on horseback as soon as +possible, and head away from the valley. + +Some five minutes later three youthful figures mounted on a trio of +splendid specimens of horse flesh, loped easily up a trail leading from +the natural basin in the hills. In Jack's pocket, too, reposed a +certain paper found on the table in the hut and signed with Ramon de +Barros' name. With a vague idea that it might prove useful to him, the +boy had appropriated it, and shoved it hastily in his pocket. + +The summit of the basin reached, the boys found themselves not far from +a broad, white road. The compass, which Jack still had on his wrist, +showed the direction to be about due east and west. Crossing a stretch +of grass, which separated them from the thoroughfare, the three young +horsemen were soon standing on the ribbonlike stretch of white which +wound its way through a country pleasantly green and fresh-looking +after their sojourn in the desert. + +"Looks like the promised land," cried Walt. + +"I'll bet we're the first bunch to find the promised land via the +underground railway," laughed Ralph, as they gazed about them, +undecided in which direction to proceed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MADERO'S FLYING COLUMN. + +As they stood there, still undecided as to which direction to take, +Jack's keen eyes detected, above a clump of trees some distance down +the road to the west, a cloud of yellow dust rising. Evidently +somebody was coming their way. The question was, who was it? + +It might be some one of whom they could inquire the direction to the +Esmeralda mine--for Jack had determined to seek out his father, knowing +the mine could not be very far distant. Again it might be a band of +insurrectos, in which case they would have jumped out of the frying pan +into the fire with a vengeance. + +"Shall we ride forward?" asked Walt, as Jack's lips tightened in deep +thought. + +The other boy pushed back his sombrero. Jack Merrill was only a lad, +after all, and he found himself suddenly called upon to answer a +question which might have stumped a grown man. The question, however, +was decided for him, and by a means so utterly unexpected that it came +near jolting the Border Boys out of their composure; for Jack, as they +had ridden up from the river, had admonished his companions to keep +cool minds and wits and stiff upper lips whatever happened. They were +going into a country in which, from what they had been able to gather, +the insurrectos were numerically and strategically strong. Their only +safety, the lad argued with a wisdom beyond his years, was in facing +emergencies as they came, without betraying by outward signs whatever +of inward perturbation they might feel. + +"I think we had better ride eastward, till we come to some village or +town," Jack was beginning, in response to Walt's question, when a voice +from behind suddenly hailed them in unmistakably American accents. + +"Ah, here you are, gentlemen. We've been expecting you." + +The boys wheeled to find that a horseman stood beside them. He had +ridden almost noiselessly over the soft grass, which accounted for +their not having heard his approach. Jack took in the new arrival's +figure in a quick, comprehensive glance. + +The man who now faced them was a stalwart-looking chap of about thirty. +His face was bronzed and his eyes keen. The face of one who has lived +much out of doors. His manner seemed frank and open--even hearty--but +any one skilled in reading faces would have noted in the rather +receding chin and the eyes set close together that, in spite of his +apparent heartiness, the newcomer was a man of limited reliability. +The sort of chap, in short, who, while fearless up to a certain point +and adventurous to a degree, would yet in an extremity look out for +"Number One." + +As for his dress, it was much the same as the boys'. Sombrero, leather +chaps well worn, blue shirt, and red neck handkerchief. Jack's keen +eyes noted, too, that the pommel of his saddle bore some recent bullet +scars, and that in two bearskin holsters reposed the formidable-looking +butts of two heavy-caliber revolvers. The war-like note was further +enhanced by the fact that across his saddle horn the new arrival +carried a Remington rifle. + +The boys' position was now an extraordinary one. Advancing toward them +down the road, was, what they could now perceive to be, a considerable +body of horsemen. As if this were not enough to raise a question of +whether it was better to fly or remain where they were, here was this +total stranger, perhaps an American, too, hailing them as if he knew +them, or, at least, had expected to meet them there. Jack's mind was +made up in a flash, but, even in the brief instant he hesitated, the +stranger's keen, close-set eyes narrowed suspiciously. + +"I'm not mistaken, am I? You expected to meet me here?" + +"Yes, yes, of course," responded Jack quickly, and in as easy a tone as +he could command; "I hope we're not late?" + +"No; there comes Madero's flying column now. You couldn't have kept +the appointment better if you had arranged to meet us at some spot in +New York." + +"I'm glad we're on time," said Jack, not knowing exactly what else to +say. + +The lad was thunderstruck, as well he might be, by the turn events were +taking. He wished fervently, however, that they knew whom they were +expected to be and why their coming had been awaited with such +eagerness. + +"I say, you know," rattled on the other, who seemed to be a pleasant +natured enough chap, "that trip of yours through that hole in the +ground has mussed you up a bit." + +"It certainly has," agreed Jack, more and more mystified; "it's a +pretty rough voyage." + +"That's what, and going through that blamed trap in the Mesa, like a +comedian in an extravaganza, isn't the least unpleasant part of it. It +was a pretty slick trick of Ramon's to find that out, although, I +guess, some old Indian gave him the tip." + +"It's a great scheme," put in Walt Phelps, finding his tongue at last. + +"You chaps are a good deal younger than I expected to find you," +rattled on the stranger, "but I suppose you've seen lots of service." + +"Yes, lots of it," put in Ralph, throwing some fervor into his tone. +He felt that they had indeed, in the last few hours, seen service +enough for a lifetime. Jack inwardly rejoiced as the others found +their tongues. He had dreaded that the suddenness of the emergency +might have proved too much for them. Both lads were rising to it +gallantly, however. Now, if only he could find out who on earth they +were supposed to be, they might yet escape from the predicament into +which they had fallen. + +"Now let's introduce ourselves," went on their new acquaintance, +evidently not the least bit suspicious now. "My name's Bob Harding. +Which of you chaps is Con Divver?" + +"Right here," said Jack, motioning to Walt. + +"And Jim Hickey and Ted Rafter?" + +"I'm Jim and here is Ted," responded Jack, his heart beating like a +trip hammer. It was a daring game they were playing. + +"That's good. Now we all know each other. I think that Americans +enlisted in this sort of service should be on good terms, don't you?" + +"I certainly do," rejoined Jack warmly. + +"Fine! I'll bet we'll make good messmates. And now here comes Madero +himself. If you fellows will come with me, I'll introduce you in form. +Do you 'spiggoty'?" + +"Do we what?" asked Jack wonderingly. + +"Spiggoty. Talk this greaser lingo?" + +"Not very well, I'm afraid. Does the general talk English?" + +"Well. He's a good fellow, too. You'll find out." + +Thus rattling on, Bob Harding escorted the lads toward the van of the +advancing horsemen. There were about a hundred in the troop, which +Harding had referred to as a "Flying Column," and, although the +horsemen were all apparently well armed, their appearance was ragged +and wild in the extreme. They had evidently seen some hard fighting. +Here and there could be seen men with bandaged heads or limbs, while +their high conical-crowned hats were in some cases drilled, like +beehives, with bullet holes. In color, the insurrecto leader's +followers ranged from a delicate cream to a dark, reddish-brown, almost +the coppery hue of a red Indian. In all, they formed as ferocious and +formidable-looking a troop of horsemen as the Border Boys had ever set +eyes on. + +Madero himself, a rather sad-faced man of past middle age, rode in +advance, surrounded by several officers, the latter having red flannel +chevrons attached to their buckskin coats by safety pins. The famous +insurrecto leader raised his hat with Mexican courtesy as the newcomers +approached. Bob Harding drew himself up in his saddle and gave a +military salute which the general stiffly returned. The boys, taking +their cue from their new acquaintance, followed his example. + +"I am afraid that your first experience with the insurrectos was a +rough one, señores," said the general, with one of his sad smiles, +using very fair English. + +"No rougher than we must expect," rejoined Jack crisply. The lad by +now had begun to have an inkling of the situation. Evidently Bob +Harding was a soldier of fortune fighting with the insurrectos against +the troops of Diaz, while they themselves were supposed to be more of +the same brand. Evidently they had been expected by Ramon's +subterranean river, and in taking the boat they must have forestalled +the real Con Divver, Jim Hickey, and Ted Rafter. Jack caught himself +wondering how long it would take the latter to ride over the mountains +and discover the imposture. + +"We are on our way to our bivouac farther on, gentlemen," said the +general, with a wave of his hand, as if to dismiss them. "Captain +Harding will introduce you to your brother officers and later on I will +assign you to duty." + +The boys saluted once more, as did Bob Harding, and, still following +the young soldier of fortune, they rode toward the rear of the column. +The brown-skinned soldiers cast many glances out of their wild eyes at +them as they loped back, evidently wondering at the youth of Madero's +new recruits from across the border. + +The boys found no opportunity to exchange conversation as they rode +along. Bob Harding was far too busy introducing them to brother +officers to permit of this. From remarks addressed to them, which they +answered carefully in a general way, the boys soon learned that the +three soldiers of fortune they were impersonating had been redoubtable +warriors in several revolutionary battles in South America. Thus it +came about that Jack and his chums were speedily far more prominent +personalities than they cared about becoming. The officers of Madero's +command they found to be mostly small planters and ranch owners, +inflamed with bitterness at the freedom with which great grants of land +had been made to Americans by Diaz. + +Bob Harding was not backward in telling them his history, as they rode +along. He had been expelled from West Point for a hazing prank, and +since that time had "knocked about the world a bit," as he expressed +it. He was frank in confessing that he was with Madero's command for +the "fun there was in it." + +"I don't see much fun in injuring American interests and practically +warring on your own people," burst out Jack, before he knew what he was +saying. + +Harding whipped around in his saddle like a flash. + +"Say, Jim Hickey," he snapped, "those are funny sentiments coming from +you. You didn't feel that way during your famous campaign in +Venezuela, did you?" + +"Well, it wasn't so near home, you see," rather lamely explained Jack, +wishing that he had bitten his tongue out before he had made such a +break. + +But Bob Harding fortunately was not of an analytical disposition, and +he was soon rattling on again, relating to the boys, with great glee, +the manner in which the insurrectos were getting all the arms they +wanted by Black Ramon's underground route. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +IN THE CAMP OF THE INSURRECTOS. + +Camp was made that night not far from the outskirts of what must have +been a small town or village. Through the trees surrounding the camp +the boys could catch the glint of distant lights as the sun set and +darkness rushed up with the suddenness characteristic of the southern +latitudes. Rumor about the camp was that there was a fair or carnival +in the village. To Jack's huge delight, he found that a tent was to be +provided for them, and that, if all went well, they would be able, +after the camp was wrapped in sleep, to have a consultation. + +But before this occurred something else happened which bore so directly +on the boys' fortunes that it must be related here. Supper in the camp +was over, sentries posted, and the routine of what had evidently been a +long campaign taken up, when the three lads, who had been chatting with +Bob Harding and trying to draw out all he knew without betraying +themselves, were summoned by a ragged orderly to present themselves in +General Madero's tent. + +At first a dreadful fear that their deception had been discovered +rushed into Jack's mind, as they arose from the ground outside Bob +Harding's tent and made their way to the general's quarters. This +fear, which his comrades shared with him, was speedily relieved, +however. General Madero greeted them with the same grave courtesy he +had shown them earlier in the day, and, after a few words, bade them be +seated. Each visitor having been accommodated with a camp stool, the +general turned to a written paper which he had before him on the +folding camp table, and which he had apparently been poring over +intently when they entered. + +"I sent for you, gentlemen," he said, "in the first place, because I am +sure, from what Señor Ramon told me, our new recruits are anxious to +distinguish themselves, and also because I have some duty to outline to +you which is peculiarly adapted for Americans to undertake. + +"You know, doubtless, that the funds of the insurrectos are not as +plentiful as they might be. Most of us are poor men. I myself have +disposed of my estate to make the revolution against the tyrant Diaz +successful." He paused and frowned at the mention of the hated name, +and then continued in the same grave, even voice: + +"It becomes necessary, therefore, for us to raise funds as best we may. +Of course, we might live upon the country, but this I am unwilling to +do. The people are friendly to us. They give us their moral support. +Let us then not repay good with evil by plundering them. Rather let us +pay for what we get as we go along." + +Harding nodded, as did the boys. It was best to give the general the +impression that they were deeply interested. + +"Very well, then. But we must raise funds--and how? How better than +by helping ourselves to the product of which our country has been +robbed by favorites of Diaz. I refer, I need hardly say, to the +American mining men who have enriched themselves at my poor +countrymen's expense." + +Jack could hardly repress an angry start as he saw whither this line of +reasoning must lead. The gross injustice of the idea made him flush +hotly, but he was far too wise to expose his hand to the wily old +insurrecto leader, who was watching them with an eager look on his +withered, yellow face. + +"There is near here," continued the general, "a mine I have had my eyes +on for a long time. It belongs to a Señor Merrill, a rancher----" + +The general broke off abruptly. Jack had started so suddenly that the +lamp on the table was jarred. + +"Señor Hickey knows Señor Merrill?" he asked, bending his searching +black eyes on the lad. + +"I--no--that is, yes--I met Señor Merrill some time ago," stammered +Jack. "Hearing his name again startled me. I was not aware he was in +this part of the country." + +Apparently the explanation satisfied the old leader, for he continued +with a satisfied nod. + +"This Señor Merrill is rich, I hear. But all his wealth has not +prevented his miners leaving him to answer the call of the insurrecto +cause. His mine, The Esmeralda, is not more than twelve miles from +here. In the treasure room is stored much gold. Since we blew up the +railroad, he has not been able to ship it. We must have that gold." + +He paused and looked at the Americans inquiringly. Of the four, Bob +Harding alone looked enthusiastic. + +"It should be easy, general," he said; "if the Mexican miners have +quit, all we have to do is to march in and help ourselves." + +"Yes, but Señor Merrill is not unsurrounded by friends," went on the +general, while Jack's heart gave a bound of gladness; "he has a German +superintendent and several mine bosses. They have arms and ammunition, +and it will be a difficult matter to dislodge them. Also, there are +telephone wires by which he can summon aid from the regular troops." + +"Well, what do you want us to do, sir?" asked Jack, with what was +really, under the circumstances, a creditable simulation of disinterest. + +"To undertake some scout duty. Find out just what his force is and the +best quarter from which to attack the mine. And, above all, sever his +communication with the outside world." + +"Cut the wires?" asked Bob Harding eagerly. + +"That's it. Make it impossible for us to fail." + +"But, general, do not the regulars already know of your presence in +this part of the country?" asked Jack. + +General Madero smiled. + +"The heads of bone which command them know little beyond dancing and +how to flirt correctly," he said. "My flying column has, in the past +two days, passed from one end of the province to the other without +their being aware of it. The main part of my army is in eastern +Chihuahua, blowing up bridges and otherwise diverting their attention, +while I have come into, what you Americans call, Tom Tiddler's ground, +where I mean to pick up all the gold and silver I can. Why not?" he +demanded, with a sudden access of fury. "Is it not ours? What right +have these interlopers of Americanos here? Mexico for the Mexicans and +death to the robber foreigners!" + +He brought his lean, shriveled hand down on the table with a thump that +made the lamp shake. His Latin temperament had, for the moment, +carried him away; for a flash the blaze of fanaticism shone in his +eyes, only to die out as swiftly as he regained command of himself. + +"When shall we depart on this duty, sir?" asked Bob Harding, after a +brief pause. + +"To-morrow. The hour I will inform you of later. Not a word of this +in the camp, remember. I can trust to you absolutely?" + +"Absolutely," rejoined Bob Harding, with, apparently, not a single +qualm of conscience. + +The general's eyes were bent upon the boys who had not rejoined to his +question. + +"Absolutely," declared Jack, saving his conscience by adding a mental +"Not." + +Bob Harding, who was sharp enough in some things, was quick to detect a +change in the manner of the three supposed soldiers of fortune as they +left the general's tent. + +"Don't much like the idea of going up against your own countrymen, eh?" +he asked easily. + +"No," rejoined Jack frankly, "we don't." + +"Now look here, Hickey, isn't that drawing it pretty fine? Merrill and +chaps like that have practically buncoed old Diaz into granting them +all sorts of concessions, and----" + +"I'm pretty sure Merrill never did, whatever the rest may have done," +was the quiet reply. + +"Eh-oh! Well, of course, it's all right to stick up for one's friends +and that sort of thing, but I guess that you chaps, like myself, are +down here to, line your pockets, aren't you?" + +"Perhaps," was the noncommittal reply. + +"Well, to be frank with you, I _am_. I'm down here just for what there +is in it, and if I can see a chance to line my pockets by a quiet visit +to the gold room of a mine, why, that's the mine owner's lookout, isn't +it? I run my risk and ought to have some reward for it." + +"That's queer reasoning, Harding." + +"Say, Hickey, you're a rum sort of chap. So are your chums here, too. +Not a bit what I expected you to be like. I thought you were +rip-roaring sort of fellows, and you act more like a bunch of prize +Sunday-school scholars." + +There was a taunting note in the words that Jack was not slow to catch. +Particularly was the last part of Harding's speech brought out with an +insulting inflection. Jack's temper blazed up. + +"See here, Harding," he snapped out, "do you know anything about +dynamite?" + +"Eh? What? Yes, of course. But, good gracious, what's that got to do +with----" + +"Everything. Dynamite doesn't say or do much till it goes off, does +it?" + +"What are you driving at, my dear fellow, I----" + +"Just this;" Jack's eyes fairly snapped in the starlight, as he looked +straight into Harding's weak, good-natured countenance; "don't monkey +with high explosives. Savvy?" + +Harding's eyes fell. He mumbled something. For a minute he was +abashed, but he soon regained his spirits. + +"Forgive me, Hickey," he exclaimed, "and you, too, Rafter and Divver. +I thought you were just a bunch of kids, but now I see you are the real +thing. Blown in the bottle, this side up, and all that. + +"Say, do you know," he went on, lowering his voice cautiously and +bending forward as if afraid the coffee-colored sentry pacing near by +might overhear, "for a while I even thought you were imposters." + +"No!" exclaimed Jack, starting back in well-assumed amazement. + +"Fact, I assure you. Funny, wasn't it?" + +"Not very funny for us had your suspicions been correct," put in Walt +Phelps. + +"My dear Con, I should think not. Putting your eyes out with red-hot +irons would be one of the least things that old Madero would do to you. +Fatherly old chap, isn't he? But, as you said, Hickey: Don't fool with +dynamite!" + +A few paces more brought the boys to their tent. + +"Well, good night, or buenas noches, as they say in this benighted +land," said Harding, as they reached it. "Better turn in and have a +good sleep. And then to-morrow it's Ho! for Tom Tiddler's ground, a +pickin' up gold and silver." + +"And maybe bullets," came from Walt. + +"Oh, my dear fellow, that's all in the life. Buenas noches!" + +And Bob Harding passed on, humming gayly to himself. + +The boys entered their tent and lit the lamp. It was silent as the +grave outside, except for the steady tramp, tramp of the sentries. At +long intervals the weird cry of some night bird came from the woods, on +the edge of which they were camped, but that was all. + +Jack sat down on the edge of his cot and gazed across the tent at the +others. + +"Well?" he said. + +"Well?" came back from his two chums in danger. + +Thus began a conversation which, with intervals of silence, when the +sentries' heavy footsteps passed, continued into early dawn. Then, +with a consciousness that the future alone could bring about a solution +of their dilemma, the three tired lads tumbled into their cots to sleep +the slumber of vigorous, exhausted youth. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"DEATH TO THE GRINGOES!" + +It was broad daylight when the lads awoke. About them the life of the +camp had been astir for some time, in fact. Bugles rang out cheerily +and ragged troopers hastened hither and thither, with fodder or buckets +of water for their mounts, for in Madero's flying squadron each man +looked after his own animal, with the exception of a small force +detailed to commissariat duty. From the village below, curious-eyed +Mexicans began pouring into camp with the earliest dawn, and by the +time the three involuntary imposters were out of their tent and had +doused each other with cold water, the place presented a scene of +lively activity and bustle. + +"Sitting on the edge of a volcano seems to agree with us," remarked +Jack, as the three sauntered off to join Bob Harding, who was standing +outside his tent door, smoking a cigarette, a bad habit he had picked +up from the Mexicans. + +Indeed, three more manly, rugged lads would have been hard to find. +Under their tanned skins the bright blood sparkled, and there was a +surety in their long, swinging stride and the confident set of their +shoulders that made one feel a certainty that there was a trio that +would be able to take care of itself in any ordinary emergency. + +Refreshed, even by the few hours slumber, and with sharp-set appetites, +the boys felt altogether different persons from the three bedraggled +youths who had been jounced through the tunnel, and later thrown into +such a perplexing combination of circumstances. + +"I feel fit for anything," Ralph confided to Jack. + +"Good boy," rejoined his companion, throwing his arm about the Eastern +lad's neck; "we'll come out all right. I'm confident of it." + +"Unless the real Con Divver, Jim Hickey and Ted Rafter happen to show +up," put in the practical Walt, with a half-grin. + +"Botheration take you, Walt," exclaimed Ralph, in comic petulance; +"you're the original laddie with a bucket of cold water. As we figured +it out last night, we shall be far away from here on our way to the +Esmeralda mine before Ramon and the real soldiers of fortune whose fame +we have appropriated are anywhere near here." + +"I hope so, for our sakes," muttered Walt, half to himself. Practical +minded as Walt was by nature, he saw only too clearly the imminent +peril in which they were moving. "Sitting on the edge of a volcano," +was the way Jack had put it. He had not stated the case a bit too +strongly. At any moment, for all they knew, Ramon or one of his men +might arrive with the true story, and then, where would they be? + +At the conference in the tent the night before, the three lads had +agreed on a definite course of action. This was to get as close to the +Esmeralda as they could, and then make a bold dash for Mr. Merrill and +their friends. If Bob Harding chose to join them, well and good. If +he did not--well, they could not force him. Somehow, both Jack and +Walt had reached the conclusion that Bob, for all his vivacity and good +humor and apparent courage, would prove a "rotten reed" in a moment of +stress. How accurately they had gauged his character, we shall see. +This plan, as our readers will agree, was a sensible one, and, +moreover, had the merit of being the only way out of their dilemma. +But it all hinged on one thing, namely, on their departing before Ramon +or any of his followers arrived and denounced them. + +Breakfast in the insurrecto camp was a peculiar meal. The officers +messed together, and, of course, the boys joined them. Once or twice, +Jack, looking up from his peppery stew, noticed one or another of the +insurrecto officers eyeing either himself or his companions curiously. + +"They think you're awful youthful looking to have done all the things +credited to you," whispered Bob Harding. + +After the meal was despatched, the boys expected some sort of orders to +emanate from the general's tent, but apparently he was in no hurry to +move forward till the errand upon which he had announced he meant to +send the Americans, had been accomplished. The morning was spent by +the three lads in strolling about the camp, striving their utmost to +appear at their ease, but starting nervously every time an out-rider +came into camp. Every hoof-beat upon the road was eloquent with +signification for them. Ramon could not be far off now. In this +wearing manner passed the morning hours. For some time they had seen +nothing of Bob Harding, when suddenly, loud voices, in which that of +their friend predominated, reached them. The sounds came from behind a +thick clump of manzanita bushes, where several of the officers had been +whiling away the hours at a native gambling game. Among them, we +regret to say, had been Bob Harding. + +As the boys, attracted by the disturbance, came up, they saw the young +American on his feet in the midst of a group of native officers, who +were clustered about him, angrily demanding something. From a handful +of gold which the young soldier of fortune clutched, it was evident +that he had been a winner, but that some dispute had arisen over his +success. + +Suddenly, and without the slightest warning, the young Mexican who had +been the most insistent of the apparent objectors, drew his sword and +rushed upon Harding, who was unarmed. He threw up his arm as the +thrust came, and succeeded in deflecting it at the cost of a slash on +the back of his hand. + +At the same instant he ducked nimbly, and, rushing in under the +swordsman's guard, he planted a blow upon the Mexican's jaw that sent +him reeling backward, waving his arms round and round, like a windmill. +With a howl of fury, the man's companions made a rush for Harding. + +"They're going to rush him!" whispered Jack to the others. + +"So I see," rejoined Walt, grimly clenching his fists. + +As the charge descended on Bob Harding, he suddenly found three of his +countrymen at his side. + +"Thank goodness you're here," he breathed, and that was all he had time +to say before the mob was upon them. + +Jack had just time to deflect a sword blade, when he saw a terrific +blow aimed at him with the butt of a rifle. He dodged just in time, +and, as the stock went whizzing by his ear, he knocked the dealer of +the blow flat on his back. In the meantime, Walt and Ralph had been +giving good accounts of themselves, and Bob Harding had succeeded in +disarming one of his opponents. + +But they were by no means in possession of the victory yet. With howls +of fury, the companions of the sprawling Mexicans charged once more, +and suddenly Jack, after dealing one of them a staggering blow, saw a +sword fall jangling at his feet. + +Instantly he seized the weapon, and prepared to receive all comers. +Now, fencing had been one of the fads at Stonefell during the past +term, and Jack, under the tutelage of Mons Dupre, the French +instructor, had become an expert swordsman. With the weapon in his +hand, he felt equal to facing any of the excited little yellow-faced +Mexican officers. As for them, they showed an equal disposition to +annihilate the Americanos. + +Hardly had Jack gauged the balance of his new-found weapon, before one +of his opponents, a lithe, sinewy chap, with fiercely twirled +moustache, came charging in, handling his sword like a duelist. Jack +parried his furious onslaught easily. The fellow checked abruptly, +when he found that, instead of a green boy, he had an expert swordsman +to deal with. Steadying himself, he began a systematic play for Jack's +heart. This was no play duel or mock fencing match with buttoned +foils. It was the real thing, and Jack knew it. + +But the lad kept his head admirably. The Mexican, on the contrary, as +lunge after lunge was parried, became furious. + +"Carramba!" he hissed. "You dog of an Americano, I keel you!" + +"If I let you," rejoined Jack, falling back a pace. The fierce thrust +of his opponent fell upon thin air. The next instant Jack recovered, +as if by magic, and his blade flashed and writhed thrice like a +writhing serpent. + +Suddenly the Mexican found his sword abruptly jerked clean out of his +hand by Jack's weapon, and sent ringing over the heads of the other +combatants. + +"Señor, I am at your mercy!" exclaimed the Mexican, dramatically +throwing his arms open for the death-thrust, which it is likely he +himself would have given, had the circumstances been reversed. + +"Bring me your sword," ordered Jack. + +The other fetched it and handed it, hilt first, to his conqueror. Jack +took it, and, placing it across his knee, snapped it clean in two. + +"Save the pieces," he said, handing them to the Mexican. + +"Diablo!" cried the fellow, mad at the deliberate insult, "for that you +die!" + +Holding a snapped section of the sword by the hilt, he drove in at Jack +full tilt, only to be met by a healthy American fistic uppercut, +planted with such accuracy that the Mexican's wiry form was actually +lifted off its feet. He whirled round twice in the air, as if +performing some sort of grotesque dance, and then fell in a heap. + +"You won't bother us for a time," muttered Jack, turning to aid his +companions. + +While he had been engaged with his officer, the others had had their +hands full. + +Like a snarling pack of wolves, the Mexicans had withdrawn and suddenly +made a swoop on them all at once. Defending themselves as best they +could, Walt, Ralph and Bob Harding were, nevertheless, driven back +against the bushes. So far as Walt and Ralph were concerned, it was a +real fight, but with Bob Harding it was different. His face was a +sickly yellow, and in his eyes was a light that Jack had seen +before--the expression of a coward at bay. + +"Keep 'em off, fellows--I'm coming!" yelled Jack, as he charged into +the thick of the fray. "The reinforcement was totally unexpected by +the Mexicans, and they fell back for an instant--but 'for an instant +only. + +"Bah, it is only another of those boys!" cried the one who seemed to be +their leader, a fat, pudgy little fellow, with a thick, drooping, black +moustache. + +"Death to the Gringoes!" yelled his followers, their deep-lying hatred +of Americans now stripped of its veneer of politeness, and lying +exposed in all its ugliness. + +The fat, pudgy little officer made a rush at Jack, who, instead of +meeting it, ducked and caught the other by his wrist. The fellow's +sword went flying, and, at the same instant, Jack made a quick turn. +As he did so, the pudgy man's rotund little body was seen to rise from +the ground and describe an aerial semi-circle. He came crashing to the +ground with a thud, his thick neck almost driven into his shoulders by +the force of the concussion. + +"Now for the others!" yelled Walt; but even as he uttered the cry, +there came another shout from beyond the bushes in which the battle was +being waged: + +"Ramon! Ramon the Black!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A RACE FOR LIFE. + +The electric thrill that passed through the lads at the words, and +temporarily rendered them powerless to move, would have speedily made +them an easy prey for the aggrieved Mexican officers, but that the +latter were equally excited by the announcement. The mention of +Ramon's name, in fact, seemed to cause a galvanic wave of activity +throughout the bivouac. Men could be heard running hither and thither, +and above all sounded the heavy trample of the new arrivals' horses. + +In less than two minutes the last of the wounded Mexicans had picked +himself up from the ground, and, clapping a hand over a rapidly +swelling "goose egg," was hurrying from the scene of the sudden battle. +The last to get up was the pudgy little officer whom Jack had +overthrown. This fellow painfully scrambled to his feet, and, +breathing the most terrible threats in his native tongue, limped off. + +The boys stood alone on the card-strewn, coin-littered battle-ground. +Dismay was pictured on their countenances. The crucial moment had +come, and they were fairly caught in a trap from which there seemed to +be no possible means of extricating themselves. + +"Come on, boys," cried Bob Harding, who had quite recovered his +equanimity, "here's your friend Ramon, now." + +He hastened off, not even looking to see if the supposed adventurers +were following him. Suddenly, while the three lads stood regarding one +another, there came a high-pitched voice ringing clearly above the +confusion and shouts: + +"You consarned yaller coyote, you take yer leathery lunch-hooks off me, +or I'll fill yer so full uv holes your ma can use you for a collander!" + +"Coyote Pete!" exclaimed Jack. "Oh, boys, he's all right!" + +"Oh, Jack! What are we going to do?" gasped Ralph, pale under his coat +of tan, and looking about him nervously. + +"We must act quickly, whatever it is," exclaimed Jack. "Thank +goodness, Coyote Pete is safe. The professor must be all right, too, +then. Look, there are the Mexican's horses off yonder. Let's make a +dash for them, and try to sneak out while they are still looking for +us." + +"Do you think we can do it?" Ralph's voice was full of hesitancy. + +"If we don't, we'll all be lined up with a firing squad in front of us +within the next ten minutes!" exclaimed Jack. "Hark!" + +They could hear shouts and angry cries, above which Ramon's voice +sounded, as if he were narrating something. + +"He's telling them about us," cried Jack. "Come on; there's not a +fraction of a second to lose." + +Headed by Jack, the three Border Boys started on the run for the grove +in which the horses had been picketed. Some of the animals were +saddled and bridled, and for these they made a dash. They were not to +escape without some difficulty, however, for, as they placed their feet +in the stirrups, preparatory to swinging into the high-peaked saddles, +a dozing trooper sprang up from a litter of opened hay-bales. He +shouted something in Spanish, and made a spring for the head of the +animal Jack bestrode. It was no time for half measures. The heavy +quirt, with its loaded handle, hung from the horn of the saddle. With +a quick movement, Jack secured it, and brought the loaded end down on +the fellow's skull. He fell like a log, without uttering a sound. + +"Now, forward boys!" cried Jack in a low tone, "it's a ride for life." + +The others needed no urging. As rapidly as they could, consistent with +making as little noise as possible, the three young horsemen rode out +of the patch of woods in which the camp had been made, and emerged on +the high road without being stopped. Suddenly, however, a sentry with +a fixed bayonet, seemed to spring from the ground in front of them. He +cried something in Spanish, to which Jack replied by driving his horse +full at him. The fellow went down, and rolled over and over, as the +horse's hoofs struck him. Before he recovered his feet, the Border +Boys were upon the road and galloping for dear life. There was no use +in caution, now. Everything depended, in fact, on putting as much +distance as possible between themselves and the camp before their +absence was discovered. + +Fortunately, their horses were fresh, powerful animals, with long, +swinging gaits. They got over the ground at a wonderful rate, and +Jack's heart began to beat exultingly. Not far distant lay some hilly +ground, broken with deep gullies and thickly grown with wooded patches. +Could they gain it, they would have a chance of concealing themselves. + +"Hullo! They've discovered we've gone!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, as +behind them they could hear shots and bugle calls. "Don't spare the +horses, boys; we've got to make that rough country." + +The quirts fell unmercifully on the big, powerful horses, and they +plunged snorting forward. + +"We're kicking up dust enough to be seen ten miles," grumbled Walt. + +"Can't be helped," flung back Jack, "speed is what counts now." + +Before many minutes had passed, such good progress had they made that +the edge of a clump of woods was reached, and they plunged rapidly into +the friendly shelter. + +"Where to now?" gasped Ralph. + +"Right on! Right on!" shot out Jack. "Keep going till the horses +drop, or they overtake us. It's our only chance." + +On and on into the wood, the hunted boys rode. Their wiry horses were +flagging now, but still seemed capable of more effort. Over the rough +ground, though, the pace at which they urged them was a killing one. +Still, as Jack had said, it was "their only chance." + +All at once, from their rear, they heard shouts and bugle calls. Jack +turned a shade paler. The demonstration was much too close to be +pleasant. He had hardly believed that it was possible for the Mexicans +to have gained upon them so rapidly. + +"Guess we're up against it," muttered Walt Phelps, in his usual laconic +manner. + +"Not yet, by a good sight," pluckily retorted Jack. "Come on--into +this gulch. It takes a turn above here, and we may find some means of +getting out of their sight altogether." + +Almost on their haunches, the horses were urged down the steep bank of +the gully to which Jack had referred. It was about twenty feet in +depth, with steep sides at the point at which they entered it, and +bare. Farther on, though, it took a turn, and was covered almost to +the bottom with chaparral and brush. + +As Jack had said, if they could gain this portion of it, it ought to +afford them an ideal hiding-place. + +Rapidly they pressed forward along the rough bottom of the gulch, which +was evidently a roaring water-course in times of heavy rain, but which +was now as dry as a bone. It was stiflingly hot, too, but none of them +noticed that. Other things far more overwhelming in importance, were +upon their minds just then. + +Evidently, such skilled trackers as the Mexicans, had not been at fault +in locating the woods into which the boys had vanished. The yells and +cries, which Jack had heard, were rapidly drawing nearer in the woods +above them. But, if they could only gain the shelter of the overgrown +part of the gulch, they might still be safe. + +It was in this extremity that Jack bethought himself of an old trick he +had heard the cow-punchers talk of at his father's ranch. They had +used it in old frontier days, when the Indians were thick and hostile. +The deception was a simple one. It consisted in the hunted person +slipping from his horse at a suitable hiding-place and then letting the +animal wander on. + +The pursuers would naturally be guided by the sound of the horses' +hoofs, and would follow them up, leaving the concealed victim of the +chase at liberty, either to double back upon his trail, or remain where +he was. His intention of putting this trick into execution Jack +rapidly confided to his two companions. They rode forward through the +thick brush, which they had now gained, gazing eagerly at the walls of +the gulch for some cave, or other suitable place of concealment. + +Suddenly Walt spied the very place which they were in search of, +apparently. It was a small opening in the rocky wall of the gully, +which appeared from below to penetrate quite some distance back into +the earth. Its mouth was sheltered with brush and creepers, and but +for the fact that a bird flew out from it as they passed, and thus +attracted their attention, they might have passed it unnoticed. + +A brief inspection showed that it was a small cave, about twenty feet +in depth, and, as has been said, well screened from below. + +"We're not likely to find a better place," announced Jack, after a +hasty inspection. + +"Turn the horses loose," he cried in a low, but penetrating voice, down +to Walt, who had remained below with the stock. + +The red-headed ranch boy slipped off the back of his steed and alighted +on a rock, so as to make no tracks. He then gave the three horses, +that had borne them so bravely, their liberty. At first the animals +would not move, but began cropping the green stuff about them. + +"Here, that won't do," breathed Jack, as the three lads crouched at the +cave mouth. "Throw some rocks at them, Walt." + +The boys picked up some small stones, which lay littered in front of +the cave, and commenced a fusillade. It had such good results, that a +few seconds later, the three horses were plunging off along the bottom +of the gully as if Old Nick himself had been after them. + +As their hoof-beats grew faint, Jack held up his hand to enjoin +silence, although the boys had been discussing their situation in such +low tones that their voices could not have traveled ten feet from the +cave mouth. + +"Hark!" he said. + +From farther down the gully came shouts and yells, and then the +distinct rattling sound of loose shale, as several horsemen descended +the steep bank into the gulch. + +"They've picked up the trail," commented Walt grimly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE. + +Let us now retrace our steps to the Haunted Mesa, and ascertain how it +fared with Coyote Pete and the professor, after the boys' astonishing +disappearance through the balanced trap-door in the base of the hollow +altar. As we know, the lads' elders were crouched at the opposite end +of the former sacrificial structure, when, before their eyes, the lads +were swallowed up. + +For an instant--as well they might have been--the two onlookers were +fairly paralyzed with amazement. The occurrence seemed to be without +natural explanation. But an investigation by Pete, crawling on his +hands and knees while he made it, soon revealed the nature of the +device which, as we know, was nothing more nor less than a balanced +trap-door of stone. An unusual weight placed upon one end of it +instantly tilted it and projected whatever was on it upon the staircase +below. + +The professor, who recalled having read of such devices in other +dwelling-places of ancient communities, was at first for following the +boys into the unknown interior of the mesa, but before any move could +be made in that direction, one of the newly-arrived party shoved his +face over the top of the hollow altar in a spirit of investigation. He +fell back with a yell, crying out that there were spirits within it, as +his eyes encountered the crouching forms of its two occupants. + +"What's the matter, you fool?" demanded Ramon himself, who happened to +be close at hand. + +"Oh, the spirits! The spirits of the hollow altar!" howled the Mexican +in abject terror, his knees knocking together and his face taking on a +sickly pallor. + +"Hey! What's that the crazy galoot's after saying?" + +The question came from a thickset man, of about middle age, upon whose +upper lip bristled a fringe of reddish hair. His eyes were blue, +narrow and evil, and his face was scarred in half a dozen places. + +"Why, Hickey, my amigo, he says that the place is haunted," laughed +Ramon. + +The man addressed as Hickey turned to his two companions, one of whom +was a tall, lanky chap, with straggly black hair, and bristly, unshaven +chin. The other was a short, fat, rather good-natured looking little +man, whose truculent chin, however, gave the lie to his incessant +smile. Somehow, you felt, after a lengthy inspection of this latter, +that he was by no means the amiable personage his fixed smile seemed to +indicate. Small wonder, considering that his smile was fixed upon his +face by reason of an old knife wound, which, in severing some facial +muscles, had drawn up the corners of his mouth into a perpetual grin. + +"Hullo! Here's Rafter and Con Divver!" exclaimed the +bristly-moustached one. "Well, fellows, what d'ye think of this here +country?" + +"All right, as fur as we've gone," grunted the lanky man, "but I'm +itching to git across the border and git my paws on some of that gold." + +"Ye're right, Rafter," agreed the man with the perpetual smile, "that's +what we're after. I ain't made a good haul since we cleaned out the +safe of that asphalt company in Venezuela." + +"Well, gentlemen," smiled Ramon, in his most ingratiating manner, "you +will have ample opportunity shortly. I happen to know that one of the +first things that General Madero intends to do is to move upon the +mines of the robber Americanos, and get some of their gringo gold." + +"Hooray! That's the talk," grunted Jim Hickey, who, like his mates, +styled himself "soldier of fortune." But, alas! that high-sounding +title in his case, as in many others, was simply a polite way of +disguising his true calling, to-wit, that of an unscrupulous +adventurer, whose object was to line his own pockets. A fashion has +arisen of late of writing about soldiers of fortune as if they were +noble, Quixotic persons. Those with whom the author has come in +contact, however, have, without exception, been mercenary and +cold-blooded men, to whom the name highway robber could be applied with +far more justice than the higher sounding term. Such men were Jim +Hickey and his two companions, who had flocked like buzzards to the +border at the first word of trouble. + +"Waal, thar's that greaser of yours still cuttin' up didoes," drawled +Divver. "What's ther matter with ther coyote, anyhow? Say, Ramon, +ain't that the main station of yer subway, yonder in ther rock pile?" + +He pointed to the hollow altar, in which crouched Pete and the +professor. They had heard every word of this conversation, of course, +and its effect upon them may be imagined. + +"That, señors, is indeed the entrance to our convenient little +underground river. Ha! ha! an excellent joke on the worthy Colonel +Briggs. He is guarding every point of the border but this one. Of +course, he concluded, in his wise way, that nobody could cross those +barren hills yonder, but, as you know, gentlemen, we go under, and not +over them." + +"Trust you greasers?" grinned Rafter, who was a New Englander; "ye're +as slick ez paint, and thet's a fact. But, let's see what in ther name +of juniper scairt thet feller o' yourn. Seems like he's teetotel +abstinence on thet altar." + +"Yes, there is a superstition that the mesa is haunted," rejoined +Ramon. "That is the reason why I could never get a man to ascend it +without myself. If you gentlemen noticed the tracks upon the pathway, +you would have seen they went only to the top of the path. Beyond that +my men would in no manner go on the night we came here to reconnoiter." + +"That was before you sent the order through fer the arms?" inquired +Hickey. + +"_Si, señor_. But now, as you see, everything bids fair to go well, +and----" + +"By hemlock!" broke in Rafter's sharp voice, as he drew his pistol, +"thar's two cusses hidin' in ther altar." + +The New Englander had separated from the others, and taken a peek over +the edge of the ancient sacrificial device, to ascertain what had +caused the sudden alarm of the Mexican. What he had seen had caused +his amazed exclamation. + +"What's that?" came the bull-throated roar of Hickey, "two men in that +brick pile?" + +"That's whatsoever. One on 'em is a big, long, rangy cuss, like a +yearlin' colt, by gosh, and ther other's the dead spit of the school +teacher at ther Four Corners, back er hum." + +"We must see into this." + +It was Ramon who spoke. As he did so, he advanced in his agile, +cat-like way upon the altar. In his hand he held his revolver. But, +as he reached the edge of the pit and raised himself to peep over, +something--which something was Coyote Pete's fist--caught him full +between the eyes, and sent him toppling backward into the arms of +Rafter. Together the lanky New Englander and the Mexican crashed to +the ground, while Pete set up a defiant yell. + +"Come on!" he cried. "Any of your outfit thet's jes' pinin' fer a +facial massage, hed better step this way, an' be accommodated." + +Ill-advised as Pete's hasty action was, it at least created a brief +spell in which he had time to leap over the edge of the altar, and, +before Ramon or any of the rest could recover from their astonishment, +the cow-puncher had seized the Mexican's pistol and was standing at +bay, his back against the altar. + +"Now, then, any gent desirous uv heving his system ventilated free of +charge, will kin'ly step this way," he mocked. "Ah----" as Hickey's +hand slid to his waist, "don't touch thet gun, mister, or yer friends +will be sendin' you flowers." + +"Waal, by Juniper!" drawled Rafter, as he gathered his spidery form +together and scrambled to his feet. "You seem ter hev ther drop on us, +stranger." + +"Thet's what," retorted the cow-puncher, "and I mean to keep it till we +can come to terms. That Mexican gent yonder knows me of old--don't +you, Ramon?--and he knows thet what I say I'll do, I'll do." + +"So you are spying upon me again, are you?" grated out Ramon viciously. +"Not content with driving me out of the Hachetas, you must even +interfere with my political activities." + +"Waal, if yer gitting perlitically active with machine guns and +shootin' irons, I reckon Mister Diaz ull interfere with yer 'bout as +much as I will," grunted Pete, keeping the men before him covered with +the Mexican's pistol. The part of this speech referring to the machine +guns was a mere guess of the shrewd cow-puncher. But, as the reader +knows, he had struck the nail on the head. "But see here, Ramon," he +went on, dropping his tone, "we ain't here to molest you. We come out +here with a scientific gent, to measure the mesa. We was going back +home ter-night, an' was takin' a last look around when you come along. +I'll give you my word--and you know it's good--that we don't want ter +meddle with your affairs so long as they don't affect us. Run all the +guns you want--for I know that's your little game--but we've got some +kids with us, and it's up to me to get 'em back home safe. Let us git +out of here peaceable, and no more will be said." + +"Hum!" grunted the Mexican. "You forget that I owe you a little debt +for some things that happened across the border some time ago. Black +Ramon does not forget, nor does he forgive. I can guess who those boys +are you have with you, and here is my proposal: You leave that cub, +Jack Merrill, with me, and the rest of you can go, and----" + +_Swish_! + +Before Coyote Pete realized it, a raw-hide lariat circled through the +air from behind, and settled about his neck. The next instant he was +jerked from his feet, as Con Divver, who had crept unobserved around +the altar, drew the rope tight. Ramon had seen the other creeping up, +and had been talking against time till the crucial moment arrived. + +Now, with a howl of triumph, he rushed at the cow-puncher, and was +about to aim a terrific kick at his prostrate body, when a lanky form +suddenly appeared over the edge of the altar, and fixing ten bony +fingers in Ramon's inky locks, tugged till the Mexican yelled with pain. + +"Well may you cry aloud for mercy, sir!" exclaimed the professor, for +he it was who had suddenly come to the rescue, forgetting even the pain +of his ankle in the crisis. "Even in Homer you may find it written, +'Never kick a man when he's down.'" + +"_Phew_!" whistled Hickey, his smile puckering up his whole face in an +evil grimace. "This is growing interesting." + +"Sanctissima Santos! Take him off! Make him let go!" yelled Ramon, +dancing in agony. But the professor's long digits were entwined in his +locks, and the man of science showed no disposition to let go. + +"Sa-ay, yo-ou animated hop-toad, I reckin you'd better let go uv ther +Mexican gent's draperies, er I'll be compelled ter drill yer, by +hemlock." + +It was Rafter who drawled out the words, and, as he spoke, he held a +revolver leveled at the professor's head. + +"Better drop the varmint, perfuss," directed Pete, from the ground, +"they've got us hog-tied and ready fer the brand." + +"By ginger! I cal-kerlate ther ain't no de-oubt uv thet," drawled +Rafter, as the professor dropped his hold on Ramon's locks, and began +flourishing a small geological hammer. + +It would be wearisome to relate in detail all that took place at the +mesa after this, but suffice it to say that Ramon's rage on the +discovery that the lads had accidentally found the underground +passageway was what it might have been imagined to be. As we know, a +fruitless pursuit of them followed. + +This over, the rascals were faced with a dilemma. The boat in which it +had been arranged that Hickey, Divver and Rafter were to take passage +had been appropriated by the boys. + +"A thousand evils light upon them," raged Ramon, as he stood dripping +on the bank of the stream. "It is a hundred to one that they also +seize the three horses I had reserved for your use, gentlemen." + +"Waal, I calkerlate thet sooner er later we'll cotch up ter these young +catermounts, and then, by chowder, we'll mek it quite interesting fer +them, whatsoever," promised Rafter significantly. + +"Looks like we'll hev ter trek across ther mountains, after all," +commented Hickey, no more moved by what had occurred than he ever was +by anything. + +But in this he reckoned without Ramon's resourcefulness. The Mexican +was as clever as he was unscrupulous. Necessity being the mother of +invention, he soon devised a plan to avoid the long and perilous +excursion across the barren hills. + +Under his direction, the wagon-bed was taken off the running-gear, and +the tarpaulin cover so adjusted as to make it water-tight. Rafter was +a skillful carpenter, having once done honest work in a Maine shipyard, +so that the improvised boat was soon ready for transportation. Working +all night, in shifts, it was ready for its voyage down the river the +next morning, and just about the time our lads were eating breakfast, +the desperadoes, with the professor and Pete lying tightly bound in the +bottom of the clumsy craft, made a start. + +The stock, including that of the ranch party, which Hickey's sharp eyes +had discovered, was left in charge of some of Ramon's mestizos at the +mesa. As ill-luck would have it, almost the first thing that greeted +their eyes when they emerged from the tunnel was the sight of the old +Mexican whom Jack had bound and set adrift. He had been rescued from +his predicament by a rancher about ten miles down the stream, and had +made the best of his way back at once. His prayers, apologies and +explanations for the loss of the horses may be imagined as he faced +Ramon's wrath. In fact, but for the intervention of Hickey, it is +likely the old mestizo would have been flung into the water by his +enraged employer. + +A halt occurred on the river bank, while some peons were despatched for +fresh horses to a ranchero known to be friendly to the insurrectos. +Then began the ride to Madero's camp, which ended as we know. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BOB HARDING DOES "THE DECENT THING." + +"Back into the cave, fellows!" + +It was Jack who spoke, in a tone as low and cautious as they had +adopted since the beginning of their flight. + +"Say, Jack, if they ever do locate us, we're in a regular mouse-trap," +exclaimed Ralph, gazing back into the cave, which had no outlet except +at the front. + +"Can't be helped. Needs must when a certain person drives," responded +the rancher's son. "Listen, they're coming closer." + +The trampling of their pursuer's horses could, in fact, now be heard +quite distinctly in the gulch below. Suddenly all sound ceased. + +"They've stopped to listen," whispered Jack. "I only hope they hear +our horses up ahead." + +Apparently the searchers did hear, for, after a brief pause, on they +came again. As nearly as the boys could judge, there seemed to be +several of them. They made a formidable noise, as they came crashing +along below. Hardly daring to breathe, the boys crouched back into +their retreat. Their nerves were strung as taut as vibrating electric +wires, their hearts pounded till they shook their frames. The crucial +moment was at hand. + +If the insurrectos passed the cave-mouth without glancing upward and +noticing it, the boys were out of the most imminent part of their +peril. If, on the other hand--but none of the party concealed in the +cave dared to think of that. + +On came the trampling, and now it was quite near. A few moments would +decide it all. Voices could be distinguished now. Among them the boys +recognized the quiet tones of Madero himself. + +"You say, Señor Harding," he said, using English, "that those boys came +this way?" + +"I am almost certain of it, general," returned the voice of the +traitor. "I saw their tracks, and, as you know, called your attention +to them." + +"If you find them, Harding, you shall have the reward I promised. I +would not have them slip through my fingers now for anything in the +world. Merrill's son, you said, was one of them, Señor Ramon?" + +"Yes," rejoined another of the horsemen, "and the young brat is as +slippery as an eel. He and this Coyote Pete, as they call him, escaped +me once before in the Grizzly Pass. I have a debt to even up with both +of them." + +Ramon did not mention the hidden treasure of the mission. Perhaps he +had reason to fear that to do so would be to bring the anger of General +Madero upon him, for he was now apparently posing as a patriot and an +active insurrecto agent. + +"We must have him," declared Madero, in a voice that fairly made Jack's +blood run cold. Its smoothness and velvety calmness veiled a merciless +ferocity. + +"We will get them, never fear, general," Bob Harding's voice could be +heard assuring the insurrecto leader; "if they escape now, it will mean +the ruination of all our plans." + +"You are right, Señor Harding," came Madero's voice; "and now, would +you oblige me by seeing if that is not a cave up there on the bank of +the gulch." + +Important as absolute silence was, a gasp of dismay forced itself to +the lads' lips. From the conversation they had overheard, it was +evident Bob Harding was trying hard to cultivate favor with General +Madero. In that case, he was not likely to conceal the fact that it +was actually a cave Madero's sharp eyes had spied, or that the cavern +held the very three youths the Mexicans were in search of. + +"Let's rush out and end it all," whispered Ralph, upon whom the tension +was telling cruelly. + +"If you attempt any such thing, I'll knock you down," Walt assured him. +The ranch boy had taken the right way to brace Ralph up. The Eastern +lad bit his trembling lip, but said no more. Do not think from this +that Ralph Stetson was a coward in any sense of the word. There are +some natures, however, that can endure pain, or rush barehanded upon a +line of guns, which yet prove unequal to the strain of awaiting a +threatened calamity in silence and fortitude. + +"Here, hold my horse," they heard Harding say to one of his companions, +"I'll soon see if that is a cave or not." + +"Bah! It is nothing but a hole in the ground," scoffed Ramon, "we are +wasting time, my general." + +"Not so," retorted Madero. "I mean to have those boys, if we have to +turn over every stone in the valley for them." + +"Ye-ew bate," drawled Rafter, who was one of the searching party, with +his two companions, "I've got a word ter say, by silo, ter ther boy who +used my name." + +"I guess that goes for all of us," rumbled Divver's throaty bass. + +Harding's footsteps could now be heard clambering up the bank. From +below his companions shouted encouragement to him. + +"Ef they be in thar, yew let me take fust crack at 'em, by chowder," +admonished Rafter's voice from below. + +"You'll all get a turn," came from Harding, in his lightest, most +flippant tones. + +"How can men be such ruffians?" wondered Jack to himself, as he heard. +He knew now why he had instinctively mistrusted Harding from the first. +Yet they had saved his life that very morning. Was Harding going to +return evil for good, by betraying them to their merciless enemies? It +looked so. + +The former West Pointer's feet were close to the cave mouth now. +Crouching back in the dark, the lads awaited what the seconds would +bring forth. Jack's active brain, in the brief time he had had for +revolving plans to avert the catastrophe that seemed impending, had +been unable to hit upon one hitherto. Suddenly, however, he gave a +sharp exclamation, and muttered to himself: + +"I'll do it. It can do no harm, anyway." + +"Well, is it a cave?" + +The question came up from below, in Ramon's voice. The ruffian's +accents fairly trembled with eagerness. + +"Don't know yet--this confounded brush. What!" + +Harding, who had crawled in among the chapparal, started back, as +Jack's voice addressed him, coming in low, tense accents from the +interior of the cave: + +"Remember, Harding, we saved your life this morning--are you going to +betray us now?" + +"Is that you, Merrill? You see I know your name. That was a shabby +trick you worked on us." + +"Shabby trick! Our lives were at stake," retorted Jack. + +"Hurry up thar, young feller," came from below in Rafter's voice; "by +hemlock, I thought I hearn horses up ther canyon apiece." + +"All right; I'll be there--just investigating," flung back Harding. +"What do you want me to do, Merrill?" + +"What your own conscience suggests," was the reply. + +"But, if they ever found out, it would cost me my life," almost +whimpered Harding, all his craven nature showing now. + +"But they never will. Don't let them know we are here, and ride on. +We will escape, if possible, and if we are caught, your secret is safe +with us." + +"You--you'll promise it?" + +"On my honor." + +"I'll--I'll do it, then, Merrill; but for Heaven's sake, don't betray +me." + +"You need not fear that," rejoined Jack, with a touch of scorn in his +voice. "I have given my word." + +"Say, young feller, hev yer found a gold mine up thar?" shouted Rafter. + +"What is detaining you, Señor Harding," came Madero's voice. + +"Nothing, sir," rejoined Harding, diving out of the bushes once more, +and standing erect on the hillside; "that cave was quite deep, and it +took me some time to make sure it was empty." + +"Empty! By chowder, them _wuz_ horses, I hearn up ther canyon, then," +ejaculated the lanky Rafter. + +"You found no traces of those lads there, señor?" + +It was Ramon who spoke now, all his sinister character showing in his +face. + +"Not a trace of them," rejoined Harding, scrambling down the hill, +grasping at bushes, as he half slid on his way, to steady himself. + +"Well, gentlemen, they cannot be far off. We will have them ere long," +General Madero assured his followers, as Bob Harding mounted once more, +and they rode off, pressing forward hotly in the direction of the +tramplings Rafter had heard, and which came, as my readers have +guessed, from the horses the boys had turned loose. + +"Say," whispered Walt, as still a-tremble with excitement the lads +listened to the departing trampling of the insurrectos' horses, "that +was a decent thing for Harding to do." + +"The first decent thing, I imagine, that he ever did in his life," +rejoined Jack. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE TABLES TURNED. + +How the hours after that dragged themselves on, the boys never could +recollect exactly. The great danger through which they had just passed +had thrown them into a sort of coma. Ralph actually slept a part of +the time. An uneasy, troubled slumber, it was, frequently interrupted +by outcries of alarm. Walt Phelps sat doggedly at Ralph's side, and, +between them, the two came to the conclusion that, come what might, +they would have to abandon the cave before long. + +In the first place, the Mexicans might take it into their heads to make +a second search, in view of the fact that they could not discover the +boys anywhere else. In the second, there was no water or food near at +hand, and if they did not take the trail pretty soon, there was grave +danger of their being too exhausted to do so. + +It was almost dusk when the three lads emerged from their retreat. +Jack had previously made a careful reconnoiter, without, however, +seeing anything to cause alarm. As quietly as they could, considering +the nature of the ground, they descended the steep side of the gulch +and gained the bottom without mishap. + +So far, not a sign had they been able to detect of the insurrectos, and +their spirits rose accordingly. Gauging their direction by the sinking +sun, the fugitives struck out for the east. That, they had concluded, +would be the best general direction. Toward the east, they knew, lay +the railroad and the more cultivated part of the province. Westward +were nothing but sterile, arid plains, without water or inhabitants, +supporting no vegetation but thorny bushes and the melancholy, odorous +mesquite bush. + +Halting frequently, to make sure that they were not being followed or +spied upon, the lads pushed steadily forward, climbing the opposite +slope of the gulch, and finally emerging into a close-growing tangle of +pinon and spiny brush of various kinds. Through this tangle--at sad +cost to their clothes, they pushed their way--disregarding the +scratches and cuts it dealt them, in their anxiety to get within +striking distance of their friends, or, at any rate, of the Mexican +army. From camp gossip, they knew that the regulars were devoting most +of their attention to guarding the railroad line, inasmuch as the +insurrectos had hitherto concentrated most of their attacks on the +bridges, tracks and telegraph lines. + +For half an hour or more they shoved steadily forward without +exchanging more than an occasional word. It was rapidly growing dark +now, and the light in the woodland was becoming gray and hazy. +Suddenly, Jack, who was slightly in advance, halted abruptly, and +placed his finger to his lips. + +It needed no interpreter to read the sign aright. + +Silence! + +Tiptoeing cautiously forward behind their leader, the other two lads +perceived that they had blundered upon a spot in which several horses +had been left unguarded by the search parties, while they pushed their +way on foot through the impenetrable brush. But it was not this fact +so much that caused them to catch their breaths with gasps of +amazement, as something else which suddenly became visible. + +To the boys' utter dumfounding, they beheld, seated on the ground, +bound hand and foot with raw-hide--the professor and Coyote Pete! Both +looked dismal enough, as they sat helplessly there, while three +soldiers, who had been left to guard the halting-place, rolled dice on +a horse-blanket. + +So intent were these men on their game, that they had laid aside their +arms, and their rifles lay temptingly almost within hands' reach of the +three lads crouching in the brush. To make any sudden move, however, +would be to attract attention, and this was the last thing they desired +to do, naturally. + +Suddenly, and before Jack could withdraw his eager, gazing face from +its frame of brush. Coyote Pete looked up. His eyes met Jack's in a +startled, incredulous stare. But the old plainsman was far too +seasoned a veteran to allow his amazement to betray him into an +exclamation. Nor did he apprise the professor by even so much as a +look of what he had seen. The man of science was staring abstractedly +before him, at the gamblers, perhaps, as he watched the rolling dice, +working out a calculus or other abstruse problem. Such a mental +condition, at any rate, might have been assumed, from the far-away +expression of his benevolent countenance. + +Without making a move, Pete rolled his eyes toward the rifles. To +Jack, this motion read as plain as print: + +"_Nail them_." + +This, of course, was just what the lad desired to do, but how to +accomplish it without arousing the gamblers, who, despite their +absorption in their game, every now and then cast a glance around, was +a problem. + +Suddenly Pete threw himself to the ground. Apparently, he had been +seized by some terrible pain. Groaning, in what appeared to be agony, +his bound figure rolled about on the earth, while his legs, which below +his knees were free, kicked vigorously. + +"Oh--oh--oh!" groaned Pete. + +"What's the matter?" cried the gamblers, springing up in consternation +at this sudden seizure. + +"Oh, oh! mucho malo estomago!" howled Pete. + +So well was all this simulated, that even the professor came out of his +reverie and looked concerned, while the gamblers, laying down their +dice for an instant, hastened to the struggling, writhing cow-puncher's +side. + +It was the moment to act. + +Silently, almost as so many serpents, Jack and his comrades wriggled +out of the brush, and, in a flash, the coveted rifles were in their +possession. As Ralph seized his, however, the boy, in his eagerness, +tripped and fell with a crash against some tin cooking pots. + +Like a flash, the soldiers, who had been bending over Pete, wheeled +about. But it was to look into the muzzles of their own rifles they +did so. + +Too dumfounded at the sudden turn events had taken to move, the +insurrectos stood there quaking. Evidently the mestizos expected +nothing better than instant death. + +"Ralph, take your knife, and cut loose Pete and the professor, quick!" + +Jack gave the order without averting his eyes from the three scared +insurrectos. + +While he and Walt kept the fellows covered, Ralph hastened to Pete's +side, and in a few seconds the cow-puncher and the professor were free, +although almost too stiff to move. The professor was, moreover, lame. +With a groan, he sank back on a rock, unable, for the time being, to +move. + +Pete, however, gave himself a vigorous shake, and instantly made a dart +for the saddle of one of the horses. He returned in a jiffy with two +lariats, with which he proceeded to "hog-tie" the Mexicans with +neatness and despatch, as he himself would have expressed it. + +This done, he turned to Jack. + +"Thank the Lord, you're safe, boy," he breathed, and for a minute Jack +saw something bright glisten in the rugged fellow's eyes. But the next +instant he was the same old Pete. + +"Waal," he said, looking about him, "I reckon the next move is to stop +these gents frum any vocal exercise, and then we skedaddle." + +"That's the program, Pete," assented Jack, hastening to the professor's +side. The old man was almost overcome. + +"My boys! My boys!" he kept repeating. "I never thought to see you +again." + +"Nor we you, for a while, professor," said Jack hastily, while Pete, +not over-gently, stuffed the Mexicans' mouths full of gags made from +their own shirts. + +"But, my boy, you will have to leave me again," went on the man of +science dejectedly, "my ankle pains me so that I cannot move." + +"But you can ride, can't you, sir?" asked Ralph. + +"Yes! yes! I can do that. But where are your horses?" + +"Right thar," said Pete, coming up. He waved his hand in an eloquent +gesture at the animals standing at the edge of the little clearing, +"take yer pick, gents. Thet little sorrel jes' about suits me." + +So saying, the cow-puncher picked out a wiry, active looking little +beast, and selected four others for his companions. The professor was +aided into the saddle somehow, and, once up, sat clinging to the horn +desperately. + +"They'll never take me alive, boys," he assured them. + +"That's the stuff, sir," cried Pete lustily; "you'll make a +broncho-busting plainsman yet. Now, then, are we all ready?" + +"All ready here," sung out Jack, who, like the others, was already in +his borrowed saddle. + +"All right, then. We're off, as the fellow says." + +Pete dug his heels into his active little mount's sides, and the cayuse +sprang forward in a way that showed Pete he was bestride of a good +animal for their purposes. + +Followed by the others, he plunged forward into the darkling woods, +while behind them in the clearing three of the most astonished Mexicans +across the border stood raging inwardly with seething fires, but +outwardly voiceless and helpless as kittens. Thus, by an astonishing +train of circumstances, were our adventurers once more together. + +"But how in thunderation----?" began Pete, as they rode forward. + +"We'll tell you some other time," broke in Jack. "The main thing now +is to get away from here, for I've a notion that in no very short time +it's going to be mighty unhealthy for gringoes." + +"Guess you're right, lad. How're yer makin' out, perfusser?" + +"Except for a pain in my ankle, I am getting along very well, thank +you," was the reply. + +"Say, he's all wool and a yard wide, even if he does look like a +softy," declared Pete, to himself. + +Threading their way through the wood, the fugitives emerged, after some +hard riding, upon the bare hillside. Below them, and some distance +ahead, could be seen the twinkling lights of the village Jack had +noticed the night before, while on their right hands gleamed the +firefly-like lights of the insurrecto camp. + +"That must be ther road down thar," said Pete, pointing. "What d'ye +say, ef we cut inter it below ther camp?" + +"And ride into the village?" asked Ralph. + +"Not to any vast extent, lad," rejoined the cow-puncher. "I'll bet +Ramon and Muddy-hairo, or whatever his name is, hev thet greaser +community purty well tagged with our descriptions by now. No, we'll +hit ther road below the camp, and then swing off afore we hit ther +village. It will beat wanderin' about on these hills, and, besides, +we've got ter hev water an' food purty soon. I'm most tuckered out." + +This reminded the others that they, too, were almost exhausted, and it +was agreed by all that Pete's plan was a good one. By keeping to the +road, they might find a hacienda or native hut where they could obtain +refreshments without being asked embarrassing questions. + +As they rode along, talking thus in low tones, Coyote Pete suddenly +drew rein. On the dark hillside he loomed for an instant, as fixed and +motionless as an equestrian statue. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Ralph. + +"Hush, lad. Do you hear something?" + +Faintly, very faintly, out of the west came a sound full of sinister +significance. + +_Clickety-clack_! _Clickety-clack_! _Clickety-clack_! + +"They're after us!" exclaimed Jack, reading the night-borne sounds +aright. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +BUCK BRADLEY'S AUTOMOBILE. + +How their escape had been discovered so soon, was, had there been time +for it, a matter of speculation. There was little doubt, though, that +some of the searchers, returning unexpectedly, had come across the +bound mestizos, and had at once given the alarm. + +Coyote Pete glanced about him, as if looking for some means of escape. +The turn of the road that they hoped to make was still some distance +ahead, but the road itself lay stretched, like a white, dusty ribbon, +just before them. In the darkness, it showed clearly, and, as his eyes +fell upon it, Coyote Pete's mind was made up. + +"Take to the road," he cried, "there's a gulch just a little way up +ahead of us." + +In fact, the plainsman's watchful eye had detected, a short distance +ahead, a black void in the surface of the hillside, which he guessed to +be a deep arroyo. + +Their horses' hoofs clattered in an unpleasantly loud manner, as they +reached the hard highway, and began to hammer down it, still bearing +due east. Behind them now they could hear distinctly the yells and +shouts of the pursuers. They were still some distance off, however. + +"Let 'em howl," remarked Coyote Pete. "The lung exercise is all +they'll git. With this start, we ought to beat them out easy." + +"Look! Look!" cried Ralph, suddenly pointing ahead. "What's that?" + +They all saw it at the same moment--two big lights, like eyes. +Seemingly, the astonishing apparition was coming toward them at a good +speed. The shafts of light cast forward cut the darkness like fiery +swords. + +The fugitives paused, bewildered. What did this new circumstance +betoken? + +"What do you make her out to be, Pete?" asked Jack. + +"Why, boy, if it warn't thet we're down in such a benighted part of +ther country, I should say that yonder was a gasoline gig." + +"An automobile!" exclaimed Walt. "It does look like one, for a fact." + +"And, to my way of thinking, a naughtymobile is jes' about the ticket +fer us, right now," grunted Pete. "Hark!" + +There was no doubt now that the two shimmering bright lights ahead were +the head lanterns of an auto. They could hear the sharp cough of her +engines, as she took the hill. + +"She's a powerful one, too," commented Ralph, listening. The Eastern +lad knew a good deal about motor cars. His face bore an interested +expression. + +"I don't know who'd own one of them things down here but an American," +went on Pete, as if he had been in a reverie all this time, "and if it +is a Yankee, it means that maybe we are out of our difficulties." + +"Well, what shall we do?" demanded Jack. "Meet it, or take to the +woods?" + +As he spoke, from far behind them came the sound of shots and shouts. +That settled it. + +"We'll take a chance, and meet them," declared Pete, riding forward. + +Followed by the others, he deployed across the road, and an instant +later the bright glare of the car's headlights enveloped them. From +the vehicle, there came a sharp hail as the driver ground down the +brakes. + +"Say, you fellows, can you direct us to the camp?" + +"They're nothing but a bunch of greasers," came another voice from +behind the lights; "drive ahead, Jim." + +"Hold on thar, Buck," hailed Coyote Pete. "I'd like ter hev a word +with you." + +"Say, are you chaps Americans?" demanded an astonished voice. + +"Reckon so," hailed back Pete dryly, "that's what my ma said. Who air +you, anyhow?" + +"I am Big Buck Bradley, manager, owner and sole proprietor of Buck +Bradley's Unparalleled Monst-er-ous and Unsurpassed Wild West Show and +Congress of Cowboys," came back the answer. "Who are you?" + +"Well, I reckon jes' at present we're in danger of being made a Wild +West Show of, ourselves," drawled Pete. "But are you really Buck +Bradley himself?" + +"I was, at dinner-time," was the response. + +"Hoorah!" yelled Pete. "It ain't possible, is it, Buck, thet you've +forgot Mister Peter de Peyster?" + +"What, Coyote Pete?" + +"That's me!" + +"Waal, you thundering old coyote, what air you doin' here?" + +"Gittin' chased by a bunch of the toughest insurrectos you ever clapped +eyes on, and it's up ter you ter help us out," responded Pete. He +looked back, and motioned to the others, who had listened in +astonishment to this dialogue. "Come on, boys, and git interduced; +there ain't much time fer ettiquette." + +"Yee-ow-w-w-w-w!" came a yell behind them. + +"What's that?" exclaimed Buck, who, as the boys could now see, was a +big, red-faced chap, clad in a linen auto-duster, combined with which +his sombrero, with its beaded band, looked odd. + +"Why, that's an invitation ter us ter stop," rejoined Pete. + +Rapidly he explained the case, and Buck began to roar and bellow +angrily, as was his wont. + +"Waal, what d'yer think uv that? The derned greasers! And I was on my +way ter give 'em some free tickets. We show down in the village +to-night. Help you out? Surest thing you know. Turn them broncs +loose, and you and yer friends pile in. Tell me ther rest as we go +along." + +The party of adventurers, as may be imagined, lost no time in accepting +the Wild West Show man's hearty invitation, the professor being helped +into the tonneau by Coyote Pete, who lifted the bony scientist as if he +were nothing but a featherweight. + +"Back her up, and turn around, bo," Buck ordered his chauffeur. "I'm +out in my guess if we've got much time to lose." + +Rapidly the car was turned, and was soon speeding in the direction they +wished to go. The stolen insurrecto horses galloped off into the +hills, snorting with terror, as the car began to move. + +"Say, Pete, what-cher bin doin'?" began Buck, as the vehicle gathered +way, "shootin' up ther town?" + +"No, siree! I'm a law-abidin' citizen now," came from Pete, "and +actin' as chaperony to this yer party." + +"You seem ter hev chaperoned them inter a heap of trouble," observed +Buck dryly, as the car gathered way. + +"'Tain't all my fault. Listen," rejoined Pete, and straightaway +launched into a detailed account of their adventures. + +"Waal," observed Buck, at the conclusion, "you sure are the number one +chop feller fer gettin' inter trouble, but you bet yer life I ain't +a-goin' ter fergit ther time yer stood up with me and held off a bunch +of crazy cattle-thieves, down on the Rio Grande. So, gents, give yer +orders, and Buck Bradley 'ull carry 'em out." + +But, alas! as the redoubtable owner of Buck Bradley's Unparalleled, +etc., Wild West uttered these words, there came a sudden loud report. + +_Bang_! + +"Christopher! They're firing from ambush!" yelled Pete, jumping two +feet up from his seat in the tonneau. + +"Worse than that, consarn the luck!" growled Bradley, "thet rear tire's +busted agin." + +"Can't you run on a flat wheel?" asked Ralph anxiously. + +"Not over these roads, son. We wouldn't last ten minutes. Hey you, +chaffer! Get out an' fix it, willyer?" + +"I'll try, sir," said the man, bringing the bumping, jolting car to a +stop. + +"Try, sir?" echoed Buck indignantly. "Didn't you tell me, when I hired +you, thet you was a first-class, A number one chaffer?" + +"Sure I did," was the indignant reply, as the driver knelt in the dust +and began examining the tire carefully. "But you can't fix a puncture +in a jiffy." + +"This one is a-goin' ter be fixed in a jiffy," rejoined Buck ominously, +"or there'll be a punctured chaffer 'round here." + +As he spoke, the proprietor of the Wild West Show moved his great bulk +in the forward seat, and produced a heavy-calibred revolver, that +glistened in the starlight. + +"Get busy!" he ordered. + +"Y-y-y-y-yes, sir," stuttered the chauffeur, who had been hired in San +Antonio, before the show crossed the border, and found itself in the +country of the insurrectos. + +"Maybe I can give him a hand--I know something about cars," volunteered +Ralph. + +"Then help him out, will yer son?" puffed the red-faced Buck Bradley. +"It's my private opinion," he went on, in a voice intended to be +confidential, but which was merely a subdued bellow, "that that chaffer +of mine couldn't chaff a chafing dish." + +Ralph took one of the oil headlights out of its socket, and, taking it +to the back of the car, found the chauffeur scratching his head over +the tire. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Ralph. + +"Why, you see, sir," stammered the chauffeur, "I don't just exactly +know. I think it's a puncture, but----" + +"Say, aren't you supposed to be a chauffeur?" inquired Ralph +disgustedly. + +"Waal, I run a taxicab onct," was the reply, in a low tone, however, +"but that's all the chauffering I ever done. You see, I went broke in +San Antone, and----" + +"All right; all right," snapped Ralph impatiently. "Say, you people, +you'd better get out of the car, while I tinker this up." + +"Is it a bad bust-up?" puffed Buck Bradley, clambering out. "I only +bought ther car a week ago, and I've spent more time under it than in +it, ever since." + +"It's not very bad--just a little blow-out," announced Ralph, who had +been examining the wheel. "Got a jack and an emergency kit?" + +"Sure!" snorted Buck Bradley. "Here, you excuse for a chaffer, git +ther hospital outfit, and hurry up." + +"Please, sir, I--I forgot the emergency kit," stuttered the new +chauffeur. + +"You forgot! Great Moses!" howled Buck. "Have you got the jack, then?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Get it, please," said Ralph, pulling off one of his gloves. The boy +rapidly slashed it with his pocket-knife, while the others watched him +interestedly. In the meantime, the chauffeur had tremblingly "jacked +up" the car. + +Binding his handkerchief about the puncture, and placing the leather +from his glove about that, Ralph rapidly wound some strips of raw-hide +from Pete's pockets about the bandage. This done he proceeded to blow +up the tire. To his great joy the extemporized "plug" held. The tire +swelled and grew hard. + +"It won't last long, but it may hold long enough for us," said Ralph, +as he let the car down again and handed the jack to the "chaffer." + +As the man took and replaced it at the back of the car, Buck Bradley +regarded him with extreme disfavor. Then he turned to Ralph. + +"Say, sonny," he said, "did you say you could run a car?" + +"Yes." + +"This one?" + +"I think so." + +Bradley turned to his "chaffer." + +"Here, you!" he bellowed, "it's about two miles into town. Hoof it in +thar an' when yer git ter camp tell Sam Stow to run ther show +ter-night. I'm off on important business, tell him." + +As the "chaffer" shuffled off, Buck Bradley began to hum: + + "I knew at dawn, when de rooster crowed, + Dere wuz gwine ter be trouble on de Gran' Trunk Ro-ad!" + + +"It's a good thing you got that done in jig-time, young feller," spoke +Buck, as the job and his song were finished, and they scrambled back +into the car, "fer here they come." + +He pointed back up the starlit road. + +Not more than a few hundred yards off, several mounted figures came +into view. At the same moment that the occupants of the car sighted +them, the pursuing insurrectos made out the automobile. + +Yelling at the top of their voices, they swept down upon it. + +"Let 'er out, and don't bother ter hit nuthin' but ther high places," +Buck admonished Ralph, who now held the wheel. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +AT THE ESMERALDA MINE. + +"If only I was certain that my boy and his friends were safe, Geisler, +I wouldn't feel so much anxiety." + +Mr. Merrill, an anxious look on his face, paced up and down the floor +of the office of the Esmeralda Mine. It was the morning of the day +following the dash for safety in Buck Bradley's car, and the mine owner +and his superintendent had been in anxious consultation since +breakfast. In truth, they had enough to worry them. In the specie +room of the mine was stored more than $20,000 worth of dust, the +product of the big stamp mill. + +From what they had been able to ascertain, the insurrectos were +unusually active in the neighborhood. Open warning had been sent to +the American mine owners, including Mr. Merrill, to be prepared to +yield up generously and freely, or have their property destroyed. In +addition to this worry, the mine owner and his superintendent, together +with the three young "level bosses," had been practically cut off from +communication with the outside world for the past twenty-four hours. + +A branch of the Chihuahua Northern tapped the mine, but no train had +puffed its way up the steep grade for more than three days, and it was +useless to try to use the wires, as they had been put out of commission +almost at the beginning of the trouble in the province. + +"If I had ever dreamed the trouble would assume such serious +proportions, the last thing I would have done would have been to allow +the professor or his young charges to journey to the Haunted Mesa," +continued the mine owner. + +Geisler, a rotund German, with a wealth of flaxen hair and moustache, +puffed at his china-bowled pipe before replying. + +"Dese Megxicans is der teufel ven dey get started, ain'd idt?" he +remarked. "For a veek, now, dere has not been a tap of vork done py +der mine, und nodt a sign uv der rabblescallions uv loafers vot vos +employed deere." + +"That is a lesson to me in employing Mexican labor," declared Mr. +Merrill emphatically. "If it isn't a saint's day carousal, it's a +revolution, and if it isn't a revolution, it's a bad attack of aversion +to work. I tell you, Geisler, the folks who are sympathizing with +these insurrectos don't know the people or the country." + +"Dot is righd," rejoined Geisler, expelling a cloud of blue smoke. "De +country iss all righd, but der peoples--ach!" + +He spread his hands, as if in despair. As he did so, the door of the +wooden building opened, giving a glimpse of the empty, idle shaft-mouth +beyond, and a young man of about twenty-two or so entered. + +He was a mining student, employed as a level boss by Mr. Merrill. His +employer looked up as he entered. + +"Well, Markley, any news?" + +"Why, sir, that arrant rascal, Pedro, just rode by. I asked him if he +couldn't get the men back to work on Number Two, and he wouldn't hear +of it. He says that the insurrectos are going to wipe out all the +American mines, and drive the gringoes out of the country." + +"Oh, they are, are they?" questioned Mr. Merrill, a grim look +overspreading his face. "Just let them try it on the Esmeralda, that's +all." + +"You mean that you would oppose them, sir?" + +"Oppose them! Holy smoke, man, you don't think I'd sit here with my +hands folded and let a lot of rascally mestizos wreck my property, do +you?" + +"I should remarg idt not," puffed Herr Geisler. + +"But, sir, there are only five of us here. How long do you suppose we +could stick it out?" + +"Till der lastd oldt cat be dead, py chiminy!" exploded the German. +"Herr Merrill, you are all righd. Young man, are you afraidt?" + +"No," protested young Markley indignantly, "but----" + +"Budt what, eh? Answer me dot, blease. Budt vot?" + +The belligerent German advanced till his pudgy forefinger was shaking +under Markley's aristocratic nose. + +"Well, they say, you know, that Madero isn't very gentle to his +prisoners, especially when they happen to be gringoes." + +"There, there, Markley," said Mr. Merrill, with a tinge of impatience, +"don't repeat all the old gossips' tales about Madero. Why, if one +believed half of them, he would be endowed with hoofs and horns, not to +mention a tail with a spike on the end. If either you or Redman or +Jennings wishes to leave the mine, you may. I'll write you a check for +the amount I owe you now." + +"Well, you see, sir," began Markley, but Geisler interrupted him +furiously. + +"Ach Himmel! Vot are you, a man or a Strassbourg pie? Donnervetter! +Go! Raus! gedt oudt! Vamoose!" + +"Sir," began Markley, turning to Mr. Merrill from this furious storm of +abuse. + +But his employer had taken out his check-book and fountain pen, and +seemed intent upon making out the pink slips. Markley, baffled, turned +with a red face toward Geisler. + +"It's all right for you to talk," he said in an aggrieved tone, "but we +are all young fellows. We have our careers in front of us. We want to +make something of ourselves----" + +"Ach!" broke out the German explosively, waving his pipe about angrily, +"make deaders of yourselfs. Dot is vot you shouldt do. Go on. Dere +are your pay checks. Take dem, und gedt oudt." + +Glad enough to escape, Markley hastily thanked his employer, and, +snatching up the pink slips, made for the door. Outside, Redman and +Jennings were waiting. + +"Come on," said Jennings, as Markley waved the checks, "let's get out +of here. Old Madero may be along at any minute, and they say he hangs +you up by the thumbs, and----" + +Their voices died out, as they hurried off to pack their belongings, +after which they made off for the nearest town, some ten miles away to +the southeast. + +"Veil," began the explosive Teuton, as their voices died away, "dere +iss dree vine specimens--nodt by no means." + +"You can hardly blame them for looking out for their own interests," +rejoined Mr. Merrill. "It isn't everybody who, like you, would stick +by his employer at the risk of his neck." + +"You is more dan my employer, py chiminy, you voss mein friendt," +exclaimed Geisler. "I aindt forgot it dot time dat no vun vouldt gif +me a chob pecos dey dink I been vun pig vool. Vot didt you do, den? +You proved yourself anudder fooll py gifing me a chob. Dink you, den, +I run from dis, my dearie-o? Oh, not by a Vestphalia ham! Here I am, +und here I shtay shtuck, py chiminy!" + +The mine owner gave his faithful super a grateful look, and then +snatched up his soft hat with a brisk movement. + +"Come, Geisler," he said, "let us take a look around. Possibly, in the +event of an attack, there may be one or two places that will need +strengthening." + +"Ach, Himmel! vot a mans," muttered the German to himself, as he +followed his employer out. "I vork for him, und, py chiminy grickets, +I vight for him too, alretty." + +The stamp mill and main buildings of the mine, including the boiler and +engine room, were surrounded by a stout fence of one-inch planking, +perhaps ten feet in height. Frequent strikes and minor outbreaks among +the Mexican miners had persuaded Mr. Merrill to follow the example of +most of his fellow American mine owners in Mexico, and be prepared for +emergencies. Facing toward the west, was a large gate in this +"stockade," as it might almost be called. Surmounting this, was the +bell, idle now, with which the miners were summoned to work. From the +gate, which was swung open as Markley and his cronies had left it in +their retreat, could be seen a huddle of small adobe houses--the homes +of the laborers--and beyond these, and deeper in the valley, lay the +red-tiled roofs and green gardens of Santa Marta, the nearest town. + +Men could be seen moving about the laborers' huts--in fact, there was +an air almost of expectant bustle about the place. Shielding his eyes, +Mr. Merrill gazed down toward the little town. His keen vision had +caught the glint of a firearm of some sort between the legs of a man +seated outside one of the huts. + +"These chaps must have advance information of some sort," he remarked +to Geisler. "That fellow yonder is cleaning up a rifle." + +"Looks like it voss business alretty," remarked Geisler. "Himmel, I +vould gif vun dollar und ninety-eight cents, alretty, to see a troop of +regulars coming up der railroad tracks." + +But the tracks lay empty and shining before them, without even a +freight car backed upon a siding to suggest the activity that, at this +time of the week, usually reigned about the mine. + +"There isn't a regiment nearer than Rosario, at last reports," rejoined +Mr. Merrill, "and no way of reaching them, now that the wires are cut. +If only I dared leave the place, I'd ride to Rosario, but the instant +we vacated it, those yellow jackals down yonder would come swarming in." + +"Dot is right," agreed Geisler, with a frown, "dey know, vorse luck, +aboudt der amount of goldt vot is stored in der strong room. I bet you +your life, dey iss yust votching for a chance to make idt a addack py +der mine." + +"That's my idea, too, Geisler, and---- Hullo, who's this coming?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +AN ACT OF TREACHERY. + +He pointed inquiringly down the hillside at a young figure on horseback +that was wearily climbing the declivity. + +"He voss come a goot long vay, alretty," commented Geisler, taking in +the dust-covered appearance of horse and rider. The gray powder, which +covered both, was visible even at that distance. + +"He's an American," went on Mr. Merrill, "a young man, too. I don't +recollect ever having seen him before round here. Wonder what he +wants?" + +While he spoke, the rider came rapidly forward, and presently drew rein +beside the miner and his super. He was a young man, tall, well +muscled, and with a well-poised head, but his eyes were set rather too +close, and there was something about that clean-shaven chin that rather +made you distrust him. + +"I've beaten those kids to it," he muttered to himself, as his eyes +first took in the two solitary figures standing at the gate. "The rest +will be easy." + +Bob Harding, for it was the exiled West Pointer, could hardly help +smiling, in fact, as he comprehended the simplicity of his task. + +"Good morning," he said in a pleasant voice, as he rode up. "Is this +the Esmeralda Mine?" + +"It is," rejoined Mr. Merrill, "and I am its owner. Come in and rest +yourself, won't you? You look fagged." + +It was the hearty, cordial greeting of one American in a strange land +to a fellow countryman. Bob Harding accepted with alacrity. He +slipped from his saddle as if he were weary to death, and, indeed, his +travel-stained clothes supported that idea. If the two men facing him, +though, could have seen him scattering dust in liberal proportions over +himself and his horse a short time before, they might not have fallen +into his trap so easily. With quirt and spur, he had worked his horse +into a sweat. At such tricks, Bob Harding was an adept. + +But of all this, of course, neither Mr. Merrill nor his super had any +idea. To their unsuspecting minds, Bob Harding was a fellow-countryman +in difficulty, and they treated him accordingly. + +"Phew!" remarked Harding, slipping his reins over his arm, and +following Mr. Merrill within the stockade, "I had a tough time getting +away from those insurrectos." + +The remark had just the effect he intended it should have. Mr. Merrill +regarded him with astonishment. Geisler muttered gutturally. + +"The insurrectos!" exclaimed Mr. Merrill. "Are they near at hand?" + +"They were," rejoined Bob Harding, secretly rejoicing to see how well +his plan was working, "but they are now in retreat. The government +troops met them near San Angelo, and drove them back to the west." + +"I had no idea there were any government troops closer than Rosario." + +"Nor had Madero's flying column, as he called it. But he found out a +few hours ago. In the confusion I escaped and rode on here. I have a +message for you from your son." + +"My son! Good Heavens! Is Jack in the hands----" + +"He was a prisoner of Madero, but he has escaped, and is now lying +wounded at a spot I will guide you to." + +"Himmel! Yack Merrill a prisoner, alretty!" gasped Herr Geisler. + +"Not only Master Merrill, but two boy friends of his, an old gentleman, +whom I should imagine was their instructor, and a cowboy." + +"Yes, it must be them!" exclaimed Mr. Merrill. "But how, in the name +of all that's wonderful, did they come across the border? I thought +they were at the Haunted Mesa, in New Mexico." + +"It is too long a story to relate to you now, señors," rejoined Bob +Harding, "I may tell you, though, that they are safe at the hacienda of +a friend. But your boy is seriously wounded, and must see you at once." + +"Good Heavens, Geisler! This is terrible news, Mr.--Mr.----" + +"Mr. Allen, of New York," put in Harding glibly. + +"Terrible news that Mr. Allen of New York brings us. You were with +them, Mr. Allen?" + +"I was, sir. In my capacity as war correspondent for the _Planet_, I +was with Madero's column. But, in the moment of defeat at the hands of +the regulars, the miserable greasers turned on me as a gringo. I was +compelled to flee for my life. First, however, I cut the bonds of our +young friends and their comrades, and under cover of night we escaped." + +Bob Harding was certainly warming to his subject as he went along. Mr. +Merrill regarded him with gratitude. + +"I've a horse in the stables, Mr. Allen," he said. "I'll saddle up, +right away, and accompany you. How can I ever thank you for all you +have done for my boy and his friends?" + +"Don't mention it," said Allen glibly; "we Americans must do little +things for one another, you know. But hurry, sir. Your boy was +calling for you when I left." + +"Poor lad!" exclaimed the deluded mine owner, hastening toward the +stable. "Geisler, you must stay and look after the place. How far is +it, Mr. Allen?" + +"Not more than ten miles, sir," was the rejoinder. + +"I can ride there and back before dark, then," declared Mr. Merrill. +"If the lad is strong enough to be moved, I'll bring him with me." + +All this time Geisler had been examining "Mr. Allen's" horse with a +singular expression. As the miner owner vanished in the direction of +the stable, he spoke: + +"Dot poor horse of yours vos aboudt tuckered in, aindt it?" he inquired. + +"Yes, poor brute," rejoined Bob Harding, "I rode at a furious pace." + +"Und got all der dust on his chest, und none on his hind quvarters," +commented the German suspiciously. + +But Harding returned his gaze frankly, and wiped his brow with a great +appearance of weariness. + +"Is that so?" he said. "I didn't notice it. But then, I rode so hard, +and----" + +"Are you ready, Mr. Allen?" + +It was Mr. Merrill's voice. He rode up, as he spoke, on a big +chestnut, which he had saddled and bridled faster than he had ever +equipped a horse before. + +"All ready, sir," was the response, as Bob Harding swung himself into +his saddle again. + +Geisler had run into the office. Now he reappeared, holding something +under his coat. He approached Mr. Merrill's side, and, while Bob +Harding was leaning over examining his saddle-girth, the German slipped +the object he held to his employer. + +"Idt's a gun," he whispered. "Keep idt handy. Py chiminy, I dink +maype you need him pefore you get through." + +"With the insurrectos in retreat?" laughed Mr. Merrill. "Geisler, you +are getting nervous in your old age. Come, Mr. Allen, let's be getting +forward, I can hardly wait till I see my boy." + +The horses plunged forward and clattered down the hillside. + +Geisler watched them till a bend in the road below hid them from view. +Then he turned slowly to reenter the stockade. + +"Py chiminy," he muttered, emitting huge clouds of blue smoke, "I dink +me dere vos a vood-pile in dot nigger, py cracious." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +AT ROSARIO STATION. + +The dull gray of the dawn was illuminating the east, and the breath of +the morning astir in the tree-tops, when Bill Whiting, station agent at +Rosario, began to bestir himself. The station agent was not about so +early on account of passengers that might be expected by an early +train--for the excellent reason that there was no morning train. Since +fighting had begun in Chihuahua, schedules had, to quote Bill, "gone to +pot." On a sidetrack lay a locomotive, smokeless and inert, just as +her crew had abandoned her. Some loaded freight cars, their contents +untouched, likewise stood on the spur. That Bill Whiting, however, +meant to guard the railroad's property, was evidenced by the fact that +strapped to his waist was a portly revolver, while a rifle lay handy in +the ticket office, in which, since the outbreak of trouble, he had +watched and slept and cooked. + +Bill's first task, after tumbling out of his blankets and washing his +face in a tin basin standing in one corner of the office, was to tap +the telegraph key. The instrument gave out a lifeless "tick-tick." + +"No juice--blazes!" grunted Bill, and, being a philosophical young man, +he bothered himself no more about the matter, and went about getting +his breakfast. + +In the midst of his preparations, however, he suddenly straightened up +and listened intently. To hear better, he even shoved aside the +sizzling frying-pan from its position over one burner of his kerosene +stove. What had attracted his attention was a distant sound--faint at +first, but momentarily growing nearer. + +"Blazes!" muttered Bill, scratching his head, and making for a rear +window, which commanded a view of the long, white road. "What's that, +I wonder? Sounds like a sick cow." + +He gazed out of the window earnestly, and then suddenly recoiled with a +startled exclamation. + +"Blazes! It ain't no cow. It's an automobubble. Yes, sir, as sure as +you live, it's a bubble. Whose can it be? Maybe it's old man +Stetson's himself." + +Chugging in a spasmodic sort of way, the car drew nearer, and the +station agent now saw that there were several people in it. + +"Looks like that car is spavined, or something," commented Bill. "Why, +it's regularly limping; yes, sir--blazes!--it's limping, fer a fact." + +Buck Bradley's auto was, in fact, at almost its "last gasp." Ralph's +temporary repair had not lasted any longer than he had expected. +Fortunately, at the time it gave out, the insurrectos had apparently +given up the chase, and the party was not far from the hacienda of a +friend of the genial Buck. At his suggestion, therefore, they diverted +from their road to the mine, and swung off to this house. Here a hasty +meal and a warm welcome were enjoyed, and Ralph set the car in order as +best he could. Buck's friend, however, had news for them. He had +heard that there was an encampment of regulars at Rosario, from which +it was only a short run by rail to the branch on which the Esmeralda +was located. + +This information caused the party to change their plans. With the car +in the condition in which it was, they doubted whether it would be +possible to travel over the rough roads intervening between themselves +and the mine. On the other hand, Rosario was not far off, and on a +smooth, hard highway. If the information of Buck Bradley's friend was +correct, and there was no reason to doubt it, the regulars were camped +at Rosario guarding the line. What more easy than to explain their +case to the leader of the Mexican regulars, and steal a march on the +insurrectos by reaching the Esmeralda first by rail, and wiping out the +band of Madero? + +But, alas for human plans! The party in the auto was doomed to bitter +disappointment. As they approached, and no camp was to be seen, they +began to realize that their information had been inaccurate. Bill +Whiting speedily clinched all doubt in the matter. + +"Say, my friend," hailed Buck Bradley, as the agent emerged from his +shack, "where are the soldiers?" + +"You mean the greaser regulars?" was the rejoinder. "Blazes, they went +off yesterday. Had a tip where Madero was, and they are after him, +hot-foot, I reckon." + +The boys exchanged despondent glances. Here was a fine end to their +high hopes. The Esmeralda was now farther off than ever, and the auto +was hopelessly crippled. One tire was worn almost to ribbons, a rim +had been sprung, and two spark plugs had cracked. Every one of the +party realized, as the car stopped with a sigh, that it couldn't move +again until a tall lot of overhauling had been done. + +"Anything I can do to help yer?" volunteered Bill, noting the woebegone +faces of his countrymen. + +"Nothing, son, unless you've got a wire working," sputtered Buck, who, +as he did with everything, had gone into this matter, heart and soul. + +"Wire!" echoed the station agent, "why, blazes, I couldn't put through +a tap fer Diaz himself. The wire went dead two days ago, and I've been +on my own hook since." + +"What was the last word you had?" asked Jack, thinking, perhaps, that +they might have some information in regard to affairs at the mine. + +The agent dived into his pocket and fished out a yellow paper. + +"Here it is," he exclaimed, "and it's signed by 'King Pin' Stetson +himself: 'Keep freight moving at all hazards.'" + +"It's signed by Mr. Stetson, you say?" exclaimed Ralph eagerly. + +"Sure. He's the main boss on this road, you know, and----" + +"I know, I know!" cried Ralph eagerly, "but is he here across the +border?" + +"Huh? Not he. He's in the best hotel in El Paso, consulting and +smoking two-bit seegars. But my job's here, and here I stick." + +But Ralph and Jack had not heard this speech. A light shone in the +Eastern boy's eyes, the light of a great idea. + +"There's a locomotive yonder, Jack," he whispered. "I can run one. I +learned one summer when pop took me over the Squantock and Port Gloster +line. You said there was a branch connecting with the Esmeralda. Why +can't we go by rail?" + +"By ginger, Ralph! Have you got the nerve?" + +"Look at me." + +Jack regarded his comrade an instant. There wasn't a flicker of an +eyelash to show that Ralph was the least bit nervous. The experiences +of the last few days had taught him much. + +While Bill Whiting regarded them curiously, Jack hastily told the +others of what Ralph had proposed. + +"That appeals ter me as a ring-tailed roarer of a good idee," announced +Buck Bradley, when he had finished. + +"Waal, I'm more used ter doin' my fightin' ahorseback than from a loco, +but I guess it goes here," chimed in Pete. + +"An eminently sensible suggestion," was the professor's contribution. +The maimed ankle of the man of science was now almost well, and, as he +put it, he was "restored to his customary salubriosity." + +"Then, all we've got to do, is to get permission to take the +locomotive," declared Jack. He turned to Bill Whiting, who had been +eyeing them curiously. + +"We've got to get through to the Esmeralda mine," he said. "Our auto +is broken down, and yet the fate of the mine, and perhaps the lives of +its defenders, hang upon our arrival there as soon as possible. Have +we your authority to run the locomotive through?" + +"Say, son," drawled Bill Whiting, "put on your brakes. That's a +compound, and even supposing I could let you take her, how would you +run her?" + +"There's a boy here who can run her all right," cried Jack impatiently. +"All we need to have is your authority." + +Bill Whiting shook his head. + +"Sorry," he said. "I don't know you, and that loco's railroad +property. I'm responsible fer it. Suppose you'd ditch her? +No--blazes!--it wouldn't do at all." + +"I'll give yer a hundred dollars gold fer two hours use uv that +ingine," cried Buck Bradley. + +"No good," declared Bill, shaking his head; "it's railroad property. +I've got my job to look after, even if Chihuahua is turned inside out." + +"But this is a matter of the utmost urgency," argued Jack. "Listen." + +He rapidly detailed the outlines of their situation to the agent. The +man was obdurate, however. + +"Couldn't nobody touch that ingine but old man Stetson himself." + +"How about his son?" Ralph's voice rang out clearly above the excited +tones of the others. + +"Waal, I reckon he could, but he ain't here." + +"He isn't, eh?" demanded Ralph, hopping out of the tonneau, "well, my +name happens to be Ralph Stetson." + +"Oh, quit joking. You're Americans, like myself, and I'd like ter help +you out, but I can't do it." + +"Will you give me a chance to prove to you I'm Ralph Stetson?" asked +Ralph eagerly. + +"Sure; a dozen, if yer want 'em," grinned the agent, gazing at the +ragged, tattered figure before him. + +Ralph dived into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of letters and +papers. Motioning the agent to sit beside him at the edge of the +platform, he skimmed through them for the other's benefit. The group +in the auto watched anxiously. A whole lot depended on Ralph's proving +his identity. + +"Say, blazes!" burst out the agent suddenly, "_you are_ Ralph Stetson, +ain't you?" + +"I think those letters and papers prove it," answered the boy. "Now, +do we get that loco?" + +"I reckon so, if you say so. But, will you sign a paper, releasing me +of responsibility?" + +With what speed that paper was signed, may be imagined. In the +meantime, Buck Bradley, who knew a thing or two about railroading +himself, had his coat off, and was hard at work waking up the banked +fires. Presently the forced draught began to roar, and black smoke to +roll from the smoke-stack. By the time the auto had been wheeled in +under a shed, and Bill Whiting asked to communicate with the government +troops as soon as possible, all was ready for the start. + +The engine was trembling under a good head of steam, white jets gushing +from her safety valves. + +"All ab-o-a-r-d!" yelled Pete, in the manner of a conductor, and Buck +Bradley, who had stepped off after his labors to cool up a bit, began +to climb back again. + +"Why, are you going with us, Mr. Bradley?" demanded Jack amazedly. +"What about your show?" + +"Oh, Sam Stow kin look after that," was the easy rejoinder. "It won't +be the first time. I've worked long enough; now I'm off for a little +play." + +"Won't be much play about it, I'm thinking," grunted Pete. + +The engine bell clanged, a hoarse shriek came from her whistle, and the +wheels began to revolve. Ralph was at the throttle, while Bill Whiting +was up ahead to throw the switch. + +"Good luck!" he cried, waving his hand as the locomotive swept by and +rolled out upon the main line. + +"Good-by!" cried the crowd of adventurers in the cab, waving their +hands back at him. + +Buck threw the furnace door open, and sent a big shovelful of coal +skittering into the glaring interior. The cumbrous machine gave a leap +forward, like a scared greyhound, as Ralph jerked the throttle open. + +The Border Boys were off on what was to prove one of the most +adventurous incidents of their lives. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +JACK MERRILL'S "SPECIAL." + +The landscape swam by, the telegraph poles flashed past, as the flying +locomotive gained headway. The ponderous compound jolted and swung +along over the rough tracks like a ship in a stormy sea. But the +thrill of adventure, the buoyant sense of facing a big enterprise, +rendered the lads oblivious to everything but the track ahead. + +From time to time, Buck Bradley stopped his shoveling, and, holding by +a hand-rail, leaned far out from the footplate, scanning the metals +that stretched out in two parallel lines ahead. + +"Be like them varmints to hev blown up a bridge, or spiked a track," he +muttered. + +All eyes were now on the alert for the first sight of the red-brick +station--the only one on the line--which Bill Whiting had told them +marked the Esmeralda switch. As yet it had not come into view, but +they judged it must be around a curve which lay ahead, the far side of +which was hidden from them by a clump of woods. Suddenly, from this +clump emerged a figure, waving a red flag. He stopped in the middle of +the track, waving his flag frantically. + +"Shut down!" yelled Buck. "There's danger ahead!" + +"Looks more like a trick, to me," growled the wary Coyote Pete. + +"Can't afford to take chances," rejoined Buck. "How do we know what's +the tother side of that curve?" + +"That's so," agreed Pete; "them critters might hev planted a ton of +dynamite there, fer all we know." + +The brakes ground down, and the panting locomotive came to a stop +within a few feet of the man with the red flag. It could now be seen +that he was a small, dark Mexican, wearing a high-crowned hat. + +"Why, I know that fellow, he----" began Ralph. But his recognition of +the fellow, whom he had seen in Madero's camp, came too late. + +From the woods ahead of them, a perfect hailstorm of bullets began to +spit about the engine. Fortunately, none of the occupants of her cab +were struck, although the windows were splintered and the woodwork +honeycombed. + +"Go ahead!" roared Buck. + +"What if they've torn up the track?" gasped Ralph. + +"Not likely. If they had, they wouldn't be bothering to shoot at us. +Let her out. Ouch!" + +A bullet whizzed past the burly showman's ear, and just nicked the tip +of it. + +With a roar of rage, like the bellowings of an angry bull, he leaned +his huge form out of the window and began pumping lead from his +revolver into the woods. It is doubtful if his fire had any effect, +but at that minute Ralph started the engine up again. A yell came from +the Mexicans within the wood, as he did so. A hundred or more poured +out, firing as they came. + +"Duck, everybody!" yelled Coyote Pete, as the storm broke. + +A tempest of lead rattled about the engine, but, thanks to the +protection of the steel cab, not one of the crouching occupants was +hurt. Almost before they realized it, they had swung around the curve, +and were safe. As Buck Bradley had surmised, no attempt had been made +to wreck the track beyond, the insurrectos having counted, seemingly, +on stopping the dash for the Esmeralda by their ambush in the wood. + +[Illustration: A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. Almost +before they realised it, they had swung around the curve.] + +"Consarn their yellow hides," grunted Pete, "that shows they kep' +closer tabs on us then we knew. I reckon they was scared to follow us +to Rosario, thinking, like we did, that the regulars was there. Waal, +that was a neat little surprise party, but it didn't work." + +Round the curve they tore, at a hair-raising gait, but the engine stuck +to the metals. Ten minutes later a cheer went up, as the red-brick +station, which they knew must mark the Esmeralda switch, came in sight. + +"I got the switch key from Whiting," cried Buck, as they reached the +switch, "I'll throw it." + +He swung himself down from the cab, and ran rapidly ahead, down the +track, to the switch lever. As he bent over it, from a clump of bushes +near by, there leaped a score or more of men. + +"Buck! Buck!" yelled Coyote Pete. + +The big fellow looked up just in time. The foremost of his attackers +was upon him as he threw the switch over. Buck picked him up, and +fairly pitched the little Mexican over his head. The man fell in a +heap at one side of the track. + +"Come ahead!" bawled Buck, while the others hesitated and held back. + +Ralph started the engine up, and it rolled toward the switch points. +This seemed to wake the hesitating Mexicans to life. With a yell, they +made a concerted rush for Buck, but, as they did so, Ralph pulled the +whistlecord, and the locomotive emitted an ear-splitting screech. The +Mexicans hastily jumped aside, to avoid being run down, while Buck made +a leap to exactly the opposite side of the track. As the engine puffed +by, he swung on. As he did so, however, one of the yellow men made a +spring for the switch. It was his evident intention to throw it, while +the engine was passing over it, and ditch them. + +But, before he could carry out his intention, Jack, who had seen what +was about to happen, had snatched up a hunk of coal. With all his +force, he aimed it at the fellow, and struck him fair and square on the +head. The would-be train-wrecker toppled backward with a groan, just +escaping the wheels of the engine. Before he gathered himself up and +realized what had hit him, the engine was roaring and puffing its way +up the grade to the Esmeralda. + +"That shows us what we may expect at the mine," commented Jack. "I +hope they are still all right." + +"Don't worry about that, boy," comforted Buck, noting his troubled +face. "The fact that Madero had his men along the line shows that he +anticipated our game--like the shrewd ruffian he is. It stands to +reason he couldn't have his precious squadron, or column, or whatever +he calls it, in two places at once, so I guess we'll be in time yet." + +"I hope so, I'm sure," breathed Jack. "If we failed now, it would be +the bitterest moment of my life." + +But, as they came in sight of the tall stockade and the smokeless +chimneys of the Esmeralda, they saw that their apprehensions were +groundless. No sign of life appeared about the mine buildings. But +presently, in answer to a long blast on the whistle, a strange figure +came toddling out of the gate. It was that of Geisler. As he saw the +engine, with its load of friendly faces, he broke into a cheer, and ran +toward the track side. + +"Hoch! Hoch! Hoch!" he yelled, waving his china-bowled pipe about his +head. "Diss iss der bestest thing I've seen since I had idt der +Cherman measles, alretty yet." + +As the brakes ground down, and with a mighty exhalation of steam and a +sigh from the air-brakes, the locomotive came to a stop, Jack leaped +from the cab and ran toward the German. To his astonishment, Geisler +almost recoiled as he drew near, and uttered a shout. + +"Donner blitzen! I voss righdt den, idt vos a trap dot dose rascals +laid." + +"What do you mean, Mr. Geisler? Where is my father?" gasped Jack, all +in one breath. + +"Himmel!" sputtered the German. "Oh, diss is an onloocky day, py +chiminy. A young feller rode it to der mine, early to-day, undt told +your fader dot you vos wounded, and----" + +"My father went with this fellow?" demanded the boy, his eyes blazing +with eagerness and anxiety. + +"Ches. He thought dot idt vos all righdt, und----" + +"It's a trick of Madero's to rush the mine!" exclaimed Buck, who, with +the others, came up as the German was ejaculating the last words. + +"Dot is vot I dink idt. Listen." + +Forthwith the German launched into a detailed report of what had +occurred, not omitting a full description of Harding, which was +instantly recognized by the boys. + +"Harding, the scoundrel!" exclaimed Jack. + +"I'd like to get my hands on him for just five minutes," breathed Walt +viciously. + +Buck and the others, who were, of course, familiar with what had +occurred to the boys with Madero's column, were also incensed. + +"Such men should be hanged!" exclaimed the professor, with what was for +him, a remarkable display of emotion. + +"Budt come," urged the German, as he concluded his narrative, "vee hadt +better be getting inside der stockade." + +He pointed down toward the miners' village, where men could be seen +hastening about, as if preparing to take action of some sort. What +that action was, they guessed too well. Acting in concert with Madero, +they meant to storm the mine, and break open the specie room. + +Ralph ran the locomotive upon a switch and locked the throwing lever. +Then he followed the others through the gate of the stockade. As it +closed behind them, Geisler let fall a stout wooden bar into sockets +prepared for it. + +"I guess dot holdt dem for a viles," he said, as the bar clattered into +position. + +But Jack's thoughts were distracted, and his manner absorbed. His mind +was fixed upon Harding's rascality, and the probable dilemma in which +his father now was. Buck Bradley noticed the boy's despondent air, and +sought to cheer him up. + +"Brace up, Jack," he roared in his hearty way, "your pop is all right. +According to my way of thinking, those greasers just lured him away +from here, so that they could have easy access to the specie room. +They knew that if he was on the ground, he'd blow up the whole +shooting-match before he'd let them get at the gold." + +"Then you don't think they have harmed him, Mr. Bradley?" + +"Not they, my lad," was the reassuring rejoinder, "they wouldn't dare +to injure a prominent American like your dad. Why, our troops are all +massed at San Antone--for manoeuvers, the department says--but as +surely as my name is Buck Bradley, the troops are there to see that the +greasers don't get too fresh. You see, Jack, Uncle Sam don't want to +mix in other folks' troubles. He believes in playing in his own back +yard, but when any one treads on your Uncle's toes, or injures one of +his citizens--then, look out for high voltage shocks." + +"You have relieved my mind a whole lot, Mr. Bradley," said Jack +gratefully. "I guess it's as you say. Madero and his crowd wouldn't +want to run the risk of an American invasion." + +"You can bet a stack of yaller chips on that, boy. But now, let's +follow this Dutchman around and see what the lay of the ground is. If +we've got to put up a scrap--and I guess we have--it's a long move in +the right direction to have your surroundings sized up accurate. By +the way, is this fellow Geisler all right?" + +"My father thinks he is the most faithful and capable mining super in +the country," answered Jack warmly. "I guess he is, too. I only met +him once before on a former visit to the mine, but he sort of inspires +me with confidence." + +"Same here, Jack. I tell you the Dutch kin raise some Cain when they +get going, and that fellow looks to me like one of the right brand." + +Thus talking, they came up with the others. Geisler was explaining +volubly his plan of defense. Buck Bradley interrupted him. + +"What's the matter with boring some holes all around the stockade?" he +asked. "We can fire from behind them if it's necessary, without +exposing ourselves." + +"Buck, that's a great idea," declared Pete, whose eyes were shining at +the thought of what he termed "some action." "Got a brace and bit, +Geisler?" + +"Sure. Ve-e haf a whole barrel of braces and bitters," was the +response, as the corpulent Teuton hastened off to get the tools. + +At the part of the stockade at which they now were standing a ladder, +used in some repairing job, still leaned against the high, wooden +fence. Coyote Pete, struck by a sudden idea, clambered up it, and +gazed over the top of the defensive barricade. As his head topped the +summit, he gave a shout and rapidly ducked. At the same instant a +sound, like the hum of an angry bee, buzzed above their heads. + +"A bullet!" gasped Buck Bradley. + +"That's wot, pod'ner," rejoined Pete, "and it's the first of a whole +flock of such like. The country off to the southwest is jest alive +with insurrectos!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE ATTACK ON THE MINE. + +Flinging his legs over each side of the ladder, Coyote Pete slid to the +ground like a boy sliding down a cellar door. + +"I could catch the glint of sunlight on their rifles," he explained. +"The beggars were trying to approach unseen, though, I guess, for they +were sneaking round a neck of woods so as to take advantage of that +arroyo that runs almost up to the mine. Better get busy with that +borer." + +And "get busy" they did. Holes were rapidly bored in the stockade, the +apertures being of sufficient size to accommodate comfortably the +muzzle of a rifle. Above each such hole another was bored, to enable +the defenders to see the position of their foes. Although this work +took more than an hour, there was still no sign of the enemy. But they +evidently had a close watch kept on the mine, for a hat elevated on a +long stick above the top of the stockade was promptly riddled with +bullets. + +"Jingo!" gasped Jack. "Those fellows mean business." + +"What do you suppose they are going to do?" Walt asked Buck Bradley. +The stout showman looked grave. + +"This hanging back looks bad," he rejoined. "I guess they are waiting +till dusk so as to try and catch us unprepared. Evidently they figger +they've got us where they want us, and there is no use being in a rush +about finishing us up." + +Buck's words were grim, but his expression was grimmer yet. The former +ranch boss had been in many a tough place in his day, but revolving the +situation in his mind he could not call to recollection any more +dangerous circumstances than those in which he now found himself. + +"Bottled and corked," was the way he expressed it to Coyote Pete, who +fully shared his apprehensions. + +Fortunately, behind the office of the mine, there was a small room well +stocked with rifles and ammunition. This was wise precaution of Mr. +Merrill's, who, knowing the Mexican character to a T, had insisted on +this room being provided in case of strikes or other difficulties. + +The store of arms was drawn upon freely, and each of the defenders had +a spare rifle at his side. The weapons were piled by their respective +holes while the besieged awaited the attack. But a hasty dinner was +prepared on the coal-oil stove Of the office, and eaten and digested +before there came any move on the part of Madero's men. + +Through the peep-holes a casual inspection showed nothing outside but +the hillside sloping away from the mine, with here and there a clump of +bushes or small, scrubby trees. But every once in a while the grass +would stir, or a clump of bushes would be agitated strangely, as some +concealed form crept up yet closer to the stockade. Evidently, as Buck +had said, the intention of Madero was to "rush" the place. + +The mining village now seemed deserted, except for a few forms of women +and children which could be seen flitting about. Evidently most of the +men had joined the insurrectos, hoping to have a share in the loot when +the time came. + +"Say, Geisler!" exclaimed Buck Bradley suddenly, "got any steam in the +boiler?" + +"Ches. Aboudt forty or fifty pounds. Der fires vos banked. Pud vy?" + +"Oh, nothing. I've just got a little plan in my head. Now, Jack, +suppose you and I take a little run to the boiler room and look about +us a bit." + +The boy was glad of anything to do to relieve the tension of waiting +for the attack that didn't come. He gladly accompanied the +self-reliant Westerner to the boiler house. They found, as Geisler had +said, that in one of the boilers steam was still up. + +"Now let's take a look around here, sonny," said Buck, glancing about +the walls as if in search of something. "Ah! Here we are, that will +do." + +He pounced on a big reel of fire hose attached to the wall, as he spoke. + +"Fine! Couldn't be better," he continued, as he rapidly unwound it. +"Why, there must be fifty feet or more here. Now let's see. Where is +the blow-off valve of this boiler?" + +"This is it, isn't it?" asked Jack, indicating a valve, with +wheel-controlled outlet near the base of the boiler. + +"That's it. Now then for a monkey wrench and then we are all ready to +give those greasers the surprise of their lives in case they try an +attack upon this side of the stockade." + +"What are you going----" + +That was as far as Jack got in his question. As the words left his +lips, there came from without the sharp sound of a shot. + +Bang! + +"Phew!" whistled Buck. "That's the overture. The performance is about +ter begin." + +In the meantime, the members of the party left at the peep-holes by +Buck Bradley and Jack, had been trying their level best to obtain some +inkling of which side the insurrectos meant to storm first. But, for +all the sign the long, waving grass gave, or the bushes imparted, they +might as well have gazed at the sky. Had they not known that the +insurrectos were out there somewhere, they would have deemed the +hillside barren of life. + +Suddenly, however, as Coyote Pete's keen eye was sweeping the open +space before the stockade, the grass quite near at hand parted, and a +wiry little Mexican stepped out. + +It was a good evidence of the control that Madero exercised over his +men that this fellow, although he must have known he was placing his +life in deadly peril, advanced to within a few feet of the stockade +without a tremor. + +Apparently, judging from his expression, he was astonished that no +hostile demonstration came from within. But the defenders had no wish +to sacrifice life needlessly, and refrained from firing upon him. +Suddenly he halted, and raising his voice, cried out in Spanish: + +"Will you foolish gringoes surrender and give up the gold peaceably, or +must we attack the mine?" + +"Did Madero tell you to ask that?" shouted Pete through his peep-hole. + +"Yes; the general demanded that I should offer you this chance for your +lives." + +"Then tell the general, with our compliments, that if he thinks he'll +get Mr. Merrill's gold without a fight, he's up against the toughest +proposition he ever tackled." + +"As you will, señors. Adios!" + +With a wave of his hat, the Mexican ran speedily back down the +hillside, and dived into some bushes. The watchers of the stockade +were of the opinion that the wave of the hat was merely a bit of Latin +extravagance. They soon found out, however, that it had the +significance of a signal. For, as the fellow dropped into cover, the +grass became alive with human forms. Coyote Pete's finger, which had +been trembling upon the trigger, pressed it. + +Bang! + +It was the first shot of the desperate battle for the defense of the +mine, and the sound that had reached the two in the boiler house. + +The report was followed by a series of appalling yells from without the +stockade. Mexicans seemed to spring from every clump of grass and bit +of brush. It was amazing how they could have crept so close without +being detected. + +"We can't last five minutes!" gasped Walt, as he gazed out. The lad +fired grimly into the advancing rush, however, and the others stood to +their guns like veterans. Their cheeks were blanched under the tan, +though, and the corners of their mouths tightened. Each one of those +defenders realized the practical hopelessness of their positions. + +Suddenly, amid the besiegers' onrushing forms, appeared a figure +mounted upon a superb black horse. The animal curvetted and plunged as +the reports of the rifles of both sides rattled away furiously, but his +rider had him in perfect control. + +"There's Ramon, the scoundrel!" roared Pete, gazing at the defiant +figure. "I'll give him a shot for luck." + +But for once the plainsman's aim was at fault. The bullet evidently +did not even ruffle the former cattle rustler. + +"Ledt me try!" puffed the German ferociously. + +He fared no better. + +"Bah! Und I thought I vos a goodt shot!" he exploded. + +"It ain't that," rejoined Pete superstitiously. "The Mexicans say that +Ramon bears a charmed life, and that only a silver bullet will ever lay +him low." + +Before the professor could make any comment Ramon was heard issuing +commands in a sharp voice. He seemed to have the direction of the +attack. Of Madero there was no sign, unless a small figure on a shaggy +pony, far to the rear, was that of the insurrecto leader. + +The result of Ramon's command was soon evident. The attackers had not +been prepared for so sharp a defense, and, anxious to lose as few men +as possible, Ramon had ordered them to drop once more into the grass. + +This was good strategy, as it was apparently only a matter of time +before the mine defenders would have to surrender, and it was little +use to sacrifice lives in a mad rush against their rifles. + +The attack had splintered the stockade in a score of places, but, +thanks to the toughness of the seasoned wood, the bullets that had +penetrated had lost most of their strength. Beyond a few scratches +from flying splinters, none of the defenders were injured. + +"What can they be up to?" wondered Pete, as half an hour passed and no +further sign came from the besiegers. + +Ramon's figure had now vanished. Perhaps he realized that the fangs of +their enemies were by no means drawn, and deemed it more prudent not to +take chances on the strength of his "charmed life." + +And so the time passed. The sun was well on his march toward the +western horizon before there came a move on the part of the enemy, and +when it did come it was a startling one. Taking advantage of every bit +of cover, the astute mestizos had crept around the stockade till they +were in a position exactly behind the defenders. So that, in fact, for +the last half hour, the alert rifles of Coyote Pete and his companions +had been covering emptiness. + +A yell as the attackers charged from the direction into which they had +covertly worked themselves apprised the besieged of what had happened. +Bitterly blaming his stupidity in not foreseeing such a move, Pete, +followed by the others, darted across the stockade. As they were +halfway across, however, a dozen or more heads appeared upon the +undefended top. + +The insurrectos had determined on a bold rush, and unmolested they had +succeeded in scaling the walls on each other's shoulders. + +"Good Lord!" groaned Pete, as he saw. + +Despair was in the countenances of the others, but, even as they halted +in dismay at what seemed certain annihilation, a strange thing happened. + +With a screaming, earsplitting roar, a white cloud swept from the +direction of the boiler house at the clustering forms on the top of the +stockade. + +It was a column of live steam that swept them from their perches, like +dried leaves before a wind. + +Buck Bradley's plan had worked with terrible effectiveness. Before the +rush of white-vapor the insurrectos melted away in a screaming, scalded +flurry. In less than two minutes after Jack had turned the steam on, +not a sign of them was to be seen. + +"Hooray!" yelled the boys, carried away by the sudden relief of the +strain when it had seemed that all was over. "Hooray! We win!" + +"Don't be premature!" admonished Buck gravely, as the column of steam +was shut off. "We ain't out of ther woods yet by a long shot. How +about it, Pete?" + +The old plainsman tugged his sun-bleached moustache viciously. + +"Why, boys," he declared emphatically, "them reptiles ain't begun ter +fight yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE LAST STAND.--CONCLUSION. + +As the cow-puncher spoke, there came a sound from the direction of the +gate which was filled with sinister significance. + +Thud! Thud! + +It echoed hollowly within the stockade. Buck Bradley was quick to read +its meaning. + +"They've got a big log or suthin, and are busting in the gate!" he +cried. + +A shout of dismay went up from them all. As it so happened, there had +been no time to bore any holes near the gate, and the only way to delay +the work of battering it down would be to clamber to the fence top and +fire down into the insurrectos handling the battering ram. + +But it needed no second thought to show that this would be madness. At +the first appearance of a head above the stockade, they knew that half +a hundred rifles from without would pour a volley at it. It would not +take more than ten minutes to wipe out the whole garrison in this way. + +"Nope. We'll have to think of some other plan," decided Buck. It is +worthy of remark here that not one of the defenders of the mine had +ever even hinted at a surrender. This was not due so much to the fact, +as they knew, that it would only mean exchanging one form of death for +another, as it was to their grim determination to defend the mine at +whatever cost to themselves. It was the dogged American spirit that +prevailed at the Alamo. + +"Aha! I haf idt!" burst out Geisler suddenly, after a few minutes of +deep thought. "Dere is no hope uv safing dot gate?" + +"Not the least," Buck assured him. "They'll have it through in a few +minutes now." + +He pointed to the timbers which were already showing jagged cracks up +and down their entire length. + +"Veil," said the German, "der office uv der mine is made strong--oh +very strong, for behindt idt is der specie room. Ve can gedt by der +inside in dere and fire through der vindows. And as a last resort vee +can----" + +He paused. + +"We can what?" demanded Jack. + +"Nefer mindt. I dell you later. Now is dot agreed upon?" + +"It's about all we can do, I guess," grunted Pete, "unless we stay here +to be shot down." + +"Den come mit me." + +The German rapidly led the way across the yard to the office building. +As he closed and barred the door, they noted that it was lined inside +with steel, strongly riveted to the oak. The windows also had steel +shutters, cleverly concealed, in cases into which they slid, from +casual view. In the windows, as well as in the door, were small +apertures for firing through. + +"Why, it's a regular fort!" exclaimed Ralph, as the shutters clanged to +with a harsh, grating sound. + +"You bet my life idt's a fort," agreed Herr Geisler, "undt ledt me tell +you dot you needt a fort ven you have a specie room by dis country." + +"Then the specie room is near us?" + +"In there." + +The German pointed over his shoulder at a door in the rear of the +office. + +"Idt is steel walled, undt dere is a combination lock on der door. +Even if dey should kill us all, dey still have a tough nut to crack." + +The German spoke calmly, and his blond features were absolutely +unruffled. No emotion appeared either on the weathered countenances of +Coyote Pete or Buck Bradley. The professor's face, though, was ashen, +but he uttered never a word. As for the boys, who shall blame them if +it is said that their hearts were beating wildly, their mouths felt +dry, and their brains throbbed. + +It was the last stand, and they all realized it. + +Unless help should come from an unforeseen source, they were bound to +perish miserably at the hands of the insurrectos. + +Suddenly, there was a great crashing, rending sound from without. +Instantly a chorus of wild yells arose on the air, and shots were fired +as if in exultation. + +"They've busted the gate!" exclaimed Buck. + +Peering through the apertures in the door and windows, they could see +the hoard come pouring into the yard of the mine. At first they came +cautiously. They evidently recollected the steam, and feared another +ambush. In a few minutes, however, their confidence returned. The +watchers could see a little man dart out from among the crowd and point +toward the specie room and the office structure. + +"The gold is within, my brothers!" he shouted in Spanish. + +"Bodderation tage dot feller," sputtered Geisler, "a veek ago he vos +der best vorkman ve hadt by der mine, undt now look at him." + +With a howl, the insurrectos charged on the hut. The lust of gold was +in their veins, and they minded the volley poured into them by the +defenders no more than if it had been so much rain. Several of them +fell, but it seemed to make no difference to the others. They charged +right up to the very doors of the place. Some of them even tore at the +walls as if they imagined they could demolish them and get at the +gringo gold. + +"Dot is vot goldt does for mens," philosophically remarked the German, +as he gazed at the onrush, firing methodically at the same time. + +Jack, Ralph, and Walt were at one of the windows, while the professor +and Coyote Pete defended the other. During the mad rush for the +office, they all did considerable execution, without, of course, any +cost to themselves. The Mexicans, to be sure, returned the fire +furiously, but their bullets "pinged" harmlessly against the steel +shutters, or buried themselves in the thick, wooden walls. + +Suddenly there came an angry shout from some one evidently in authority +among the insurrectos. Instantly the attack melted away, the +retreating men dragging their wounded with them. It was Jack's first +sight of real warfare, and it made his blood, as well as that of the +others, run cold. + +"Now what are they up to?" wondered Buck, as this sudden cessation of +activities came. + +"Search me," rejoined Coyote Pete, "but it's some deviltry, you can bet +on that--that voice was Ramon's. He's got a plan in his head to get us +out of here." + +"Well, he'll have a man's-sized job on his hands," rejoined Buck, +calmly reloading the magazine of his rifle and running a cleaning rod +through the foul barrel. + +The others employed their time in the same manner. Thus they waited +for what seemed an interminable age. Still there was no sign of the +Mexicans. The yard without was empty of life. + +"If they don't show up in a few minutes, what say if we open the door +and make a rush for it?" asked Jack. + +"As good an idea as any," rejoined Buck, "but what I would like to know +right now is what they can be doing." + +"Queer, ain't it?" said Pete. + +They all agreed that it was, but not one could hit upon an explanation +that seemed plausible. + +Suddenly, Buck, who had been sniffing suspiciously for a few seconds, +gave a sharp exclamation. + +"Do you fellows smell anything?" + +"No----" began Jack, and then: + +"Good heavens, yes! Something's on fire!" + +"That's right," agreed Pete, without a quaver in his voice. "The +varmints hev set fire to the building from the rear." + +"That's what!" rejoined Buck, "and we can't get within a mile of them. +I don't suppose there are any rifle holes in the specie room are there, +Mr. Geisler?" + +"Nodt a vun," rejoined the German, in a peculiar voice, and then they +noticed, in the gloomy light of the closed-up place, that his face was +ashen white. + +It was clear that the German was badly frightened. His knees seemed to +be knocking together, in fact. Small wonder, too. The sharp, acrid +smell of blazing wood was in the air now. They could hear the crackle +of the flames as they devoured the wooden outer walls of the specie +room. + +"Come, cheer up, my man," Buck admonished the quaking German. "Why +you've stood it all through like a major, and----" + +"Idt ain't dot. Idt ain't dose mis-er-able creasers dot I'm afraid +of," rejoined the German in a quavering voice. + +"What then?" + +"Dot room behindt us contains, besides der specie, almost a ton of +dynamite!" + +"Great jumping wildcats!" + +The exclamation dropped from Buck's lips. The others were too +thunderstruck to utter a word. + +"There's only one thing to do," spoke up Pete, his words fairly +tumbling out of his mouth in his haste. "We must open the door and, at +a signal, make a rush for it. We may never get through, but it's +better than being blown up as we shall be if we remain here. The +insurrectos must have left their horses somewhere near at hand. Maybe +we can find them and escape." + +"It's one chance in a thousand!" exclaimed Jack. "But perhaps this +will be the thousandth time." + +"Let us pray so!" exclaimed the professor fervently. + +Buck had sprung to the door. His hand was on the bar. He knew, as did +they all, that there was not an instant to lose. Their lives hung by a +hair. At any moment the flames might reach the dynamite and +then--annihilation, swift and terrible. + +"Now!" he cried, dropping the bar. A strange light, not of fear but of +determination, gleamed in his eyes. + +Clang! + +The bar fell to the ground, and the besieged party dashed forth, firing +as they emerged. + +Suddenly, from without, and just as the insurrectos espied the daring +sortie, there came the shrill notes of a bugle. At the same instant a +ringing cheer came over the top of the stockade. + +What could it all mean? As if in a dream, the boys saw the insurrectos +picking up their rifles and rushing toward the gate. But before they +could reach it, a glorious sight greeted them. + +A regiment of regular Mexican cavalry, the men with their carbines +unslung, pouring a disastrous hail into the swarming insurrectos, +suddenly swung through the shattered gateway. + +Shouts and cries responded everywhere within the stockade. The +terrified insurrectos dropped their rifles and ran hither and thither +in mad, frenzied panic. It was every one for himself. Over the +stockade they clambered, many paying toll with their lives before the +carbines of Diaz's troopers. + +But in the midst of the turmoil a clear, boyish voice arose. + +"Back! Get back, for heaven's sake!" + +The officer of the Mexican regulars heard, and wheeled his men. He +recognized the thrill of warning in Jack Merrill's tones. + +Stumbling forward, the suddenly relieved party of Americans darted +toward the gate for their lives. On down the hillside they fled, with +the cavalry surging behind and about them. + +"What is it? What is the matter?" gasped the officer in English, as +Jack stumbled along at his side. + +The lad gasped out one word: + +"Dynamite!" + +Hardly had it fallen from his lips before the ground shook as if +convulsed with an earthquake. A red flame shot skyward behind them, +and a mighty, reverberating roar went rumbling and echoing over the +countryside. + +The flames had reached the explosive. + +Almost at the same instant a shower of embers, debris, and odds and +ends of all descriptions came showering about the retreating force. +Several were cut and bruised by the shower, but none seriously. + +Fortunately, also, beyond causing several of the cavalry horses to bolt +in mad terror, no damage was done to the troops or our friends. The +situation was rapidly explained to the wondering officer whose name was +Captain Dominguez, in command of the force detailed to guard the +railroad. + +"We learned at Rosario that you had come to the mine," he said, in +explanation of the troops' opportune arrival, "and, knowing that Madero +was in the habit of raiding mines and was in the neighborhood, we made +top speed to the rescue." + +"And we're all mighty happy to meet you, you kin bet, captain," chimed +in Buck, "but ef yer hadn't arrived when you did, we would not have had +the pleasure." + +"No, I can see that," rejoined the young officer, gazing off down the +hillside. + +In every direction could be seen Mexican troopers pursuing rebels, +shooting them down, without mercy when fight was shown, in other cases, +making prisoners. The rout of the insurrectos was complete and final. + +Suddenly a figure on horseback was seen coming at a hard gallop toward +the little group surrounding Captain Dominguez. + +"It's Harding!" gasped Jack, as the figure drew closer, and indeed it +was the former West Pointer. But he was in sad case. His shirt was +torn almost from his back, his features blackened and seared, and a red +stain showed upon his chest. + +"He was in that explosion, the precious scoundrel!" grated out Buck, as +his eye took in these details. "He was one of the fellers that set +that fire." + +Straight for the little party Harding rode. But before he reached them +two Mexican troopers interposed. They raised their carbines and the +next moment would have been Harding's last, but for Jack. + +"Don't let them fire!" he begged. + +The captain shouted an order and the troopers lowered their weapons. +Straight on for the party rode Harding, toppling out of his saddle as +he reached them. The fellow was badly wounded. He had been struck by +a flying splinter in the explosion of the dynamite. + +"Ah, a countryman of yours," remarked the captain, with a tinge of +sarcasm. "You should be proud of him, señors." + +But Jack was on his knees beside Harding. + +"Where is my father, Harding? Tell me quick!" + +"I will," gasped out the wounded man. "Madero had him tied in that +grove yonder. He wished him to see the destruction of his mine, he +said, and----" + +The man fainted. Rascal as they knew him to be, the boys were soon +applying such remedies as they could--all but Jack, that is. The boy, +on Harding's pony, was off at lightning speed for the grove Harding had +indicated. As he entered it, he spied Mr. Merrill tied, as Harding had +said, to a tree. Of the meeting between father and son we prefer to +let each reader draw his own mental picture. + +"Merrill, forgive me!" breathed Harding, who had recovered from his +swoon a few moments after as Jack and his father came up from the grove. + +"I may forgive you, Harding," rejoined Jack, "but I can never forget." + +And forgive Jack did, as he showed by interceding for the man and +having him removed to a hospital near Rosario. Harding ultimately +recovered and of his further movements we have no knowledge. He fared +better, however, than Hickey, Divver and Rafter, who were captured by +the government forces and sentenced to death by a summary court-martial. + +Mr. Merrill rapidly explained that he had ridden ten miles or more from +the mine with Harding before he became suspicious. He then asked +Harding point blank where his son was, and the fellow's reply had been +to give a peculiar whistle. Thereupon several insurrectos had leaped +from the bushes and made the mine owner captive. As Harding had told +Jack, Madero, with fiendish cruelty, had tied him in the grove to +witness the annihilation of his own mine. + +After a short pause, during which restoratives were administered to the +almost exhausted Americans from the Mexican officers' field kit, they +headed for the mine to ascertain what damage had been done by the +explosion. Almost the first object that met their eyes as they neared +the stockade was a jagged break in the structure caused by a large +object that had come crashing down upon it. On closer view this proved +to be the steel safe in which the gold had been placed. On opening the +receptacle, everything was found intact, a fact which the makers of the +safe are now using as a testimonial, as you may have noticed as you +passed their Broadway store. The testimonial is signed by Conrad +Geisler, who is now Mr. Merrill's partner. + +Well, there is not much more to tell of this part of the Border Boys' +adventures. As it may be of interest, however, to relate the further +history of the underground river and the Haunted Mesa, we shall set it +down here. Ramon escaped from the general disaster to the insurrectos +at the Esmeralda Mine, and apparently rode straight from there to the +mouth of the underground river he had long used to such good advantage. +At any rate, when the boys visited it later, they found that a +cunningly set explosion had completely blocked the passage for +navigation, and the secret route of the forgotten race was forever +closed to man. As for the Mesa, you can read all about it +scientifically described in Professor Wintergreen's monograph on the +subject. + +The ponies and the redoubtable One Spot, Two Spot, and Three Spot were +located at the Mesa, where they had been left in charge of Ramon's men. +All were fat and in good condition, and Firewater was very glad to see +his young master again. + +By the way, Bill Whiting is now stationed in charge at the important +railroad center of El Paso. + + * * * * * * + +"Wall," remarked Pete, as they rode toward the ranch one evening, "I +guess things 'ull be quiet now fer a while." + +"Hope so," rejoined Buck Bradley. "I wired Stow ter bring my show ter +Maguez and you can all have free passes." + +Jack thanked the genial showman on behalf of his companions, and then +reminded him that Ramon was still at large, although the insurrectos +were almost subjugated. + +"Yes, consarn that pesky critter with the finest horse I ever set eyes +on,--and while he's alive ther'll be no peace along the border." + +"That's right," agreed Pete. "He's a natural born trouble-maker. But +I guess so far as we are concerned we are through with him." + +But Coyote Pete, accurate as were his usual judgments, was wrong in +this. Black Ramon and his horse will figure again in these stories, +and it will then be seen how the boys finally brought him to book for +his misdeeds. + + * * * * * * + +The shadows are falling over the plains and the foothills are purpling +in the clear twilight of the southwest. In the sunset sky the bright +lone star of evening glimmers. Let us now say good night and good luck +to the Border Boys till we meet them again in a new volume of their +adventures to be called: "THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE +FRONTIER*** + + +******* This file should be named 19083-8.txt or 19083-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Deering</title> +<style type="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: medium; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small } + +p.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + a:link { color:blue; + text-decoration:none; } + link { color:blue; + text-decoration:none; } + a:visited { color:blue; + text-decoration:none; } + a:hover { color:red; + text-decoration: underline; } + pre { font-size: 75%; } + + +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Border Boys Across the Frontier, by +Fremont B. Deering</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Border Boys Across the Frontier</p> +<p>Author: Fremont B. Deering</p> +<p>Release Date: August 19, 2006 [eBook #19083]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher pointed out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa." BORDER="2" WIDTH="382" HEIGHT="597"> +<H3> +[Frontispiece: "Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher<BR> +pointed out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa.] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE BORDER BOYS +<BR> +ACROSS THE FRONTIER +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +By FREMONT B. DEERING +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF +<BR> +"The Border Boys on the Trail,"<BR> +"The Border Boys with the Mexican Rangers,"<BR> +"The Border Boys with the Texan Rangers,"<BR> +"The Border Boys in the Canadian Rockies,"<BR> +"The Border Boys Along the St. Lawrence."<BR> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A. L. BURT COMPANY +<BR> +Publishers ————— New York +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1911, by +<BR> +HURST & COMPANY +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE TRAIL OF THE HAUNTED MESA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE SAND STORM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">A NIGHT ALARM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">SOME QUEER TRACKS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE HOLLOW ALTAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE LEGEND OF A FORGOTTEN RACE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">WHAT CAME ACROSS THE DESERT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE DARK FACE OF DANGER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">IN THE MESA DWELLERS' BURIAL GROUND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">A NEW MEXICAN STYX</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE CAMP OF THE GUN-RUNNERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">MADERO'S FLYING COLUMN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">IN THE CAMP OF THE INSURRECTOS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">"DEATH TO THE GRINGOES!"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A RACE FOR LIFE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">BOB HARDING DOES "THE DECENT THING"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE TABLES TURNED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">BUCK BRADLEY'S AUTOMOBILE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">AT THE ESMERALDA MINE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">AN ACT OF TREACHERY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">AT ROSARIO STATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">JACK MERRILL'S "SPECIAL"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">THE ATTACK ON THE MINE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE LAST STAND.—CONCLUSION</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +"Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher pointed out<BR> +beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-106"> +As it flared up, all three recoiled with expressions of dismay. <BR> +At their very feet was a deep chasm. +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-258"> +A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. Almost before they<BR> +realized it, they had swung around the curve. +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +The Border Boys Across the Frontier. +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TRAIL OF THE HAUNTED MESA. +</H3> + +<P> +"Can you make out any sign of the mesa yet, Pete?" +</P> + +<P> +The speaker, a sun-bronzed lad of about seventeen, mounted on a bright +bay pony with a white-starred forehead, drew rein as he spoke. Shoving +back his sombrero, he shielded his eyes from the shimmering desert +glare with one hand and gazed intently off into the southwest. +</P> + +<P> +"Nope; nary a speck, so fur. Queer, too; we ought to be seein' it by +now." +</P> + +<P> +Coyote Pete, as angular, rangy and sinewy as ever, gazed as intently in +the same direction as the lad, Jack Merrill, himself. The pause +allowed the remainder of the party to ride up. There was Ralph +Stetson, a good deal browner and sturdier-looking than when we +encountered him last in "The Border Boys on the Trail"; Walt Phelps, +the ranch boy, whose blazing hair outrivaled the glowing sun; and the +bony, grotesque form of Professor Wintergreen, preceptor of Latin and +the kindred tongues at Stonefell College, and amateur archaeologist. +Lest they might feel slighted, let us introduce also, One Spot, Two +Spot and Three Spot, the pack burros. +</P> + +<P> +"I always had an idea that the Haunted Mesa formed quite a prominent +object in the landscape," put in Professor Wintergreen, referring to a +small leather-bound book, which he had just taken from one of his +saddle-bags. +</P> + +<P> +"And I always had an idea," laughed Ralph Stetson, "that a landscape +meant something with brooks and green trees and cows and—and things, +in it." +</P> + +<P> +The young son of "King Pin" Stetson, the Eastern Railroad King, looked +about him at the gray desert, above which the sun blazed mercilessly +down with all the intensity of a burning glass. Here and there were +isolated clumps of rank-odored mesquite, the dreariest looking +gray-green bush imaginable. The scanty specimens of this variety of +the vegetable life of the desert were interspersed here and there by +groups of scraggly, prickly cacti. Across such country as this, the +party had been making its way for the past day and a half,—ever since, +in fact, they had left behind them the foothills of the Hachetas, +where, as we know, was located the ranch of Jack Merrill's father, and +had entered the dry, almost untravelled solitudes of the Playas. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Merrill consulted a compass that was strapped to his wrist. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we're keeping steadily in the right direction," he said. +"Nothing for it but to keep on going; eh, Pete?" +</P> + +<P> +"When yer cain't turn back, 'keep on goin's' a good word," assented the +philosophical cow-puncher of the Agua Caliente, stroking his +sun-bleached yellow moustache and untangling a knot in his pony's mane. +</P> + +<P> +"It's up to us to get somewhere where there is water pretty quick," put +in Walt Phelps; "the last time I hit the little drinking canteen I +noticed that there wasn't an awful lot left in the others." +</P> + +<P> +"No, and the stock's feelin' it, too," grunted Pete, digging his big, +blunt-roweled spurs into his buckskin cayuse. +</P> + +<P> +Followed by Jack on his Firewater, the professor on his queer, bony +steed as angular as himself, Ralph on Petticoats—of exciting +memory,—and Walt Phelps on his big gray, they pushed on. +</P> + +<P> +The heat was blistering. In fact, to any one less accustomed to the +arduous intensity of the sun's rays in this part of the country, it +would have proved almost insupportable. But our party was pretty well +seasoned by this time. +</P> + +<P> +All of them wore the broad, leather-banded sombreros of the plainsmen +except Professor Wintergreen, who had invested himself in a gigantic +pith sun-helmet, from beneath which his spectacled countenance peered +out, as Ralph said, "Like a toad peeking out from a mushroom." For the +rest, the boys wore leather "chaps," blue shirts open at the neck, with +loosely knotted red handkerchiefs about their throats. The latter were +both to keep the sun off the back of their necks and to serve as +protection for their mouths and nostrils against the dust in case of +necessity,—as for example, when they struck a patch of burning, biting +alkali. Of this pungent stuff, they had already encountered one or two +stretches, and had been glad to muffle up the lower part of their faces +as they rode through it. +</P> + +<P> +As for Coyote Pete, those who have followed his earlier experiences are +pretty familiar with that redoubtable cow-puncher's appearance; suffice +it to say, therefore, that, as usual, he wore his battered leather +"chaps," faded blue shirt, and his big sombrero with the silver stars +affixed to the stamped leather band. In a holster he carried a rifle, +as did the rest of the party, as well as his well-worn revolver. The +others had provided themselves with similar weapons, although theirs +glittered in blatant newness beside Pete's battered, but well-cleaned +and oiled, "shootin' iron." +</P> + +<P> +While they are pressing onward, with the Hachetas lying like a dim, +blue cloud far behind them, let us tell the reader something about the +quest that brings our party into the midst of this inhospitable place. +As readers of "The Border Boys on the Trail" know, Professor +Wintergreen had accompanied Jack Merrill and Ralph Stetson from +Stonefell College, some weeks before, to spend a vacation on the Agua +Caliente Ranch, belonging to Jack's father. The professor, as well as +being on a vacation, was in a sense on a mission, for he bore with him +the commission of a well-known institute of science in the East to +investigate some of the mesas of this part of the world, and also to +procure relics and trophies of the vanished race that once inhabited +them, and accurate measurements of the strange formations. +</P> + +<P> +Since their arrival at the ranch, some weeks before, events had so +shaped themselves as to render the immediate undertaking of his mission +impossible. The descent of Black Ramon de Barros on the ranch, as we +have related, and the subsequent abduction of the boys to the old +Mission across the border, had so fully occupied their attention, that +all thought of the professor's errand had been lost sight of. +</P> + +<P> +With Black Ramon, thanks to the boys, forever banished from his +cattle-rustling raids, and the subsequent tranquility of routine life, +had come a recollection of the professor's quest. Coyote Pete, a few +days before this story opens, had volunteered to act as guide to the +professor and his party to a mesa seldom visited except by wandering +Indians and occasional cow-punchers. This was the Haunted Mesa, the +location of which was so difficult to reach that previous relic-hunting +expeditions had not included it in their travels. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merrill was the more willing to allow the boys to go along, as he +had been suddenly summoned into Chihuahua province, in Mexico, by +reports of trouble at a mine—The Esmeralda—he owned there. Rumors of +an insurrection had reached him—an insurrection which meant great +peril to American interests. He had, therefore, lost no time in +setting out to ascertain the true state of affairs at his mine, which, +while a small one, was still likely to develop in time into an +extremely valuable property. +</P> + +<P> +Leaving the ranch in charge of Bud Wilson, he had started for the +Mexican country without waiting for the departure of the professor's +expedition. A short time later, "Professor Wintergreen's Haunted +Mesans," as the boys insisted on calling themselves, had likewise +started on their quest. With them, at Jack Merrill's invitation, went +Walter Phelps, the son of a ranching neighbor of Mr. Merrill. Walt, it +will be recalled, had shared the perils and adventures of the boys +across the border, as related in the previous volume, and had been the +instrument of piloting them out of the mysterious valley in which Black +Ramon kept his plundered herds. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merrill's last words had been ones of caution. +</P> + +<P> +"Remember, boys, that if this trouble in Mexico attains real +proportions, life and property along the border may be in great danger. +In such a case, it will be your immediate duty to turn back." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Dad," Jack had said, "you don't expect that plundering +insurrectos would have the audacity to come northward into the Playas?" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merrill laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't say there was any danger even here, my boy. Least of all, +out in that barren country. If there is an insurrection, it will +doubtless be put down without any trouble, but it is always well to be +prepared." +</P> + +<P> +Like his brother ranchers along the border, Mr. Merrill at that time +had no idea of the seriousness or extent of the insurrection. Had he +had, he would, of course, have prohibited the party leaving the ranch. +As it was, he, in common with his neighbors, deemed the insurrection +simply one of those little outbreaks that occur every now and again in +Mexico, and which hitherto had been promptly squashed by Diaz's army. +And so, with no real misgivings, the party had bidden the bluff, +good-natured rancher good-by, little dreaming under what circumstances +they were to meet again. +</P> + +<P> +But all this time we have been allowing our party to travel on without +bestowing any attention upon them. As the afternoon wore on, Coyote +Pete began to feel real apprehension about reaching their destination +that evening. Walt Phelps' fear about the water had been verified. +The supply was getting low. Provided they could "pick up" the mesa +they were in search of before sundown, however, this was not so serious +a matter as might have been supposed. Coyote Peter knew that there was +a well at the mesa, the handiwork of the ancient desert-dwellers. +</P> + +<P> +The really serious thing was, that although they had apparently been +traveling in the right direction, they had not yet sighted it. The +cow-puncher knew, though he did not tell his young companions so, that +they should long since have spied its outlines. Of the real +seriousness which their position might shortly assume, the boys had as +yet, little idea. Coyote Pete was not the one to alarm them unless he +was convinced it was really necessary. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, Jack, who had been riding a little in advance of the rest, +gave an exclamation and pointed upward at the sun. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, what's the matter with the sun?" he exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"Sun spots, I suppose," put in Ralph Stetson jokingly. +</P> + +<P> +"I see what you mean," spoke up the professor; "it has turned quite +red, and there seems to be a haze overcasting the sky." +</P> + +<P> +"It's getting oppressive, too," put in Walt Phelps. "What's up, Pete?" +</P> + +<P> +The cow-puncher had, indeed, for some time been noticing the same +phenomenon which had just attracted their notice, but he had hesitated +to draw their attention to it. Now, however, he spoke, and his voice +sounded grave for one of Pete's usually lively temperament. +</P> + +<P> +"It means that ole Mar'm Desert is gettin' inter a tantrum," he +grunted, "and that we're in an almighty fix," he added to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it going to rain?" inquired Ralph Stetson, as it grew rapidly +darker. +</P> + +<P> +"Rain?" grunted Pete. "Son, it don't rain here enough to cover the +back uv a dime, even if you collect all the water that fell in a year. +No, siree, what's comin' is a heap worse than rain." +</P> + +<P> +"An electric storm?" queried the professor. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir—a sand storm," rejoined the cow-puncher bluntly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SAND STORM. +</H3> + + +<P> +As he spoke, a queer, moaning sort of sound, something like the low, +distant bellow of a steer in pain, could be heard. The air seemed +filled with it. Coming from no definite direction, it yet impregnated +the atmosphere. The air, too, began noticeably to thicken, until the +sun, from a pallid disc—a mere ghost of its former blazing self—was +blotted out altogether. A hot wind sprang up and swept witheringly +about the travelers. +</P> + +<P> +"Ouch!" exclaimed Ralph Stetson suddenly. "Something stung me!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's the sand, son," said Coyote Pete. "The wind's commencin' ter +drive it." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it going to get any worse?" inquired the professor anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"A whole lot, afore it gits any better," was the disconcerting reply. +</P> + +<P> +"What'll we do, Pete?" asked Jack, turning to the cow-puncher. +</P> + +<P> +It had now grown so dark that he could hardly see Pete's face. It was +hot, too, with a heavy, suffocating sort of heat. The wind that drove +the myriads upon myriads of tiny sand grains now darkening the air, was +ardent as the blast from an opened oven-door. +</P> + +<P> +"Get your saddles off, quick! Lie down, and put your heads under 'em," +ordered the cow-puncher, briskly swinging himself out of his saddle as +he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +The others hastened to follow his example. It was not a minute too +soon. Already their mouths were full of gritty particles, and their +eyes smarted as if they had been seared with hot irons. The ponies +could hardly be induced to stand up while the process of unsaddling was +gone through. As for the burros, those intelligent beasts had thrown +themselves down as soon as the halt was made. With their heads laid as +low as possible, and their hind quarters turned to the direction of the +hot blast, they were as well prepared to weather the sand storm as they +could be. +</P> + +<P> +The instant the saddles were off the ponies, down they flopped, too, in +the same positions as their long-eared cousins. The bipeds of the +party made haste to follow their animals' example, only, in their case, +their heads were sheltered as snugly as if under a tent, by the big, +high-peaked, broad-flapped Mexican saddles. +</P> + +<P> +It was well they had made haste, for, as Pete had said, the sand storm +was evidently going to get "a whole lot worse before it got better." +The air grew almost as black as night, and the wind fairly screamed as +it swept over them. Jack could feel little piles of sand drifting up +about them, just as driven snow forms in drifts when it strikes an +obstruction. How hot it was under the saddles! The boys' mouths felt +as if they would crack, so dry and feverish had they become. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, for a drink of water!" thought Jack, trying in vain to moisten his +mouth by moving his tongue about within it. +</P> + +<P> +All at once, above the screaming of the wind, the lad caught another +sound—the galloping of hoofs coming toward them at a rapid rate. For +an instant the thought flashed across him that it was their own stock +that had stampeded. He stuck his head out to see, braving the furious +sweep of the stinging sand. +</P> + +<P> +He withdrew it like a tortoise beneath its cover, with a cry that was +only half of pain. Through the driving sand he had distinctly seen +three enormous forms sweep by, seen like dim shadows in the gloom +around. What could they have been? In vain Jack cudgeled his brains +for a solution to the mystery. +</P> + +<P> +The forms he had seen drift by had been larger than any horse. So +vague had their outlines been in the semi-darkness, however, that +beyond an impression of their great size, he had no more definite idea +of the apparitions. That they were travelling at a tremendous pace was +doubtless, for hardly had he sighted them before they vanished, and he +could not have had his head out of its shelter for more than a second +or so. +</P> + +<P> +While the lad lay in the semi-suffocation of the saddle, his mind +revolved the problem, but no explanation that he could think of would +fit the case. "Might they not have been wild horses?" he thought. +</P> + +<P> +But no,—these were three times the size of any horse he had ever seen. +Besides, their blotty-looking outlines bore no semblance to the form of +a horse. +</P> + +<P> +But presently something happened which put the thought of the +mysterious shadows out of his mind. The wind began to abate. To be +sure, at first it hardly seemed to have diminished its force, but in +the course of half an hour or so the party could once more emerge, like +so many ostriches, from their sand-piles, and gaze about them. +</P> + +<P> +Very little sand was in the air now, but it was everywhere else. In +their eyes, mouths, ears, while, if they shook their heads, a perfect +little shower of it fell all about them. The animals, too, struggling +to their feet out of the little mounds that had formed around them, +were covered with a thick coat of grayish dust. It was a sorry-looking +party. With red-rimmed eyes, cracked, parched lips and swollen +tongues, they looked as if they had been dragged through a blast +furnace. +</P> + +<P> +The sky above them now shone with its brilliant, metallic blue once +more, while ahead, the sun was sinking lower. In a short time it would +have set, and, as Ralph Stetson, in a choked voice, called for "Water," +the same thought flashed across the minds of all of them simultaneously. +</P> + +<P> +If they didn't get water pretty soon, their predicament promised to be +a serious one. +</P> + +<P> +An examination of the canteens showed that not much more than a gallon +remained. If only they could yet "pick up" the mesa before dark, this +would not be so serious a matter, but, situated as they were, it was +about as bad as bad could be. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal," said Pete, at length, stroking the last grains of sand out of +his bleached moustache, "waal, I reckon we might as well hang fer a +sheep as er lamb, anyhow. Ef we don't hit water purty soon, we'll be +thirstier yet, so we might as well fill up now." +</P> + +<P> +"Illogical, but sensible," pronounced the professor, leading an eager +rush for the water canteens, which were carried on the pack burros. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, hold on; that's enough!" cried Jack, as Ralph Stetson bent over +backward with the canteen still at his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I haven't begun to drink yet," protested Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Chaw on a bullet, son," advised Pete. "Thet's highly recommended for +the thirst." +</P> + +<P> +"Water suits me better," grumbled Ralph, nevertheless yielding the +canteen to Jack. The lad drank sparingly, as did Pete and the others. +Ralph, alone, of all the party, appeared not to realize how very +precious even the little water that remained might become before long. +</P> + +<P> +Refreshed even by the small quantity they had swallowed of the tepid +stuff, they remounted, and Pete clambered up upon his saddle. While +his pony stood motionless beneath him, he stood erect upon the leather +seat. From this elevation, he scanned the horizon on every side. Far +off to the southwest was sweeping a dun-colored curtain—the departing +sand-storm, but that was all. Otherwise, the desert was unchanged from +its previous aspect. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me hev a look at thet thar compass," said Pete, resuming a sitting +posture once more. +</P> + +<P> +Jack extended his wrist. +</P> + +<P> +"The compass is all right, I know," he said confidently. +</P> + +<P> +"And I know that we've bin hitting the right trail," declared Pete. +"Last time I come this way was with an old prospector who knew this +part of the country well enough to 'pick up' a clump of cactus. If +that compass is right, we're headed straight." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—if," put in the professor. "But are you quite sure it is?" +</P> + +<P> +This was putting the matter in a new light. Not one of the party was +so ignorant as not to know that, in the many miles they had traveled, +the deflection of the needle, by even the smallest degree, might have +meant a disastrous error. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I—I—how can it help being right?" asked Jack, a little +uncertainly. +</P> + +<P> +"Which side have you been carrying your revolver on?" asked the +professor. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you know—on the left side," rejoined Jack, with some surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"And the compass on the left wrist?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Why? Isn't it——" +</P> + +<P> +"No, it ain't!" roared Pete. "I see it all now, perfusser; that thar +shootin' iron has bin deflectin' ther needle." +</P> + +<P> +"I fear so," rejoined the professor. +</P> + +<P> +Under his direction, Jack moved the compass into various positions, and +at the end of a quarter of an hour they arrived at the startling +conclusion that they had travelled perhaps many miles out of their way. +The metal of the weapons Jack carried having, as they saw only too +clearly now, deflected the needle. +</P> + +<P> +"What an idiot I was not to think of such a possibility!" exclaimed +Jack bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all, my boy," comforted the professor. "The same thing has +happened to experienced sea-captains, and they have navigated many +miles off their course before they discovered their error." +</P> + +<P> +"All of which, not bein' at' sea, don't help us any," grunted Pete. +"Suppose now, perfusser, that you jes' figger out as well as you kin, +how far wrong we hev gone." +</P> + +<P> +"It will be a difficult task, I fear," said the professor. +</P> + +<P> +"It'll be a heap difficulter task, ef we don't hit water purty soon," +retorted the cow-puncher. +</P> + +<P> +Thus admonished, Professor Wintergreen divested himself of his weapons, +and, taking out a small notebook, began, with the compass before him, +to make some calculations. At the end of ten minutes or so, he raised +his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" asked Jack eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," rejoined the professor, "it's not as bad as it might be. We +are, according to my reckoning, about twenty-five miles farther to the +south than we should be." +</P> + +<P> +He consulted his notebook once more. +</P> + +<P> +"The bearings of the mesa require us to travel in that direction." He +indicated a point to the northward of where they were halted. +</P> + +<P> +"And it's twenty-five miles, you say?" asked Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"About that. It may be more, and again it may be less." +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, the less it is, ther better it'll suit yours truly. This stock +is jes' about tuckered." +</P> + +<P> +With the professor now bearing the compass, they set out once more, +this time taking the direction indicated by the man of science. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose the professor is wrong?" Ralph whispered to Jack, as they +urged their almost exhausted cayuses onward. +</P> + +<P> +Jack shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the use of supposing?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +It was sun-down, and a welcome coolness had begun to be noticeable in +the air, when Jack gave a shout and pointed directly ahead of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Look, look!" he cried. "What's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"That" was only a small purplish speck on the far horizon, but it broke +the monotony of the sky-line sharply. Coyote Pete scrutinized it with +keen eyes for a moment, narrowing his optics till they were mere slits. +Then— +</P> + +<P> +"Give me the glasses, perfusser," he requested. Every one in the party +knew that their lives, or deaths probably, hung on the verdict of the +next few seconds, but Pete's slow drawl was more pronounced and +unperturbed than ever. He put the glasses to his eyes as unconcernedly +as if he were searching for a bunch of estrays. Presently he lowered +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Is—is it——?" began Jack, while the others all bent forward in their +saddles, hanging on the rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"It is," declared Pete, and he might have said more, but the rest of +his words were drowned in a ringing cheer. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NIGHT ALARM. +</H3> + + +<P> +"How far distant do you imagine it is?" inquired the professor, as they +rode forward with their drooping spirits considerably revived. +</P> + +<P> +"Not more than fifteen miles—if it is that, 'cording ter my +calcerlations," decided Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we should arrive there by ten o'clock to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"About that time—yep. That is, if none of ther stock give out +beforehand." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do they call it the Haunted Mesa?" inquired Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Some fool old Injun notion 'bout ghosts er spirits hauntin' it," +rejoined Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as well for us they have that idea," said Walt. "They'll give it +a wide berth." +</P> + +<P> +It flashed across Jack's mind at that moment to tell about the vague, +gigantic shapes he had seen flit by in the gloom of the sand-storm. +But, viewed in the present light, it seemed so absurd that the boy +hesitated to do so. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I was mistaken after all," he thought to himself. "There was so +much sand blowing at the time that I might very well have had a blurred +vision." +</P> + +<P> +The next minute he was doubly glad that he had refrained from telling +of his weird experience, for the professor, in a scornful voice, spoke +up. +</P> + +<P> +"Such foolish superstitions did exist in the ancient days, when every +bush held a spirit and every rock was supposed to be endowed with +sentient life. Happily, nowadays, none but the very ignorant credit +such things. By educated people they are laughed at." +</P> + +<P> +Pete, who was jogging steadily on ahead of the rest of them, made no +rejoinder. Ralph, however, spoke up. +</P> + +<P> +"What would you do, if you were to see a spirit, professor?" he +inquired, with an expression of great innocence in his round, plump +face. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd take after it with a good thick stick," was the ready reply. +"That is, always supposing that one <I>could</I> see such a thing." +</P> + +<P> +Darkness fell rapidly. Night, in fact, rushed down on them as soon +almost as the sun sank behind the western rim of the desert. To the +south some jagged sierras grew purple and then black in the fading +light. Fortunately there was a moon, though the luminary of night was +in her last quarter. However, the silvery light added to the +brilliance of the desert stars, gave them all the radiance they needed +to pursue their way. +</P> + +<P> +The travelers could now perceive the outlines of the Haunted Mesa more +clearly. It reared itself strangely out of the surrounding solitudes, +almost as if it were the work of human hands, instead of the result of +long-spent geological forces. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish we were there now," breathed Ralph, patting his pony's sweating +forequarters, "poor old Petticoats is about 'all in.'" +</P> + +<P> +"It's purty hard to kill a cayuse," rejoined Pete. "I've seen 'em +flourish on cottonwood leaves and alkali water—yep, and git fat on it, +too. Be like a cayuse, my son, and adapt yourself to carcumstances." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good advice," said the professor approvingly, as the desert +philosopher concluded. +</P> + +<P> +As Pete had conjectured, the ponies were far from being as tuckered out +as they appeared, despite their sunken flanks and distended nostrils. +As the cool night drew on, and they approached more nearly to the +upraised form of the mesa, the little animals even began to prick their +ears and whinny softly. The pack animals, too, seemed to pluck up +spirits amazingly. +</P> + +<P> +"They smell grass and water," commented Pete, as he observed these +signs. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after ten, as had been surmised, they were among the +bunch-grass surrounding the mesa. Striking such a spot after their +long wanderings on the hot desert, was delightful, indeed. Presently, +too, came to their ears the tinkling sound of flowing water. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the overflow from them old-timers' well at the base of the mesa," +pronounced Pete, listening. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and here it is," cried Jack, who had been riding a short distance +in advance, and had suddenly come across a small stream. +</P> + +<P> +The water was but a tiny thread, but it looked as welcome just then as +a whole lake. Cautioning the boys to keep their ponies back, Pete took +a long-handled shovel from one of the packs, and soon excavated quite a +little basin. While he had been doing this, the boys had had to +restrain their thirst, for the ponies were almost crazy with impatience +to get at the water. It required all the boys' management, in fact, to +keep them from breaking away and getting at the water. In the heated +condition of the little animals, this might have meant a case of +foundering. At last Pete let the thirsty creatures take a little +water, and afterward they were tethered to a clump of brush, while the +boys themselves assuaged their pangs. After their first ravenous +thirst was quenched—which was not soon—they took turns in dashing +water over each other's heads, removing the last traces of the +sand-storm. This done, they all declared that they felt like new +men,—or boys,—and a unanimous cry for supper arose. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see, now," mused Pete, gazing up at the purplish, black heights +of the mesa above them, "as I recollect it, there's only one path up +thar. The good book says, foller the strait and narrer path, but it +don't say nothing about doing it in the dark, so I reckon that the best +thing we can do will be to camp right under that bluff thar, whar the +water comes out, till it gets to be daylight." +</P> + +<P> +This was agreed to be an excellent plan, and, accordingly, the stock +having been tethered out amidst the bunch-grass, the packs were +unloaded, and the work of getting a camp in shape proceeded apace. In +that part of New Mexico, although it is warm enough by day, nightfall +brings with it a sharp chill. It was decided, therefore, to rig up the +tents and sleep under their protection. The three canvas shelters of +the bell type were soon erected, and then, with mesquite roots, Coyote +Pete kindled a fire and put the kettle on. Supper consisted of corned +beef, canned corn and canned tomatoes, with coffee, hard biscuit and +cheese. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet we're the first folks that have eaten a meal here for many a +long day," said Jack, looking about him, after his hunger had been +satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +"It is, in all probability, fifteen hundred years or more since the +first inhabitants of this mesa dwelt here," announced the professor. +</P> + +<P> +"My! My! You could boil an egg in that time," commented Pete, drawing +out his old black briar and lighting it. He lay on one elbow and began +to smoke contemplatively. +</P> + +<P> +The others did not speak for a few moments, so engrossed were they with +the ideas that the professor had summoned up. Once, perhaps, this +dead, black, empty mesa above them had held busy, bustling life. Now +it stood silently brooding amid the desolation stretched about it, as +solitary as the Sphinx itself. +</P> + +<P> +The spot at which they were camped was the sheer, or cliff side of the +mesa. At the other side they knew, from Coyote Pete's description, +were numerous openings and a zig-zag pathway leading up to the very +summit. It was on this summit, which according to the most accurate +information obtainable had once been used for the sacrificial rites of +sun worship, that the professor expected to find the relics for which +he was searching. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour or two the lads discussed the dead-and-gone mesa dwellers, +with an occasional word from the professor, who was deeply read on the +subject. This was all so much Greek to Pete, who solemnly smoked away, +every now and then putting in a word or two, but for the most part +lying in silence, looking out beyond the black shadow of the mesa +across the moonlit desert toward the rocky hills to the south. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, the lanky cowboy leaped to his feet with a yell that +punctured the silence like a pistol-shot. In two flying leaps, he had +bounded clear over the professor's head, and was in among the tents, +searching for his pistol. Before one of the amazed group about the +fire could collect his senses at the sudden galvanizing of Coyote Pete, +he was back among them again. +</P> + +<P> +"Wow!" he yelled into the night, "come on, there, you, whoever you are! +Come on, I say! I'll give you a fight! Yep, big as you are, I ain't +skeered of you." +</P> + +<P> +"Pete! Pete! Whatever is the matter?" gasped Jack, who, with the +others, was by this time on his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Matter?" howled Pete. "Matter enough. I do begin to think this place +shore is haunted, or suthin'. As I lay there, I felt suthin' tiptoeing +about behind me, and when I whipped suddenly round ter see if one of +the critters hadn't broken loose, what did I see but a great, big, +enormous thing, as big as a house, looking down at me. Afore I could +say a word, it was gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Gone!" echoed the others. "What was it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wish you'd tell me," sputtered the cow-puncher, looking about him, and +still gripping his gun, "I never saw the like in all my born days." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what did it look like?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hard to tell you," rejoined Pete. "It was as big as that." He pointed +right up at the moon. +</P> + +<P> +"As tall as the moon? Oh, come, Pete, you had dropped off and were +dreaming," laughed Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Who said it was as tall as the moon?" demanded the excited cow-puncher +angrily. "I only meant to convey to your benighted senses some idee uv +what it luked like." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, how high was it?" asked Jack, in whose tones was a curious note +of interest, for a reason we can guess. +</P> + +<P> +"About twenty feet, as near's I could judge. It had red eyes, that +glared like the tail-lamps of a train, and it spat fire, and it——" +</P> + +<P> +"Whoa! Whoa!" laughed Walt Phelps. "Now we know it was a nightmare, +Pete. The dream of a rarebit fiend. You ate too much crackers and +cheese at supper." +</P> + +<P> +"How was it we didn't see it?" asked Ralph, who had not spoken up till +now. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you were lying with your back toward the direction it came from," +explained Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"An interesting optical delusion," declared the professor. "I must +make a note of it, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Wow! There it goes ag'in." +</P> + +<P> +"Where? Where?" chorused the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Right off there! Look! Look!" +</P> + +<P> +The lanky cow-puncher, fairly dancing about with excitement, pointed +out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa. Sure enough, there were +three or four enormous, black, shadowy shapes, traveling across the +sands at a seemingly great speed. +</P> + +<P> +"Get your rifles, boys!" yelled Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The weapons lay handy, and in a jiffy four beads had been drawn on the +immense, vague shapes. +</P> + +<P> +But even as their fingers pressed the triggers, and the four reports +rang out as one, the indefinite forms vanished as mysteriously as they +had appeared. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SOME QUEER TRACKS. +</H3> + + +<P> +The hour, the surroundings, and the utter mystery of the whole affair +combined to make the sudden appearance and vanishment of the great +shadowy shapes the more inexplicable, not to say alarming. Small +wonder was it that the inquiring faces that turned toward each other +were a trifle whiter than usual. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make of it, Pete?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Stumped, by the big horn spoon!" was the expressive response. +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt, some natural phenomena, with a simple explanation," came +from the professor. It was noted, though, that his angular form seemed +to be somewhat shivery as he spoke, and that his teeth chattered like +dice rattling in a box. +</P> + +<P> +"Natural phe-nothings!" burst out Pete. "The things, whatever they +was, were as solid as you or me." +</P> + +<P> +"How was it they didn't make any noise, then?" inquired Ralph, +practically. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, son, you jes' take a run on the bunchgrass, and you'll see that +you won't make no racket, nuther." +</P> + +<P> +Ralph did as he was directed, and it was really wonderful how silently +he sped over the springy vegetation. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it was somebody putting up a scare on us," suggested Walt, +rather lamely. +</P> + +<P> +"They couldn't rig up anything as big as that," said Jack decisively, +"besides, there's another thing—I didn't tell you because I thought I +might have been mistaken, but I saw those same things this afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" went up in a perfect roar of incredulity. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, is this some kind of a josh?" asked Coyote Pete suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"Never more serious in my life," Jack assured him, and then went on to +relate the strange experience that had befallen him when he had poked +his head out from under the saddle in the sand-storm. +</P> + +<P> +"If they weren't so enormous, I should say they was horses," said Pete; +"but the biggest horses that ever growed never even approached them +critters—spooks, er whatever they are." +</P> + +<P> +"There are giants among men," suggested Walt, "why shouldn't there be +giants among spooks, too?" +</P> + +<P> +"You get to Halifax with that spook talk," said Coyote Pete scornfully. +"I'll bet my Sunday sombrero that whatever them things is, there's some +sore of human mischief back uv it. But what is it? Who put it up?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and what for, and why?" laughed Jack. "I tell you, fellows," he +went on, "it's no use of our racking our brains to-night over this. +The best thing we can do is to set a watch. Then, if they come again, +we can try a shot at them. If not, why then in the morning we'll make +an investigation; eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Durn good advice," grunted Coyote Pete. "Now, I'd suggest that ther +perfusser takes ther fust watch, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, my dear sir; really, I—I have a cold already. A-hem—ach-oo!" +</P> + +<P> +The man of science, it seemed, had really developed serious bronchial +trouble in record time. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, professor," said Jack mischievously, "haven't I heard you say +that you'd like a chance to investigate such a phenomenon as this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hum, yes—yes, my young friend. I may have said so, yes. And any +other time I should be only too pleased to—Good Land! what's that?" +</P> + +<P> +With the agility of a grasshopper, the professor had jumped fully three +feet, as one of the pack-burros, nosing about behind him, accidentally +butted him in the small of his back. The others burst into a roar of +laughter, which they could not check. The professor, however, adjusted +his spectacles solemnly and looked about him with much dignity. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I saw a book I had dropped, almost in the fire," he +explained glibly, "so I jumped to get it before a hot ember fell on it." +</P> + +<P> +"I had no idea you could jump like that, professor," laughed Jack. +"You should have gone in for athletics at Stonefell." +</P> + +<P> +It was finally decided that Walt and Ralph should stand the first +watch, and Coyote Pete and Jack the last part of the night. The +professor, after carefully drawing tight the curtain of his tent, "to +keep the cold out," as he explained, retired. Soon after, Jack and the +cow-puncher also went to bed till the watch should summon them to go on +duty in their turn. +</P> + +<P> +But the night passed without any reappearance of the strange shapes +which had so upset the tranquility of the little camp, and, viewed in +the fresh light of a new and glorious day, somehow the affair did not +seem nearly so ominous and awe-inspiring as it had the night before. +Breakfast, as you may imagine, was speedily disposed of, and, having +seen to the stock, the party started out to explore the mesa itself. +</P> + +<P> +As has been said, the side upon which they had camped the night before +was nothing but a sheer cliff. Under the guidance of Coyote Pete, they +now set out to encircle the strange precipitous formation. Their +hearts beat high, and their eyes shone with an aroused sense of +adventure as they strode along. +</P> + +<P> +The professor carried with him a small volume containing a partial +translation of the symbols and sign language of the ancient tribe whose +domains they were about to invade. Jack had a coil of stout, half-inch +manila rope, about two hundred feet in length. Walt Phelps' burden was +a shovel, while Ralph Stetson carried an axe. All bore with them their +revolvers, and Coyote Pete carried, in addition, a rifle. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you afraid of anything?" the professor had asked him, as he +noticed the sun-bronzed plainsman pick up this latter weapon. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal," Pete had rejoined, with a portentous wink at the boys, "you +never kin tell in this wale of tears what you're a-goin' up +aginst—queer shapes, fer instance." +</P> + +<P> +As they strode along, naturally the subject of the shadowy forms which +had alarmed them the night before arose. Jack would have liked to +investigate them right then and there, but, after all, he decided with +the rest of the party, that an exploration of the mesa was the first +thing of importance to be accomplished. And an interesting sight the +great abandoned aboriginal beehive, was, as they rounded the +inaccessible side and emerged upon the portion which faced toward the +northwest. +</P> + +<P> +Pete's recollection had not played him false. There was a rough +pathway constructed up its face upon this side, and at the top were +three tiers of holes bored in the rock face. These were evidently +intended for windows, as a larger aperture was just as evidently meant +for a door. The path, which zig-zagged up the face of the mesa was +about eight inches in width, not more, at its base, and varied—so far +as they could see from below—from that breadth to a foot, as it grew +higher. +</P> + +<P> +From the base to the summit the mesa was probably about one hundred and +fifty feet in height, the windows not commencing till within twenty +feet of the top. Its length at the base was, roughly, three hundred +feet, and its thickness varied from three hundred feet or more at the +center, to a few feet at each end. Roughly, then, its basic outline +was that of an irregular parallelogram, while its profile was that of a +flat-topped cone. For some moments the little group stood in silence +as they gazed up at the yellowish-gray walls of the once-active mound. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, recovering from their reverie, they set out after Coyote Pete +to scale the narrow pathway leading to the summit. But, as the +cow-puncher set his feet on the lowermost part of the path, he gave an +exclamation of astonishment and pointed downward. +</P> + +<P> +There in the dust was a footprint,—several of them, in fact. +</P> + +<P> +It was a startling discovery in that isolated part of the desert to +come upon the traces of human occupancy. Robinson Crusoe on his desert +island could not have looked any more astonished at the imprint of the +savage's sole, than did Coyote Pete. He stood looking down +speechlessly at his discovery, while the others crowded about him, +asking a dozen questions at once. +</P> + +<P> +"If the sand-storm had hit this section, we'd been able to form some +idee of how long ago them hoofs was planted there," said Pete; "but as +it is, ther feller who wondered how ther apple got in ther dumpling +didn't hev a harder problem than the nut we've got to crack." +</P> + +<P> +"There must have been several of them," said Jack, who had been gazing +in the dust, which lay thick on the pathway to the summit of the mesa. +</P> + +<P> +"A dozen at least," nodded Pete. He tipped back his sombrero and +scratched his ruffled hair, fairly at a standstill to account for what +they had encountered. +</P> + +<P> +"Mightn't it have been prospectors?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Might hev bin, yes," agreed Pete; "but, fer one thing, my son, +prospectors don't usually travel in dozens." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum—that's so," assented Jack, who at first had greeted Ralph's +suggestion eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here!" cried Ralph suddenly, holding up a glittering object which +he had just discerned in the bunch-grass at the base of the mesa. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, my boy?" inquired the professor. +</P> + +<P> +Ralph extended the object for their inspection. +</P> + +<P> +"A strange coin," cried Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so blamed strange, either," said Pete, picking it off the boy's +palm and examining it. "It's a Mexican peso." +</P> + +<P> +"Then the men who were here were Mexicans?" cried Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so fast, my boy," admonished Pete. "Might as well say that every +feller who finds a Canadian dime in his pocket is a Kanuck. Say," he +suggested suddenly, "suppose you boys jes' see if you can find any +tracks around the base of the mesa." +</P> + +<P> +They scattered and looked carefully about them, but the bunch-grass +grew in quite a broad belt all about, and no footmarks could be +discerned. Nor did a careful examination of the grass show any broken +or trampled blades, as would have been the case had ponies been there +recently. +</P> + +<P> +"That decides it," announced Pete, after this last fact had been +ascertained, "whoever made those foot-marks wasn't here recent, that's +a fact. But who could they have been, and what brought them here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe Indians," suggested Ralph sagely. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep, if Indians wore boots, which they don't," grinned Pete, while +poor Ralph colored to the roots of his hair over the general laugh that +arose at his expense. +</P> + +<P> +"I think," announced the professor finally, "that it would be our best +plan to go ahead exploring the mesa. After all, there is nothing here +that can hurt us. Those ruffians of Black Ramon's have been driven out +of the country, and, anyway, they would not be likely to come here. As +for Indians, their reservation is many miles to the north-east. +Whoever was here, was either on a scientific quest, like ourselves, or +else unfortunately lost in the desert." +</P> + +<P> +"Jes' ther same," grunted Pete, in a low voice that nobody overheard, +"I'd like ter know what all this means: Big, shadowy shapes flitting +around in ther night, and footsteps here in ther mornin'. It don't +look right." +</P> + +<P> +He took a swift glance all about him. In every direction lay the +desert—glittering, far-reaching, lonely as the open sea. The only +break in the monotony came to the south—on the border—where stretched +the rocky, desolate ridge. +</P> + +<P> +"No one wouldn't come here without an object," reasoned Pete to +himself, as they began the ascent of the narrow, tortuous trail, "now, +what in thunder could that objec' hev bin?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOLLOW ALTAR. +</H3> + + +<P> +"Magnificent indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +The words, falling from the professor's lips, echoed hollowly against +the walls of the lofty, vaulted chamber in which the adventurers found +themselves, after traversing a narrow passage leading inward from the +causeway. +</P> + +<P> +The walls of this chamber, which must have been fully thirty feet in +height at its greatest altitude, were formed of the soft rock, out of +which it had been excavated apparently uncounted ages before. They +were daubed with grotesque figures in faded, but still discernible, +colors. Most of these figures had to do with scenes of violence, and +in almost all of them the figure of what appeared to be an enormous +rattlesnake, with human head and arms, predominated. +</P> + +<P> +Among the mural decorations were some that puzzled the professor +considerably. They were crude drawings of men in what appeared to be +intended for boats. The professor found these inexplicable. The very +idea of boats in that arid spot seemed absurdly out of place. Why, +then, should the mesa-dwellers have depicted them? +</P> + +<P> +Light was furnished to the chamber by an irregularly shaped hole in the +roof above. Although there was plenty of illumination, it had yet been +some moments before the adventurers, coming out of the brilliant +sunlight outside, grew used enough to the gloom to make out their +surroundings. When they did so, the first words uttered were those of +the professor recorded above. +</P> + +<P> +Like some queer, long-legged bird, the man of science, with a giant +magnifying glass held up to his eye, sped hither and thither on his +long, angular limbs, inspecting minutely the drawings and crude +attempts at decoration. Already he had out his tape-measure and +sketch-book, making observations and recording measurements. +Presently, however, he recalled himself from the first heat of his +enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +"After all," he said, "we shall have plenty of time in which to explore +this chamber, which seems to have been used as a council hall. Let us +examine the remainder of this remarkable place." +</P> + +<P> +"You may well call it that, perfusser," grunted Pete. "It's remarkable +fer the dust thet's in it, if nothing else. But what I'd like to +know," he added to himself, "is jes' whar the owners of them footsteps +vanished themselves to." +</P> + +<P> +Which brings us to a remarkable discovery, made a few moments before +our party had entered the "Council Hall," as the professor called it. +</P> + +<P> +As you may imagine, they had traced the footsteps with some care, +hoping to come upon a solution of the mystery of their origin. Picture +their astonishment, then, when you are told that the footsteps abruptly +vanished at the summit of the zig-zag trail. Although dust lay thick +on the chambers within the mesa, not a solitary foot-mark marred its +soft gray surface. With the exception of the numerous footsteps on the +trail to the summit, there was no other sign of human visitors. +</P> + +<P> +Like most old plainsmen and all wild animals, Pete was suspicious of +anything he couldn't understand, and it certainly did seem inexplicable +that a party of men should have visited the mesa and contented +themselves with running or walking up and down the causeway outside, or +promenading the summit. Such, however, appeared to be the only +explanation, and as such they were forced to accept it. +</P> + +<P> +But such speculations as these were far from monopolizing the minds of +the professor and the boys. They eagerly traversed chamber after +chamber, finding these latter to be small "apartments," so to speak, +giving upon a common passage just beyond the "Council Hall." The +professor told them that each of these small chambers was formerly the +home of an aboriginal family. In the floor of the passage he pointed +to numerous bowl-like holes, which, according to him, had been used for +the sharpening of spears and arrow heads. +</P> + +<P> +In some of the small chambers specimens of rude pottery were found, all +ornamented with the same figure of the human-headed rattlesnake. +Evidently the form represented must have been a deity of the tribe. +Each of the small chambers was lighted by one of the holes cut in the +face of the cliff, which they had noticed from below. The boys darted +in and out of the various rock chambers, like ferrets in a rabbit +warren, followed at a more leisurely pace by the professor and Coyote +Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe we'll find some treasure," suggested Ralph Stetson, as, with +flushed faces, plentifully begrimed with dust, they paused in the last +of the rocky chambers. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, you've got treasure on the brain, ever since we found that chest +of Jim Hicks' in the passage-way under the old mission, and started our +bank accounts," laughed Jack. "You must be forgetting that this mesa +has been visited frequently by cattlemen and wandering prospectors." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I should hardly call it frequently, Jack," put in Professor +Wintergreen, who was now standing with Coyote Pete at his elbow, in the +narrow entrance to the rocky chamber. +</P> + +<P> +"Nope," added Coyote Pete; "you can bet your boots we didn't come here +except when we had to. In the past, though, it made a mighty good +watering-place for the cattlemen driving from one section of this +country to another. Sence they cut up that land over to the westward +inter farms, though, the big cattle drives have stopped, and I don't +suppose any one's bin around here for a long time, 'cepting those +varmints whose feet-marks we seen." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know they are varmints?" laughed Walt Phelps. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't see what business they'd hev here otherwise, and——" began +Pete, but a perfect tempest of laughter at his expense drowned the rest +of his speech. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now that we seem to have pretty well explored the habitation +part of the mesa, let us make our way to the summit," suggested the +professor. +</P> + +<P> +With a whoop and yell, the excited boys followed the suggestion at +once, and a dash up the narrow causeway followed at imminent risk of +one of another losing his footing. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey, hold on thar!" yelled Pete, as they dashed upward, "we don't want +no funerals here, an' it's er drop of more'n a hundred feet to ther +ground." +</P> + +<P> +This rather checked the boys' enthusiasm, and they went more slowly +thereafter. +</P> + +<P> +The summit of the mesa was found to consist of a small plateau, about a +quarter of an acre in extent, perfectly bare, and shaped like a saucer. +Near the center was the hole which gave illumination to the council +hall below them, while in a spot almost exactly in the middle of the +queer elevation, was a rough, square erection of sun-baked brick. This +was about twelve feet in length, five feet in height, and six feet or +so through. Apparently it had once been a kind of an altar. The +professor thought this assumption tenable, as it was known that the +aborigines who had once inhabited the mesa had been sun-worshipers. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" shuddered Jack, as he gazed at the altar. "And they used to +offer human sacrifices here." +</P> + +<P> +"I think it altogether likely," said the professor calmly; "probably +that altar has witnessed the immolation of more than a hundred victims +at a single tribal ceremony." +</P> + +<P> +Ralph Stetson was clambering up on the altar as the professor spoke, +but at hearing these words he hastily descended again. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I'll defer examining it till some other time," he said +decidedly. +</P> + +<P> +From the summit of the mesa a wonderful view could be obtained. At +that altitude the rocky, desolate range of sierras to the south could +be seen clearly, although a mile or so distant. +</P> + +<P> +"Thar's the border yonder," said Pete, pointing. +</P> + +<P> +"And over across there is father, I guess," said Jack. "I hope he +found everything at the Esmeralda all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure he did," said Pete confidently. "I tell you, these greaser +uprisings don't amount to a busted gourd. Mister Diaz's tin soldiers +come along, and 'pop-bang! Adios!' It's all over." +</P> + +<P> +"But I have heard that in this case the insurrectionists of Northern +Chihuahua are exceptionally well provided with arms and ammunition," +objected the professor. "The American government can't make out from +whence they are supplied with guns and munitions of war." +</P> + +<P> +"Huh, where'd they git 'em from, I'd like to know?" snorted Pete. "The +border is well guarded at any point where they would be likely to ship +'em across, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"How about the <I>unlikely</I> points?" inquired the professor amiably. +</P> + +<P> +"Um—ah—well," began Pete, somewhat stumped by this last, "I don't see +what that's got to do with it." +</P> + +<P> +"But I do. Mexicans, my friend, are, as you should know, a cunning +race. Moreover, those of them who dwell along it know the border far +better than any white could ever hope to. By the admission of our own +secret agents, it has hitherto been impossible to find how the arms, +which the Chihuahua rebels are receiving, can reach them. It is +obvious, however, that there must be some way in which they do, +hence——" +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, perfusser, hev it your own way," grunted Pete, rather red and +angry. The professor's logic did indeed seem unassailable. The rebels +of Northern Chihuahua were getting arms—but how? The cow-puncher and +the boys recalled now a visit made to Mr. Merrill's ranch some weeks +before by a party of United States secret agents. +</P> + +<P> +The men were puzzled and angry over their failure to locate the "leak." +Somehow arms were being shipped across the border into Chihuahua from +American soil, but just how had hitherto baffled all the efforts of +their ingenuity to discover. +</P> + +<P> +"There, there, don't be so easily offended," counseled the professor, +perceiving Pete's palpable irritation. "After all, the matter has +nothing to do with us. We are here to measure the mesa for scientific +purposes, not to get into arguments over how a band of insurrectos are +getting their arms. Come, boys, to work. Let us begin at the top, by +measuring the altar. Suppose, Jack, you lay the tape on it, while I +make a rough field sketch of the structure." +</P> + +<P> +The boys, now over their first repulsion to having anything to do with +the altar, about which such grisly memories clustered, eagerly began to +carry out these orders, while Coyote Pete seated himself on the side of +the summit overlooking the travelers' camp below, and amused himself by +throwing small bits of detached rock down at the unoffending One Spot, +Two Spot and Three Spot. +</P> + +<P> +The base of the altar being duly measured and recorded, Jack, tape in +hand, followed by the others, clambered up its rough sides, which +afforded an easy foothold, for the purpose of ascertaining the +dimensions of the top. To the lad's astonishment, however, there was +no summit. That is to say, the altar was hollow. +</P> + +<P> +The professor exhibited considerable scientific excitement on hearing +this. The man of science had been greatly puzzled over the total +absence of any traces of the human sacrifices he knew must have taken +place there. He now hailed Jack eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Are there not some bones or traces of sacrifices inside it, my boy?" +he inquired excitedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a bone," shouted Walter cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on, though," cried Jack. "There are some queer-looking things +down in one corner." +</P> + +<P> +Lowering himself inside the altar, he made for one corner of the +erection, in which he had spied a heap of fragile-looking bones of some +kind. +</P> + +<P> +"Skeletons of snakes!" he cried, holding up one of these for the +inspection of the professor, who had by this time hoisted his bony +frame over the top of the altar and now stood beside them. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, my boy; they are serpents' skeletons. Doubtless in +their sacrificial ceremonies these people also offered up rattlesnakes, +which seem to have been a sort of sacred reptile among them; much as, +in a sense, the cat was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, and the python +is worshiped in certain parts of India." +</P> + +<P> +"But, professor," protested Jack, "if, as you say, numerous human +sacrifices were offered here in the past, why do we not find any human +remains here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who can say, my boy? Many of the habits of these pre-historic peoples +are veiled in mystery. We can only surmise and reconstruct. They may +have burned them or disposed of them in some other way." +</P> + +<P> +"Say!" exclaimed Ralph suddenly. "This floor sounds to me as if it was +hollow; maybe there's a chamber or something underneath." +</P> + +<P> +The boy, who had been stamping about with a vague sense of making some +such discovery, hailed them with excited looks. +</P> + +<P> +"Hollow, you say?" asked the professor, with every appearance of deep +interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, listen!" +</P> + +<P> +Again Ralph stamped about. There was no question about it—the +stone-paving, of which the floor of the altar was formed, gave out an +unmistakably hollow sound. +</P> + +<P> +The professor was down on his hands and knees instantly, searching +about, like a hound on the scent. In the meantime the others stamped +about in other parts of the interior, but only where Ralph's feet had +given out the hollow sound did the floor appear anything but solid. +</P> + +<P> +"Queer!" exclaimed the professor, as, after a considerable search, he +rose to his feet covered with dust and streaming with perspiration, +"there should be some sort of trap-door here, to judge by the sounds, +but so far as I can see, the joints between the pavement are perfectly +tight, and I can find no ring or lever which might open such an +aperture." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps——" began Ralph, but he was interrupted by a sudden wild yell +from Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Wow! Yee-ow! Come here quick, everybody!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LEGEND OF A FORGOTTEN RACE. +</H3> + + +<P> +Leaping and scrambling over the top of the hollow altar to the best of +their abilities, the four explorers found their cow-puncher friend +dancing wildly about on the edge of the mesa, in imminent peril of +tumbling over altogether. He was wildly excited, and, as they emerged, +he pointed down over the cliff edge. +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Jack, regarding the antics of the +usually staid cow-puncher with amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"The stock! Look at the stock!" yelled Pete. +</P> + +<P> +Peering over the edge at the bunch-grass belt in which their ponies +were tethered, the adventurers saw a spectacle which might well have +been calculated to excite the cow-puncher. One Spot, Two Spot and +Three Spot were tearing round and round at the end of their tethers, in +the wildest alarm, evidently, while the cayuses were stamping and +snorting, with distended nostrils and wild, frightened eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with them?" gasped Walt, astonished at the sight, as +well he might be. The desert was as empty as ever, and there was no +sign of anything in the rocky hills to the south that might have +excited their alarms. +</P> + +<P> +"Thet's jes' it," said Pete. "What is the matter with 'em? They ain't +actin' up thet er way fer nuthin', you kin bet." +</P> + +<P> +"Something must have scared them," said Jack. "Maybe it was those +rocks you were throwing down." +</P> + +<P> +"No, it warn't that, son. Ole One Spot he looked up here a minute ago, +and giv' his eye a knowin' wink, as much as ter say: 'Go ahead; I know +you won't hurt us.' No, siree; it's suthin' they've smelled out, er +seen, that's given 'em the scare of their young lives." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it was something on the other side of the mesa. Let's go and +look," cried Jack. +</P> + +<P> +Followed by the others, he ran across the flat summit, but an earnest +inspection of the surroundings on that side failed to reveal any +explanation for the animals' sudden terror. For all the strange +objects that lay about them, they might have been in the middle of a +desolate ocean. +</P> + +<P> +"No wonder they call this the Haunted Mesa," snorted Pete. "I tell +you, perfusser, ther sooner you git them thar measurements a-measured, +and we're hiking out of this neck of the woods, the better I'll be +pleased. 'Tain't natural, all these queer goings on." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe a coyote or something scared them," suggested Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"And them used ter seeing 'em every day," scoffed Pete. "Guess again, +son. It takes something with hoofs, horns and red fire about it to +scare a burro, and you kin bet your Sunday sombrero on that." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I propose that we adjourn the meeting till after dinner," +laughed Jack; "all in favor, will signify by saying 'aye.'" +</P> + +<P> +The chorus that answered him left no doubt of "the sense of the +meeting," and a rapid descent of the mysterious mesa was begun. A good +meal was not long in being prepared, thanks to Coyote Pete's skill as a +camp cook. Seated over their dinner, the main topic of conversation +was naturally the unaccountable occurrence of the morning. But +although a score of explanations were advanced, nobody could hit on one +that seemed to fit the case. +</P> + +<P> +"This water is singularly pure and sparkling,"' said the professor +finally, by way of changing the subject, and holding up his full tin +cup. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep; I remember hearing old cowmen say that there's no water in New +Mexico any better than this from the Haunted Mesa," said Pete, +stretching himself out, and lighting his inevitable after-meal-time +pipe. "Though that ain't sayin' a heap," he admitted. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonder how those old what-you-may-call-ums ever managed to dig such a +well?" questioned Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Comes to my mind now," said Pete, "that it ain't exactly a well. An +old Injun that used ter hang around with the Flying Z outfit tole us +oncet that thar was a subterranean river flowed under here, and that +once upon a time afore all the country dried up, considerable more +water came to the surface here than there does now." +</P> + +<P> +"A subterranean river?" asked the professor, at once interested. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," rejoined Pete, "and not the only one in the West, either. +There's one in Californy that flows underground fer purty near fifty +miles, as I've heard tell." +</P> + +<P> +"This is most remarkable," said the professor. "I, too, have heard of +subterranean rivers in this part of the world, but I have never had the +opportunity to explore one. Did this Indian you speak of ever tell you +where this river emerges?" +</P> + +<P> +"He said it come out some place across the frontier in Chihuahua; I +don't jest rightly recollect where," said Pete carelessly, as if the +subject did not interest him much, as indeed it did not. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see what use a subterranean river is to anybody, anyhow," he +went on. "If it was on top, now, it might be some use." +</P> + +<P> +"But this is most interesting," protested the professor, while the boys +lay about with their chins propped in their hands in intent attitudes. +"Then, too, if this river exists, perhaps it is even navigable." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, professor!" exclaimed Jack. "Is it not possible that it was to +this river that those drawings of boats that interested and puzzled you +so much had reference?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite possible, my boy," agreed the man of science. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we could find some way of getting down into it," said Ralph +wistfully, poking at the ground, as if he thought he might force an +entrance that way. +</P> + +<P> +"Thar you go," laughed Pete. "Giv' you boys a cayuse, an' you'll ride +him to death. I jes' mentioned that a lying, whisky-drinking old Injun +had sprung a pipe-dream about a lost river, and thar you go navagatin' +it in a Coney Island steamboat." +</P> + +<P> +The boys could not help bursting into a laugh at the cow-puncher's +whimsical way of talking. The professor joined in, too, for none +realized better than he did that for a moment he, too, had been quite +carried away by the idea. +</P> + +<P> +"I expect that it is as you say, Pete," he agreed. "These Indians are +most unreliable people. If anybody was to believe all the weird +legends an Indian tells him, he would spend the best part of his life +on wild-goose chases. Why, the Indians of the Mojave desert in +California can even tell a circumstantial story about a buried city of +Mojave. According to their contention, a great flood, occurring long +ago, wiped it out and buried it in the sands of the desert." +</P> + +<P> +"Has any one ever tried to find it?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Many expeditions have been fitted out for the purpose, my boy," was +the rejoinder, "but so far no trace has ever been found of it, and it +is, no doubt, like the lost river of which Pete was telling us, a mere +myth." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't say it was a miff," protested Pete. "I jes' said I didn't +believe it." +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of that afternoon was spent in making more measurements +and sketches of the interesting mesa, and the boys, on their own +account, conducted a search for a possible entrance to the lost river. +But, as may be supposed, they found none. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess as romance-seekers we are not a success," said Jack, as at +sun-down they prepared to quit. "Just think, what a proud bunch we'd +have been if we could say we—The Border Boys—discovered the lost +river of the mesa dwellers." +</P> + +<P> +"We might be a sorry bunch, too," amended the practical Walt. "I tell +you, Jack, I don't want anything to do with lost rivers, especially +when they are underground." +</P> + +<P> +"Walt, the spirit of adventure is lacking in you," laughed Jack. +"You'd never make a Don Quixote——" +</P> + +<P> +"A donkey who?" asked Walt innocently. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you're the limit," chuckled Ralph, going off into a roar of +laughter at the ranch boy's expense. +</P> + +<P> +That evening the animals' pasture was changed to the opposite side of +the mesa, where they could find fresh grass. The camp, however, was +left as it was. After supper watches were assigned, as usual, the +latter part of the night guardianship falling to Coyote Pete and Jack +once more. When, soon after midnight, Walt and Ralph Stetson aroused +them, there was nothing much to report except that One Spot had engaged +in a spirited kicking match with his brethren. Outside of that, all +had been, to quote Walt: +</P> + +<P> +"Quiet along the Mesomac." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll patrol round the whole mesa," said Coyote Pete, as he and Jack +shouldered their rifles, "meeting by the stock on the other side." +</P> + +<P> +After a few words more, the two sentries strode off into the darkness +in different directions, meeting, as arranged, by the stock. Neither +had anything to report, and in this way they kept up the night watch +for an hour or more. They had met for the sixth time by the tents +containing their sleeping comrades, when from the opposite side of the +mesa came a shrill neigh of terror, followed by sounds of wild +galloping and snorting. +</P> + +<P> +"Something's up!" shouted Pete, as, with his rifle in readiness and +followed closely by Jack, he tore around the mesa to ascertain the +cause of the trouble. +</P> + +<P> +As the two sentries emerged into view of the spot in which the stock +had been tethered, they came upon a spectacle which, for a moment, +caused them to recoil as abruptly as if a deep canyon had suddenly +opened up before them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT CAME ACROSS THE DESERT. +</H3> + + +<P> +That which brought the two—the plainsman and the lad—to such an +amazed halt was nothing more nor less than the sight of the huge forms +which had appeared to Jack in the sand-storm and which had given them +such an alarm the night before, and which doubtless, as they now viewed +it in a flash of intuition, had almost stampeded the stock while their +owners were exploring the top of the mesa. But Coyote Pete was not the +man to remain long rooted in astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +With one quick jerk, he raised his rifle, and a vivid spatter of fire +followed. As the report died out, one of the great forms sank to the +ground with a scream that sounded almost human. The others glided off +in the same direction as they had the night before, and vanished in the +same mysterious way, before the thunderstruck Jack could get a shot at +them. +</P> + +<P> +"They're real, at any rate," exclaimed Coyote Pete, showing in his tone +of relief, that until the great shadowy mass had sunk before his +bullet, he had had some doubts of that fact. +</P> + +<P> +"W-w-w-w-what is it?" came a frightened voice at their elbows, and, +looking around, they saw the professor, in pajamas striped like a +barber's pole, gazing apprehensively about him. Close behind him came +Ralph Stetson and Walt, their weapons clasped determinedly, and +evidently ready to face whatever emergency the sudden shot had +betokened. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, what is it—Indians or bears?" demanded Ralph, entirely forgetful +of the fact that bears are not wont, as a rule, to roam the barren +desert. +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno, but we'll see in a minute," said the cow-puncher, in answer to +the excited questions. Followed by the rest, he made his way forward +to where the great bulk that he had shot lay still and motionless on +the ground. Even Jack owned to a slight feeling of apprehension as +they neared the great form,—harmless as, whatever it might be, it had +now become. +</P> + +<P> +As for the stock, they were still plunging wildly about and snorting in +a terrified fashion, and, had it not been for their stout raw-hide +tethers, they would undoubtedly have stampeded. +</P> + +<P> +Drawing a match, Pete held it high as he neared the stricken bulk +outstretched before them. The next minute he gave an astonished cry: +</P> + +<P> +"A camel!" +</P> + +<P> +"A <I>what</I>!" gasped the entire group in unison. +</P> + +<P> +"Jes' what I said, a backterian camel," reiterated Pete, striking +another match. +</P> + +<P> +They could all see then that he spoke the truth, astounding as it +seemed. The creature that lay still before them, a bullet through its +brain, was a veritable, undoubted specimen of the Bactrian species. +</P> + +<P> +"But—but—great heavens!" cried Jack, hardly able to believe his eyes, +"how,—what——" +</P> + +<P> +"What on earth is a camel doing out here on the New Mexican desert?" +the professor finished for him. +</P> + +<P> +"Going eight days without a drink," suggested Ralph in an undertone; +but none of the party was in a mood for humor just then. +</P> + +<P> +It was Pete who solved the mystery. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got it," he exclaimed, "and I'm a plum-busted idjut not to have +thought uv it afore; I've hearn about 'em often enough. This here +backterian camel must be one of that bunch of Circus Jesse's." +</P> + +<P> +"Circus Jesse! Who was he, or she?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he was a feller what owned a big eastern circus, but owned a +ranch out here as well. It struck him one time that if camels was good +for transportation purposes over the Sahara desert they ought ter be +just as good here. So, what does he do but start a camel express from +Maguez ter Amadillo over the border, with some of the backterians frum +his circus." +</P> + +<P> +"And didn't it work?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"No. That is, it did fer a while, till ther novelty wore off, and then +folks went back ter ther old reliable mule or burro. Circus Jesse, he +got so blamed sore, that one fine day he turned the whole shootin' +match of his backterians loose, and packin' his trunk, let the country, +and resolved in futur' ter stick ter his circus." +</P> + +<P> +"Was that long ago?" asked Jack. "I shouldn't have thought the +creatures would have lived long without being recaptured." +</P> + +<P> +"It's about five years since Jesse got out, I reckon," rejoined Pete, +"an' fer a while camel-hunting was a popular sport. By an' by, +however, they got so wary no one could get near 'em, and, except fer a +scare they'd throw inter a prospector now and ag'in, we never heard no +more of 'em. I'd clean fergotten all about 'em, till I made this one +inter cold backterian meat." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose they found food and water here and regarded the Mesa as +their own property," declared Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"That's about it. This is a place that's seldom visited, and I guess +they just figgered out that they'd found a happy home." +</P> + +<P> +"But what became of the rest of them?" asked Ralph, who had been +apprised by Jack of the strange vanishment of the dead creature's mates. +</P> + +<P> +"Must uv gone down that draw I noticed frum ther top uv ther mesa +to-day," explained Pete. "Yer see, frum here, it would look as if they +vanished inter the solid earth when they entered it, bein' as how you +can't see there's any kind of a gully there till you get up high." +</P> + +<P> +The next morning this was found to be the true explanation. Tracks on +the bottom of the gully showed plainly how the strange desert wanderers +had effected their disappearance in such a startling manner. But it +was some time before Pete could sit down to a meal without being +reminded of his "fire-spouting spook," which had cast such alarm into +the camp the first night. The boys spent a week more at the mesa, +during which time Professor Wintergreen obtained voluminous notes on +one of the most interesting specimens of its kind in the south-west. +</P> + +<P> +The days passed tranquilly, and, with the exception of the duty of +removing the carcass of the dead camel, nothing to interrupt the +routine of survey work occurred. The mates of the dead beast had +evidently decided not to revisit their pasture grounds, for they did +not put in a reappearance. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, boys," said the professor one morning when they were all +gathered at the summit of the mesa, "I guess that to-morrow morning we +can say good-by to the scene of our rather tame adventures. My work is +complete." +</P> + +<P> +"How about the subterranean river?" asked Ralph, but a howl of derision +from the others silenced him. +</P> + +<P> +"Subterranean fiddlestick," burst out Jack, but the professor silenced +him. +</P> + +<P> +"The existence of such a stream is not so improbable as you seem to +think," he said, "and Master Ralph is to be commended for his +enterprising desire to locate it, but I think that our investigations +have shown that if such a river ever did exist and the mesa dwellers +had access to it, that the entrance, wherever it might have been, has +vanished long ages ago." +</P> + +<P> +Pete had taken no part in this conversation, but had wandered about the +top of the mesa rather aimlessly, from time to time looking sharply at +the surroundings beneath him in the alert manner of one whose life has +been passed in the open places. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he gave a quick exclamation and pointed off into the +north-west. +</P> + +<P> +"Look! Look there!" he exclaimed, riveting his eyes on something his +keen vision had sighted, but which remained as yet invisible to the +boys. +</P> + +<P> +"What's coming—another storm?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what it is yet," rejoined the other in a strangely uneasy +tone, "it looks like—like——" +</P> + +<P> +"A pillar of dust," exclaimed Jack, who had by this time sighted it, +too, and had come to the aid of the unimaginative plainsman. +</P> + +<P> +"So it does," cried the others, who now, with the exception of the +short-sighted professor, could also see the approaching dust-cloud. +</P> + +<P> +"What can it be?" wondered Walt, peering eagerly in its direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody riding. Several of 'em, I should say, by the dust they're +raising," rejoined Pete bluntly. +</P> + +<P> +The boys exchanged quick glances. Somebody riding across that arid +waste? Their destination could only be the mesa, then, but who could +it possibly be? +</P> + +<P> +Had they been able to solve the riddle at that instant, they would have +scattered pell-mell for their ponies, and made the best of their way +from the Haunted Mesa, but, not being endowed with anything more than +ordinary sensibilities, it was, of course, impossible for them to +realize the deadly peril that was bearing down upon them in that +dust-cloud. +</P> + +<P> +"I can see things more clearly now," cried Jack, as for an instant a +vagrant desert air blew aside the dust-cloud and revealed several +riders, surrounding some cumbersome, moving object in their midst. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a wagon!" he cried, "a big one, too, and surrounded by +horsemen. What can it mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"That we'd better be skedaddling as quick as possible," shot out Pete, +brusquely. +</P> + +<P> +The professor, who had wandered away from the group and was down inside +the hollow altar, was hastily summoned and apprised of the strange +approach of the mysterious cavalcade. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, bless me, boys, what can it mean?" he cried, nimbly attempting a +flying leap over the edge of the altar in his haste to ascertain for +himself the nature of the approaching party. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, however, as his feet touched the top, and he was scrambling +over, he gave a sharp cry and fell back within the altar with a gasp of +pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you hurt?" asked Jack, running to the side of the ancient place of +sacrifice. +</P> + +<P> +The professor lay prostrate within. His face was white and set and +beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"My—my ankle," he groaned. "I broke it some time ago, and in hurrying +to clamber over the top of the altar I fear I have snapped it again. +Oh!" +</P> + +<P> +He gave a heartrending groan of pain. The boys stood stricken with +consternation. It was going to be a long and difficult task to get the +professor out of his present predicament, and there seemed need for +haste. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, put this under your head," said Jack, stripping off his jacket +hastily, and throwing it within, "I'll tell Coyote Pete about your +accident, and we can get remedies from the packs." +</P> + +<P> +But when Jack turned, only Ralph and Walt stood beside him. The sturdy +cow-puncher had vanished. +</P> + +<P> +"He's gone to get the glasses," explained Walt. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Coyote Pete, very much out of breath from his dash down the +path and up again, stood beside them. He had the glasses in his hand, +and lost no time in applying them to his eyes. He had not had them +there two minutes when he gave a quick exclamation and turned hastily +to the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Lie down; lie down, every one of you," he ordered sharply. +</P> + +<P> +They lost no time in obeying, as they knew that the old plainsman must +have an excellent reason for such a command. The next instant Pete +himself followed their example. Crouching low, he once more peered +through the glasses above the edge of the cup-like depression. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are they?" asked Jack in a low voice, wriggling his way to Pete's +side. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not sure yet, but they are all armed. I caught the flash of +sunlight on their rifles. If they are Mexican insurrectos, we are in a +bad fix." +</P> + +<P> +"Mexicans! What would they be doing this side of the border?" +</P> + +<P> +"That remains to be seen. But I don't like the looks of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose they are Mexicans, Pete, would they do us any harm?" +</P> + +<P> +"That depends a whole lot on whether they are on lawful business or +not." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean——" +</P> + +<P> +"That I don't like the looks of it. If there's an insurrection in +Mexico, those fellows are after no good on this side of the border. +They may be some band of cut-throats, who are taking advantage of the +disturbances to raise Cain." +</P> + +<P> +"Good gracious," exclaimed Jack, "and the professor's just injured +himself so that we can't move him for some time anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +Coyote Pete turned sharply on the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"What's he done?" +</P> + +<P> +"Broken his ankle, or, at any rate, seriously sprained it." +</P> + +<P> +Pete's rejoinder to this was a long whistle of dismay. He said +nothing, however, but once more applied the glasses to his eyes. Jack +saw him gnaw his moustache, as he gazed out over the desert. The +dust-cloud was quite close now—not more than a mile away. The boys, +with their naked eyes, could easily catch the moving glint of metal. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Pete, what do you think?" inquired Jack eagerly, as the +cowpuncher at length set down the glasses. +</P> + +<P> +"That we're in Dutch," was the expressive rejoinder. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DARK FACE OF DANGER. +</H3> + + +<P> +"Are we in actual danger?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Ralph who put the question. The Eastern lad looked rather white +under his tan. Walt, however, seemed as imperturbable as ever, and +gazed out at the approaching horsemen with no more sign of emotion than +a tightening of the lips. +</P> + +<P> +Coyote Pete's reply was a curious one. He handed the boy the glasses, +and said curtly: +</P> + +<P> +"Take a squint fer yourself." +</P> + +<P> +Ralph gazed long and earnestly. Pete talked the while in low undertone. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you recognize him—that fellow on the big black horse? I'd know +that horse ten miles away, even if I didn't know the man. He's——" +</P> + +<P> +"Black Ramon de Barros!" burst from the Eastern lad's astounded lips, +while the others gave a sharp gasp of surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the rooster. Here, Jack; take a look." +</P> + +<P> +The boy, as you may suppose, lost no time in applying the glasses to +his own eyes. Viewed through the magnifying medium, a startling +moving-picture swung into focus. +</P> + +<P> +Surrounding a big, covered wagon, of the prairie-schooner type, were +from ten to a dozen wild-looking Mexicans, their straggling elf-locks +crowned by high-peaked sombreros, and their serapes streaming out +wildly about them, whipped into loose folds by the pace at which they +rode. As Coyote Pete had said, there was little difficulty for any one +who had seen him once, in recognizing Black Ramon de Barros. His +magnificent black horse—the same on which he had escaped from the old +mission—made him a marked man among a thousand. The wagon was drawn +by six mules, and driven by a short, stocky, little Mexican. The +horsemen seemed to act as escort for it. Evidently they had no fear of +being observed by hostile eyes, for, as they advanced, they waved their +rifles about their heads and yelled exultingly. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately for the party on the summit of the mesa, their stock was +tethered on the opposite side of the formation to that on which the +cavalcade was approaching. Thus, Black Ramon and his men could not see +that the mesa was occupied. Jack caught himself wondering, though, how +long it would be before, and what would happen when, they did. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you got any plan in your head?" he asked, turning to Pete, as he +laid the glasses down. But for once, to his dismay, the old plainsman +seemed fairly stumped. The danger had come upon them so suddenly, so +utterly unexpectedly, that it had caught them absolutely unprepared. +They had not even a rifle with them on the mesa summit, and it was now +too late to risk exposing themselves by descending for weapons. There +was nothing to do, it seemed, but powerlessly to await what destiny +would bring forth. +</P> + +<P> +"You boys get back to the altar. You can act as company fer the +profusser, and it will be a snug hiding-place in case of trouble," +whispered Pete. "I wish to goodness we'd brought the stock up inside +the mesa, and then those fellows might never have discovered we were +here. I don't see how they can help it, as things are, though." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll be bound to see our footmarks in the assembly hall," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Not bound to, lad," rejoined Pete. "You see, they may be only going +to make this a watering-place fer their stock, and then press right on." +</P> + +<P> +"Press right on across that rocky range yonder?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hum," resumed Pete, "that's so. They couldn't very well get that +wagin across that, could they?" +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever do you suppose they've got a wagon for, at all?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got my own ideas, lad, and I'll find out afore long if I'm right. +Now, you and the other boys get back in that altar. If it gets too hot +here, I'll jump in and join you. If the worst comes to the worst, we +ought to be able to lay hid in there fer a while." +</P> + +<P> +"In the meantime what are you going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Keep my eyes and ears open. There's something mighty strange about +this whole thing." +</P> + +<P> +The boys knew that obedience to Pete's commands was about the best +thing they could do at the moment, so they hastened to conceal +themselves within the altar, which afforded a comfortable hiding-place, +even if it was a trifle hot. The poor professor was in great pain from +his ankle, but Jack, after as able an examination as he could give the +injured member, was unable to find that it was anything more than a +severe sprain. +</P> + +<P> +It did not take the professor long to become acquainted with what had +happened within the last fifteen minutes, and, in his anxiety over the +outcome of their situation, his pain was almost forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +"If we only had the rifles," he breathed in such a savage voice that +had the circumstances been different the boys could have smiled at the +odd contrast between his mild, spectacled countenance and his +bloodthirsty words. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed hours, although in reality not more than half an hour +elapsed, before Coyote Pete returned. His reappearance was not an +orderly one. Instead, he landed in the interior of the altar in one +bound. His face was streaming with sweat, and he looked anxious and +worried. +</P> + +<P> +"What news?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"The worst," was the rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"Have they found our camp?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, but that's only a question of a few minutes now. At present +they are unhitching and cooking a meal. Luckily the shade at this time +of day lies to the north-west of the mesa, so that they may not explore +the other side for some time." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hope not. But what have you found out about them? What are +they doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I suspicioned. They are a part of a gang of gun-runners." +</P> + +<P> +"Gun-runners?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. From listening to their conversation, I have found out that this +insurrection's a heap worse than we ever supposed. Half of Chihuahua +is up in arms ag'in the government, and they are plotting to blow up +railroad bridges, cut wires, and paralyze the country generally. Then +they are goin' ter raid all the American mines and get the gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, dad's mine's in Chihuahua, close to the border," gasped Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it. I heard that greaser ragamuffin, Black Ramon, mention his +name. Your dad's the first one they're goin' after——" +</P> + +<P> +"The scoundrels." +</P> + +<P> +"They owe him a grudge, you know, and now's their chance to get even." +</P> + +<P> +"Do they know that dad is in Mexico now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't hear that. All I found out was what I told you, and that, as +I said, they are running guns across the border. That wagon's loaded +up with machine-guns in heavy cases. They are labeled as agricultural +machinery, and were taken off the train by white accomplices seventy +miles or more from here. They chose this part of the border, I guess, +as even Uncle Sam would never suspect any one of trying ter get guns +over them hills yonder." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they can't take a wagon over those rocky, desolate places. How +are they going to get them across, do you suppose?" asked the +professor, his pain almost forgotten in the tense interest of the +moment. +</P> + +<P> +"That's just the funny part uv it," said Pete; "they never mentioned +the mountains. You don't suppose there's any other way they could get +'em over the border, do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe they have an airship," suggested Walt Phelps. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," said Pete quite gravely, "I wouldn't put nothin' past a +greaser." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush!" exclaimed Ralph suddenly, "somebody's coming." +</P> + +<P> +With beating hearts they sank into absolute silence. The three boys +crouched at one end of the hollow altar, the professor and Coyote Pete +bundled together into as small a space as possible at the other. +</P> + +<P> +Voices, conversing in Spanish, could now be heard, and, from the +inflection, the boys judged that whoever was talking was very much +astonished over something. +</P> + +<P> +"I recognize that voice," said Jack suddenly, in a low whisper, "it's +Ramon de Barros." +</P> + +<P> +The other two boys nodded. Ralph Stetson's heart beat so hard and fast +that it fairly shook his frame. Truly the predicament of the party was +a terrible one. Discovery by as wolf-hearted a band of ruffians—if +they were all like their leader—as ever infested the border, was +inevitable within the next few minutes. Taking into consideration +their connection with Black Ramon in the past, it was unlikely in the +extreme that any mercy would be shown them. Never had any of them +looked so closely into the dark face of danger. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the listeners, crouching in their hiding-place, heard a shout +of astonishment from the Mexicans. +</P> + +<P> +"They've seen our camp over the edge of the mesa!" exclaimed Pete in a +low, tense voice; "in another minute they'll start looking for us." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, the voice which Jack had recognized as Black Ramon's, +uttered a crisp, curt command of some sort. The lads could hear +footsteps hurrying hither and thither. Without doubt, the order that +meant their probable doom had just been given. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't stand this a minute longer," cried Ralph suddenly. The boy's +eyes were blazing wildly. Clenching his fist, he sprang to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Come back here, you blockhead," snapped Jack, tugging his friend down. +Ralph came backward sprawling, and landed in a heap in Jack's lap, +knocking Walt Phelps with him. Together the three boys were tangled in +a struggling heap. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up," whispered Jack. "They'll hear us. You——" +</P> + +<P> +He stopped short. All at once an astonishing—an incredible thing—had +happened. The floor beneath them,—the solid floor, as it had +seemed,—began to tremble. +</P> + +<P> +Before any of the amazed lads could utter a word, the foundation upon +which they rested tipped, and, with a loud, ringing cry of terror from +Ralph, they were plunged out of the sunlight into blackness as +impenetrable as the pocket of Erebus. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE MESA DWELLERS' BURIAL GROUND. +</H3> + + +<P> +Down, down, they plunged, bumping and scraping painfully in the +darkness. Terror had deprived them of speech or the power of uttering +a sound, or they would have shouted. As it was, however, when they +finally landed in a heap on some hard surface at the foot of the steep +declivity down which they had fallen, it was some seconds before any of +them breathed a word. Then it was Jack who spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Fellows!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Jack." The rejoinder came out of the darkness in Walt Phelps' +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Ralph, are you there?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; I'm dead. That is, I feel as if every bone in my body had been +broken. What in the name of Old Nick has happened?" +</P> + +<P> +"Thank goodness there are no bones broken," breathed Jack thankfully, +as Ralph spoke, "as to what happened, you can take your own guess on +it. My idea is that there was some sort of hinged trap-door at the +bottom of that altar, and that when our combined weight came upon it at +the time I pulled Ralph down, the blamed old thing tipped and dumped us +down in here." +</P> + +<P> +"That's my idea, too," chimed in Walt. "Can't account for it in any +other way. But what is 'here'? Where are we?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can answer that as well as I can," was the rejoinder. "Anybody +got a match? Oh, here; all right, I've got some, plenty in fact—a +whole pocketful." +</P> + +<P> +Jack struck a lucifer, and as its yellow glare lit up their +surroundings, they could not repress a cry of astonishment. They had +landed at the foot of a steep flight of stairs, at the summit of which +they correctly surmised was the trap-door through which they had been +so startlingly dumped. +</P> + +<P> +"Good gracious, did we fall down all those?" murmured Ralph, rubbing +his elbow painfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess so. I know I feel as if I'd been monkeying with a buzz-saw," +same [Transcriber's note: came?] from Walt Phelps. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, fellows," said Jack, as the light died out, "the question now +before us is, what are we going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Try to get out again," said the practical Walt Phelps. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Walt. Then we'd better remount those steps—slower than we +came down them—and try to reopen that trap-door. We can't leave Pete +and the injured professor like this." +</P> + +<P> +The boys clambered up the steps without difficulty. They were deep and +shallow, and were cut out of the living rock. At the head of the +stairs, however, a disappointment awaited them. Try as they would, +they could not discover any means of reopening the stone trap-door in +the floor of the hollow altar. Apparently, after dumping them through, +it had closed as hermetically as before. +</P> + +<P> +The flickering light of the matches from Jack's store illuminated looks +of despair on their faces as they realized that they were trapped. +</P> + +<P> +"Try pounding on it and shouting," suggested Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +Although Jack deemed it of little use, he and Walt followed this +suggestion, and together the three boys beat and hammered on the +massive stone above them till their hands were raw. There was no +response, however. Apparently the stone was too thick for a sound to +penetrate to the outer air. Terror, that was almost panic, seized Walt +and Ralph, as they realized that they were prisoners in this +hermetically sealed dungeon. Worse than prisoners, in fact. Prisoners +had food and at least hope. They, unless they could find a way out, +were buried alive. Even Jack's stout heart experienced a deadly +feeling of depression, as he realized this. He concealed his despair +from his companions, however, and, with all the cheerfulness he could +muster, addressed them in the darkness. Matches had now grown too +precious to squander. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, fellows, we've got to find another way out." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's no good," moaned Ralph despairingly, "we're doomed to die +here. We might as well sit down and wait for death to come." +</P> + +<P> +"Say," cut in Jack briskly, "if it was light enough to see, I'd give +you a good licking. Doomed to die, indeed! Not much. It's a cinch, +isn't it, that if there is an entrance to this place there must be an +outlet, too? Very well, then," he hurried on, without waiting for an +answer, "let's find that outlet." +</P> + +<P> +The logic of this speech might be questioned, but of its good sense, +under the circumstances, there was no doubt. +</P> + +<P> +"You're right, Jack," said Ralph. "I'm ashamed of myself for doing +the baby act. Come on, let's set out at once." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the talk," said Walt heartily; "if there's a way out, we'll +find it." +</P> + +<P> +"And if not?" asked Ralph, his spirits flagging again. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll discuss that later," declared Jack briskly. +</P> + +<P> +Returning again to the landing—if such it might be called—upon which +they had terminated their abrupt descent into the interior of the mesa, +some more of the precious matches were lit. As the last flickered out, +the boys fancied that some feet from them they could see a black mouth, +like the entrance of a tunnel, or rather a continuation of the one into +which they had been thrown. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, boys," exclaimed Jack. "It's the only thing to do. We can't +turn back, and, as Pete says, 'there ain't nothing to do but go ahead.'" +</P> + +<P> +Not without some misgivings did the three lads plunge forward in the +darkness, feeling their way with outstretched hands as they entered the +tunnel. A close, musty smell, as of things long mildewed and moulded, +filled the air, and an oppressive silence lay on everything. +Unconsciously, since entering this place, their conversation had been +all in whispers. +</P> + +<P> +The tunnel they were now traversing was bored on a pretty steep down +grade. So steep, in fact, that Jack concluded, after about a quarter +of an hour of slow and cautious traveling, that they must be below the +level of the desert. For the last few minutes they had been conscious +of a peculiar thing. This was that the silence of the tunnel had given +place to a deep-throated roaring, not unlike the voice of a blast +furnace. Where it came from, or what it was, they had no idea. It was +a most peculiar sound, though, steady as a trade-wind, and seeming to +fill the whole place with its deep vibrations. +</P> + +<P> +"What can it be?" gasped Walt, as they paused by common consent to +listen. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe the wind roaring by the entrance to this place," suggested Jack +hopefully. +</P> + +<P> +This thought gave them new courage, and, on Ralph's suggestion, Jack +struck another match from his store. As it flared up, they all three +recoiled with expressions of dismay. +</P> + +<P> +At their very feet—so close that the tips of their boots almost +projected over it—was a deep chasm. The black profundity of it loomed +in front of them gapingly. A few paces more, and they would have been +precipitated into the abyss. Jack, suppressing a shudder, leaned +forward and held the match as far over the edge as he dared. As the +depths of the great crevasse were illuminated by a feeble flame, he +shrank back with a sharp intake of his breath. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-106"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-106.jpg" ALT="As it flared up, they all three recoiled with expressions of dismay. At their very feet was a deep chasm." BORDER="2" WIDTH="390" HEIGHT="586"> +<H3> +[Illustration: As it flared up, they all three recoiled with<BR> +expressions of dismay. At their very feet was a deep chasm.] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The place was a charnel house! +</P> + +<P> +No mystery now as to what had become of the human remains of the grisly +sacrifices of the ancient mesa dwellers. There, piled in that dark +chasm beneath them, were great piles of decaying bones and gleaming +skulls. Hundreds of them extended toward the surface in a ghastly +pyramid. No wonder the underground place into which they had +penetrated smelled musty and unpleasant. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the mesa dwellers' burial ground!" exclaimed Ralph in a +quavering voice, as, clinging to Jack's arm, he bent forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," rejoined Walt with a shudder, "and but for Providence, we should +have plunged downward into it ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" exclaimed Jack, in a voice filled with repulsion. "Don't let's +think of it. See, the path takes a turn here. Come on, let's go +ahead, but follow me closely and keep in to the wall." +</P> + +<P> +"Not likely to take any chances of missing the road, after seeing +that," spoke up Walt, as once more the three youths, who had been so +strangely plunged into this predicament, began to tread the +subterranean regions once more. +</P> + +<P> +As you may imagine, they went with due caution. But no more dangers +menaced them, and as they progressed the path began to widen. All the +time, however, the strange roaring sound had been growing louder, until +now it had attained almost deafening proportions. Still they had come +upon no explanation of what it could be. Jack had privately concluded +it to be the sound of the wind, forcing its way into some crevice. +This theory seemed to be the more tenable as the last match which he +had struck had only been kept alight with difficulty, so strong had +been the draught that now puffed up toward them. +</P> + +<P> +Far from alarming them, however, this gave them renewed hope. It meant +that, in all probability, they were nearing an outlet of the strange +underground place. Had it not been for the predicament in which they +had left the professor and Coyote Pete, the three lads would have felt +a real interest in exploring the cavern, now that they had grown +accustomed to their surroundings. So far as they had been able to make +out, the tunnel they had been treading was partially the work of human +hands and partially the work of Nature. The great rift in which lay +the accumulation of human remains was evidently the result of some +volcanic upheaval. The path, however, was so graded and formed that +there seemed no reason to doubt that it had, at one time, been made by +the ancient mesa dwellers. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me we ought to find out what that roaring sound means before +we go any farther," suggested Ralph suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a fine Irish bull," laughed Jack. "How are we going to find +what it is unless we do go farther?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," agreed Ralph, somewhat abashed. "Come on, then." +</P> + +<P> +A few paces more brought them to an abrupt turn in the path, as they +could feel by their constant touching of the inner wall. +</P> + +<P> +"Better strike another match," said Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; here goes," agreed Jack. Both boys shouted, to make themselves +heard above the now thunderous roaring of the strange noise. +</P> + +<P> +A shout of surprise that rose even above the mysterious roaring, +followed the striking of the match. Beyond the turn the path took a +steep drop downward, and beyond that—the boys could hardly believe +their eyes as they gazed—was the glint of rushing water. +</P> + +<P> +"The subterranean river!" was the amazed cry that broke from the lips +of all three. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NEW MEXICAN STYX. +</H3> + + +<P> +"The subterranean river!" +</P> + +<P> +The words echoed back weirdly from the vault-like chamber into which +they had now penetrated, and at the bottom of which the stream, upon +which the light of the match had glistened, flowed rapidly. Within +this spacious place the noise was not nearly so loud as it had been +when confined in the narrow tunnel, which, in fact, acted much as a +speaking-tube would have done. +</P> + +<P> +"It can't be!" gasped Ralph, unwilling to believe his own eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is," cried Jack, as, all thoughts of their predicament +forgotten in this strange discovery, they made lavish use of their +matches on gaining the edge of the stream. The river was about twenty +feet in width, and they speedily saw that the roaring sound they had +heard during their progress through the tunnel was produced by a +waterfall some distance above, over which the river plunged into a sort +of basin at their feet. +</P> + +<P> +But this was not the most astonishing thing they found in that first +brief but comprehensive inspection. Affixed to the rocky wall at one +side of the chamber was a large, bronze lamp. An eager overhauling of +the utensil showed it to be filled with oil, and apparently it was not +so very long since it had been lighted. +</P> + +<P> +Hastily applying a match, Jack soon had the rocky chamber lighted, and +they could now survey the place into which they had blundered, at their +ease. In size it was about the same dimensions as the Council Hall of +the mesa, which lay, they knew not how many feet, above them. The +river roared down along one side of it, forming a deep, turbid pool +just beneath the waterfall, by which it entered the place. +</P> + +<P> +To their astonishment, the boys now spied in one corner of the chamber +several empty boxes piled up. Remains of excelsior and sacking were +within them, and they bore the stencilled marks, "Agricultural +Machinery, With Care." +</P> + +<P> +Instantly what Pete had related to him concerning the conversation of +the men accompanying Black Ramon flashed into Jack's mind. Could it be +possible that they had stumbled upon the place utilized by the +gun-runners to convey their ammunition across the border? At this +instant, there came a shout from Ralph, who had been peering about the +place. +</P> + +<P> +"A boat!" +</P> + +<P> +"A what?" The incredulous cry burst from both Jack and Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a kind of a boat, anyhow. Come here, and look for yourselves." +</P> + +<P> +Ralph was bending over the rocky marge of the subterranean river at a +part of the chamber farthest removed from the waterfall. The water +here flowed comparatively slowly, most of its force having been +expended in the pool beneath the fall. Sure enough, Ralph had been +right. Moored to the bank by two stout ropes attached to iron bars +driven into the rock, was a boat—if such a name can be given to the +flat-bottomed, floating appliance, upon which the thunderstruck boys +gazed. +</P> + +<P> +The boat, or rather float, was about twenty feet in length and some +five feet in beam. It was not unlike, in fact, one of those shallow +craft used by duck hunters, only it was square at each end. Evidently +it would hold a considerable quantity of freight. More excelsior and +burlap litter in the bottom of it showed that whatever had been the +contents of the boxes, it had apparently been used to transport them. +</P> + +<P> +"Boys, we've tumbled over the discovery of the age!" exclaimed Jack, in +what was for him, a strangely excited voice. +</P> + +<P> +The others were not less moved. Their eyes were round and their jaws +dropped in incredulous wonderment, as they gazed before them. +</P> + +<P> +"Will somebody please pinch me?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Ralph who spoke, turning a countenance solemn and startled upon +his comrades. +</P> + +<P> +"No need to do that, Ralph. You're wide-awake; make no mistake about +that." +</P> + +<P> +"But—but I don't understand," began Walt in a puzzled tone. "What is +this place, what——" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" echoed Jack. "It's the gun-runners' underground +railroad. Can't you see it? This river, so the old Indian legend +says, emerges across the border. In some way these Mexicans heard of +it, and learned the secret of the hollow altar. No wonder the +government has not been able to find out how the rebels got their arms +across the border." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what are we going to do, now we've found it?" +</P> + +<P> +Walt, the practical, propounded the query, as they stood there, +half-stunned by the rapidity with which unheard-of events had happened +within the last half-hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I—upon my word, I don't know," laughed Jack, brought up with a +round turn by the hard-headed Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"I do," rejoined Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Escape to the open air." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean it?" Somehow, in his excitement, Jack had not gone as far as +this daring suggestion. And yet it was, after all, the only thing to +do. But suddenly another thought occurred to the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"The professor and Coyote Pete, how can we leave them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we can't do them any good by remaining buried here, that's +certain," replied Walt, in his sensible way. +</P> + +<P> +Jack and Ralph nodded agreement. +</P> + +<P> +"On the other hand, if this river really leads out into Mexico, we can +take the subway to freedom and then, when we emerge, find out the best +thing to do. Maybe we can fall in with some government troops or +authorities of some kind." +</P> + +<P> +"But suppose the insurrectos are in power wherever this river comes +out?" +</P> + +<P> +The question came from Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to take chances on that, I suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" came suddenly from Jack. +</P> + +<P> +Far back somewhere in the tunnels they had threaded they could hear +loud shouts and cries. The sound of the pursuit boomed out even above +the noise of the waterfall. +</P> + +<P> +"They're after us!" exclaimed Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we take the boat?" Walt's usually calm voice shook a little as +he asked the question. +</P> + +<P> +"It's our only chance. Come on, in with you, Ralph." +</P> + +<P> +Ralph hesitated no longer, but jumped into the little contrivance. A +sort of oar lay in the bottom. He thrust it over the side. +</P> + +<P> +"The water's only about three feet deep," he announced. +</P> + +<P> +"So much the less chance of our being drowned," rejoined Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The lad had his knife out—a heavy-bladed hunting weapon. As soon as +all was ready he would cut the ropes and set the boat free on the +turbulent current. +</P> + +<P> +"All right!" cried Walt, as he clambered in and took his place by Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +Jack gave a hasty look around, and the next instant made a flying leap +into the little craft. So fast had Black Ramon and his followers taken +up the trail after they had discovered that the boys had found the +secret of the hollow altar, that they were already entering the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +Ramon was in the lead. The glare of the lamp fell full on his +parchment-like features, as with a roar of recognition, he sighted the +boys. +</P> + +<P> +Ping! +</P> + +<P> +Something whizzed past Jack's ear, and, chipping the rock above, +showered the occupants of the boat with fragments. The sharp report of +the Mexican's revolver filled the place. With a quick movement, Jack +slashed the rope nearest him. If he had not been in such a hurry, he +would have seen that the other should have been severed first. As it +was, he had cut the one that held the boat's bow to the stream. +Instantly the flat-bottomed craft swung dizzily around, and still held +by her stern mooring, dashed against the bank. +</P> + +<P> +For a minute the boys feared she was stove in, but there was no time to +waste on an examination. +</P> + +<P> +Slash! +</P> + +<P> +One stroke of the knife severed the remaining rope, already drawn as +taut as a piano wire. But, as Jack's knife fell, the place became +filled with shouts and confusion. +</P> + +<P> +Ramon had been a little in advance of his men, and now they were all in +the place. A second's glance showed them what had happened. Not only +were the boys about to escape, but if they did not stop them the secret +of their underground route across the border would be discovered, and +its usefulness at an end. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder they strained every nerve to reach the boys. Ramon himself +had bounded to the side of the subterranean river as the boat swung +round. As her gunwale had struck the bank, he had leaped aboard. But +before he could use his revolver, Walt's powerful arm knocked the +weapon out of his hand, and it fell on the bottom of the boat. With a +snarl of rage, Ramon flashed round on the boy. But whatever the +Mexican might have been able to do with knife or pistol, he was no +match for the muscles of the American lad. +</P> + +<P> +Walt fairly picked the lithe form of the gun-runner from the floor of +the boat as Jack's knife fell across the remaining rope. With a splash +and a loud cry, Ramon pitched overside into the stream. As he fell, +though, he managed to clutch the side of the craft and he hung on, +desperately endeavoring to draw himself up into the boat. +</P> + +<P> +His followers, seeing what had happened, rushed down on them. A +tempest of bullets rattled about the boys' heads as they felt the rope +part. It was no moment for sentimental hesitation. Walt raised his +foot, and the next instant brought his heavy boot down with crushing +force on Ramon's clinging fingers. +</P> + +<P> +With a yelp of pain, the fellow let go and was rolled over and over in +the river, while half a dozen of his men waded in to rescue him. +</P> + +<P> +"Yip-ee-ee-ee! We're off!" yelled Jack, with a true cowboy yell. The +lad was carried away by the excitement and thrill of the adventure. +</P> + +<P> +With a lurch and a bump, the frail craft carrying our three young +friends shot forward. The lamp-lit panorama as Ramon, dripping and +cursing, was hauled out of the water by his band, flashed before their +eyes for a brief moment. The next instant dense darkness fell about +them. +</P> + +<P> +At what seemed to be a mile-a-minute pace they were hurried forward +into the unknown. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CAMP OF THE GUN-RUNNER +</H3> + + +<P> +Jounced against the rough, rock walls, bumped over shoal places, and at +times whirled almost broadside on by the swift current, the queer, +flat-bottomed boat containing our three young friends was hurried +through the darkness. It was the maddest ride any of them had ever +taken, and, as we know, they had been through some thrilling +experiences since they had first stood on the railroad station platform +at Maguez. Had they known it, they could have controlled the boat more +or less with the rough oar—the one with which Ralph had sounded the +depth of the river—but, of course, they were inexpert in the +management of such a craft. They could do nothing but keep still and +trust to luck to bring them safely out of their extraordinary +predicament. +</P> + +<P> +After some ten minutes of this, the current seemed to slacken a little +and the walls narrowed. Jack stretched out a hand and, to his +astonishment, his fingers were swept along a rope stretched down the +side of the tunnel. This solved a problem he had been revolving in his +mind—namely, how did the Mexicans get their boat back after it had +delivered its cargo of arms? The explanation was now a simple one. +Evidently they hauled it back by the use of this rope. "It must have +been hard work, though," thought Jack. +</P> + +<P> +Conversation was impossible in the confines of the tunnel which, in +places, was a mere tube in the rocks; the roar of the water was almost +deafening. It was so black, too, that they could not see one another's +faces. Of real alarm Jack did not feel much, and for an excellent +reason. It was apparent that the Mexicans had used this underground +route across the border many times, and, if they could make the +passage—terrifying as it seemed—in safety, there was every reason to +suppose that the boys could make it with the same security. +</P> + +<P> +What worried Jack most about their situation proceeded from a far +different cause. There was little reason to doubt that at the other +end of the tunnel, wherever that might be, Black Ramon or his +superiors, arming the insurrectionists, had guards posted to receive +the smuggled guns. If no opportunity of escaping from the boat +presented itself before they were hastened out of the exit of the +tunnel, their situation would be just as bad as ever. Ramon would, of +course, lose no time in following them up, either by a spare boat, +which he might have had concealed in the vaulted chamber, or else on +his fast, coal-black horse which he might ride across the rocky range, +far above the subterranean stream. +</P> + +<P> +In the event of their falling once more into the hands of Ramon, Jack +could not repress a shudder as he thought of what the probable fate +would be. Ugly stories had from time to time floated across the border +concerning the manner in which Ramon, in his cattle-rustling days, +dealt with his prisoners,—stories of torture and suffering that made +one shudder even to listen to. If the apparent leader of the +insurrectionist gun-runners had cause for animosity against the boys +before, it was surely redoubled now. Not only had they accidentally +penetrated the secret of the Haunted Mesa, but they had toppled the +former leader of the cattle-rustlers ignominiously into the water, an +insult which Jack knew the man's nature too well to suppose he would +easily either forgive or forget. +</P> + +<P> +In such gloomy reflections was he occupied when a sudden shout from the +others roused him from his reverie, and, looking up, he saw that the +tunnel through which the river flowed was growing higher, broader, and +lighter. The darkness had now been exchanged for a sort of semi-gloom, +in which the almost black rock gleamed wetly where the hurrying current +of the stream had washed its base. +</P> + +<P> +"We're near the end!" shouted Walt to the others. +</P> + +<P> +Jack nodded. Suddenly his eye fell on Ramon's revolver, which lay at +the bottom of the boat as it had fallen when he toppled overboard. One +cartridge had been discharged, leaving but four good shells in the +chamber, but in an emergency those four, the lad knew, would be better +than no weapons at all. He regarded this as distinctly a piece of good +luck—this finding of the pistol. He examined it and found that it was +a heavy weapon of forty-four caliber. +</P> + +<P> +Hardly had he had time to observe all this before the boat, without the +slightest warning, shot out into daylight, very much as a railroad +train emerges from a tunnel. A swift glance at their surroundings +showed Jack that they had floated into a sort of natural basin amid +some wild, bare-looking hills. The banks of this basin were clothed +with a sort of wild oat and interspersed with a small blue wild flower. +Here and there were clumps of chapparal. But what pleased the lad most +was the fact that, although not far from them a rude hut stood upon the +bank, there was so far no sign of human occupancy of the place. +</P> + +<P> +Seizing the steering oar, Jack ran the boat up alongside a spot where +the bank shelved gently down to the water's edge, and ran her, nose up, +on the sand. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoo——" began Ralph jubilantly, his spirits carrying him away, but +Jack's hand was over his mouth in a second. +</P> + +<P> +"The less noise we make the better," he breathed, stepping out of the +boat on tiptoe and signing to the others to do the same. With scarcely +a sound, they landed and stood at length on the grassy carpet sloping +down to the sandy beach. +</P> + +<P> +So far not a sound had proceeded from the hut Jack turned to his +companions with a cautious gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait here while I investigate," he whispered, "and be ready to jump +back into the boat and shove off at a minute's notice." +</P> + +<P> +They nodded and turned to obey, as Jack, as silently as he could, crept +on toward the hut, his revolver clasped ready for use at the slightest +alarm. The Border Boy did not mean to be caught napping. In this +manner he reached the wall of the hut nearest to the river, in which +there was a small, unglazed window. Cautiously raising himself on +tiptoe, Jack peered within. +</P> + +<P> +In a rough chair, by a table covered with the untidy remains of a meal, +was seated an elderly Mexican, as shriveled and brown as a dried bean. +The regularity with which he was "sawing wood" showed that he was as +sound asleep as it is possible for a man to be. Still Jack knew that +there are men who sleep with one eye open, so he did not relax an iota +of his vigilance as he crept around the corner of the house. On the +opposite side he found a doorway, and, noiselessly gliding in, he had +the pistol to the Mexican's ear before whatever dreams the man might +have been having were even disturbed. +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba, sanctissima! Santa Maria!" yelled the man, springing to his +feet as if propelled by springs. But the uncomfortable sensation of +the little circle of steel pressed to the nape of his neck brought him +back again into the chair in a second, trembling like a leaf, and +gazing in terror at the determined young figure standing over him. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep quiet and I'll not hurt you," said Jack, adding as an +afterthought: "Do you speak English?" +</P> + +<P> +"Me spiggoty 'Merican," sputtered the trembling old Mexican. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, José, then listen: Are there any horses here?" +</P> + +<P> +The old man's eyes held a gleam of intelligence. +</P> + +<P> +"Cavallo, señor. One, two, t'ree horse over heel." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, over the hill, are they?" said Jack to himself, then aloud: "You +come and show them to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Mocho easy to find," protested the Mexican. +</P> + +<P> +Jack smiled to himself. He had been right, then. The old man was +trying to trick him. Assuming a sterner air, he thundered out, +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me where these horses are or I'll kill you!" +</P> + +<P> +The threat proved effectual, as Jack had hoped it would. Dropping all +his attempts at subterfuge, the Mexican told the boy that the horses +were in a gully not a hundred feet from the house. On the Mexican +being escorted there, still with the pistol held close to his head, his +words were found to be true. +</P> + +<P> +Three horses, ready saddled and bridled, stood in the gulch, apparently +reserved for the use of any one about the camp who should need them in +a hurry. +</P> + +<P> +This much ascertained, Jack marched the Mexican back to the hut, where, +with a rope, he leisurely proceeded to bind him. Then, amid the +fellow's tears and supplications—for he evidently thought he was about +to be killed—the boy marched him to the river bank. Walt and Ralph +were naturally bubbling over with questions, but they said nothing as +Jack sternly ordered the aged Mexican to board the boat. +</P> + +<P> +There were more prayers and tears, but finally the shriveled old chap +got on board, and the boys shoved him off. The current rapidly bore +him off down the stream and presently he vanished between the two +points of land through which the river made its way out of the basin. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he's off for a good, long ride," said Jack, as with howls and +yells from its passenger the boat vanished from view. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you just bind him and leave him in the hut?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Because Ramon may be along at any moment, and the old fellow might +give him some information concerning us we wouldn't like to have +published," was the rejoinder. "In that boat he is in no danger and +will simply take a long and pleasant ride, and won't be in a position +to do us any mischief when he is finally rescued." +</P> + +<P> +The boys were full of admiration for Jack's strategy, and openly +expressed their congratulations on the skillful way he had carried +things through, but the lad waved them aside impatiently. Rapidly he +told them that their best course was to get on horseback as soon as +possible, and head away from the valley. +</P> + +<P> +Some five minutes later three youthful figures mounted on a trio of +splendid specimens of horse flesh, loped easily up a trail leading from +the natural basin in the hills. In Jack's pocket, too, reposed a +certain paper found on the table in the hut and signed with Ramon de +Barros' name. With a vague idea that it might prove useful to him, the +boy had appropriated it, and shoved it hastily in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +The summit of the basin reached, the boys found themselves not far from +a broad, white road. The compass, which Jack still had on his wrist, +showed the direction to be about due east and west. Crossing a stretch +of grass, which separated them from the thoroughfare, the three young +horsemen were soon standing on the ribbonlike stretch of white which +wound its way through a country pleasantly green and fresh-looking +after their sojourn in the desert. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like the promised land," cried Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet we're the first bunch to find the promised land via the +underground railway," laughed Ralph, as they gazed about them, +undecided in which direction to proceed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADERO'S FLYING COLUMN. +</H3> + + +<P> +As they stood there, still undecided as to which direction to take, +Jack's keen eyes detected, above a clump of trees some distance down +the road to the west, a cloud of yellow dust rising. Evidently +somebody was coming their way. The question was, who was it? +</P> + +<P> +It might be some one of whom they could inquire the direction to the +Esmeralda mine—for Jack had determined to seek out his father, knowing +the mine could not be very far distant. Again it might be a band of +insurrectos, in which case they would have jumped out of the frying pan +into the fire with a vengeance. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we ride forward?" asked Walt, as Jack's lips tightened in deep +thought. +</P> + +<P> +The other boy pushed back his sombrero. Jack Merrill was only a lad, +after all, and he found himself suddenly called upon to answer a +question which might have stumped a grown man. The question, however, +was decided for him, and by a means so utterly unexpected that it came +near jolting the Border Boys out of their composure; for Jack, as they +had ridden up from the river, had admonished his companions to keep +cool minds and wits and stiff upper lips whatever happened. They were +going into a country in which, from what they had been able to gather, +the insurrectos were numerically and strategically strong. Their only +safety, the lad argued with a wisdom beyond his years, was in facing +emergencies as they came, without betraying by outward signs whatever +of inward perturbation they might feel. +</P> + +<P> +"I think we had better ride eastward, till we come to some village or +town," Jack was beginning, in response to Walt's question, when a voice +from behind suddenly hailed them in unmistakably American accents. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, here you are, gentlemen. We've been expecting you." +</P> + +<P> +The boys wheeled to find that a horseman stood beside them. He had +ridden almost noiselessly over the soft grass, which accounted for +their not having heard his approach. Jack took in the new arrival's +figure in a quick, comprehensive glance. +</P> + +<P> +The man who now faced them was a stalwart-looking chap of about thirty. +His face was bronzed and his eyes keen. The face of one who has lived +much out of doors. His manner seemed frank and open—even hearty—but +any one skilled in reading faces would have noted in the rather +receding chin and the eyes set close together that, in spite of his +apparent heartiness, the newcomer was a man of limited reliability. +The sort of chap, in short, who, while fearless up to a certain point +and adventurous to a degree, would yet in an extremity look out for +"Number One." +</P> + +<P> +As for his dress, it was much the same as the boys'. Sombrero, leather +chaps well worn, blue shirt, and red neck handkerchief. Jack's keen +eyes noted, too, that the pommel of his saddle bore some recent bullet +scars, and that in two bearskin holsters reposed the formidable-looking +butts of two heavy-caliber revolvers. The war-like note was further +enhanced by the fact that across his saddle horn the new arrival +carried a Remington rifle. +</P> + +<P> +The boys' position was now an extraordinary one. Advancing toward them +down the road, was, what they could now perceive to be, a considerable +body of horsemen. As if this were not enough to raise a question of +whether it was better to fly or remain where they were, here was this +total stranger, perhaps an American, too, hailing them as if he knew +them, or, at least, had expected to meet them there. Jack's mind was +made up in a flash, but, even in the brief instant he hesitated, the +stranger's keen, close-set eyes narrowed suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not mistaken, am I? You expected to meet me here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, of course," responded Jack quickly, and in as easy a tone as +he could command; "I hope we're not late?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; there comes Madero's flying column now. You couldn't have kept +the appointment better if you had arranged to meet us at some spot in +New York." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad we're on time," said Jack, not knowing exactly what else to +say. +</P> + +<P> +The lad was thunderstruck, as well he might be, by the turn events were +taking. He wished fervently, however, that they knew whom they were +expected to be and why their coming had been awaited with such +eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +"I say, you know," rattled on the other, who seemed to be a pleasant +natured enough chap, "that trip of yours through that hole in the +ground has mussed you up a bit." +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly has," agreed Jack, more and more mystified; "it's a +pretty rough voyage." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what, and going through that blamed trap in the Mesa, like a +comedian in an extravaganza, isn't the least unpleasant part of it. It +was a pretty slick trick of Ramon's to find that out, although, I +guess, some old Indian gave him the tip." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a great scheme," put in Walt Phelps, finding his tongue at last. +</P> + +<P> +"You chaps are a good deal younger than I expected to find you," +rattled on the stranger, "but I suppose you've seen lots of service." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, lots of it," put in Ralph, throwing some fervor into his tone. +He felt that they had indeed, in the last few hours, seen service +enough for a lifetime. Jack inwardly rejoiced as the others found +their tongues. He had dreaded that the suddenness of the emergency +might have proved too much for them. Both lads were rising to it +gallantly, however. Now, if only he could find out who on earth they +were supposed to be, they might yet escape from the predicament into +which they had fallen. +</P> + +<P> +"Now let's introduce ourselves," went on their new acquaintance, +evidently not the least bit suspicious now. "My name's Bob Harding. +Which of you chaps is Con Divver?" +</P> + +<P> +"Right here," said Jack, motioning to Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"And Jim Hickey and Ted Rafter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Jim and here is Ted," responded Jack, his heart beating like a +trip hammer. It was a daring game they were playing. +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. Now we all know each other. I think that Americans +enlisted in this sort of service should be on good terms, don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly do," rejoined Jack warmly. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine! I'll bet we'll make good messmates. And now here comes Madero +himself. If you fellows will come with me, I'll introduce you in form. +Do you 'spiggoty'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do we what?" asked Jack wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Spiggoty. Talk this greaser lingo?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very well, I'm afraid. Does the general talk English?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well. He's a good fellow, too. You'll find out." +</P> + +<P> +Thus rattling on, Bob Harding escorted the lads toward the van of the +advancing horsemen. There were about a hundred in the troop, which +Harding had referred to as a "Flying Column," and, although the +horsemen were all apparently well armed, their appearance was ragged +and wild in the extreme. They had evidently seen some hard fighting. +Here and there could be seen men with bandaged heads or limbs, while +their high conical-crowned hats were in some cases drilled, like +beehives, with bullet holes. In color, the insurrecto leader's +followers ranged from a delicate cream to a dark, reddish-brown, almost +the coppery hue of a red Indian. In all, they formed as ferocious and +formidable-looking a troop of horsemen as the Border Boys had ever set +eyes on. +</P> + +<P> +Madero himself, a rather sad-faced man of past middle age, rode in +advance, surrounded by several officers, the latter having red flannel +chevrons attached to their buckskin coats by safety pins. The famous +insurrecto leader raised his hat with Mexican courtesy as the newcomers +approached. Bob Harding drew himself up in his saddle and gave a +military salute which the general stiffly returned. The boys, taking +their cue from their new acquaintance, followed his example. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid that your first experience with the insurrectos was a +rough one, señores," said the general, with one of his sad smiles, +using very fair English. +</P> + +<P> +"No rougher than we must expect," rejoined Jack crisply. The lad by +now had begun to have an inkling of the situation. Evidently Bob +Harding was a soldier of fortune fighting with the insurrectos against +the troops of Diaz, while they themselves were supposed to be more of +the same brand. Evidently they had been expected by Ramon's +subterranean river, and in taking the boat they must have forestalled +the real Con Divver, Jim Hickey, and Ted Rafter. Jack caught himself +wondering how long it would take the latter to ride over the mountains +and discover the imposture. +</P> + +<P> +"We are on our way to our bivouac farther on, gentlemen," said the +general, with a wave of his hand, as if to dismiss them. "Captain +Harding will introduce you to your brother officers and later on I will +assign you to duty." +</P> + +<P> +The boys saluted once more, as did Bob Harding, and, still following +the young soldier of fortune, they rode toward the rear of the column. +The brown-skinned soldiers cast many glances out of their wild eyes at +them as they loped back, evidently wondering at the youth of Madero's +new recruits from across the border. +</P> + +<P> +The boys found no opportunity to exchange conversation as they rode +along. Bob Harding was far too busy introducing them to brother +officers to permit of this. From remarks addressed to them, which they +answered carefully in a general way, the boys soon learned that the +three soldiers of fortune they were impersonating had been redoubtable +warriors in several revolutionary battles in South America. Thus it +came about that Jack and his chums were speedily far more prominent +personalities than they cared about becoming. The officers of Madero's +command they found to be mostly small planters and ranch owners, +inflamed with bitterness at the freedom with which great grants of land +had been made to Americans by Diaz. +</P> + +<P> +Bob Harding was not backward in telling them his history, as they rode +along. He had been expelled from West Point for a hazing prank, and +since that time had "knocked about the world a bit," as he expressed +it. He was frank in confessing that he was with Madero's command for +the "fun there was in it." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see much fun in injuring American interests and practically +warring on your own people," burst out Jack, before he knew what he was +saying. +</P> + +<P> +Harding whipped around in his saddle like a flash. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Jim Hickey," he snapped, "those are funny sentiments coming from +you. You didn't feel that way during your famous campaign in +Venezuela, did you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it wasn't so near home, you see," rather lamely explained Jack, +wishing that he had bitten his tongue out before he had made such a +break. +</P> + +<P> +But Bob Harding fortunately was not of an analytical disposition, and +he was soon rattling on again, relating to the boys, with great glee, +the manner in which the insurrectos were getting all the arms they +wanted by Black Ramon's underground route. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE CAMP OF THE INSURRECTOS. +</H3> + + +<P> +Camp was made that night not far from the outskirts of what must have +been a small town or village. Through the trees surrounding the camp +the boys could catch the glint of distant lights as the sun set and +darkness rushed up with the suddenness characteristic of the southern +latitudes. Rumor about the camp was that there was a fair or carnival +in the village. To Jack's huge delight, he found that a tent was to be +provided for them, and that, if all went well, they would be able, +after the camp was wrapped in sleep, to have a consultation. +</P> + +<P> +But before this occurred something else happened which bore so directly +on the boys' fortunes that it must be related here. Supper in the camp +was over, sentries posted, and the routine of what had evidently been a +long campaign taken up, when the three lads, who had been chatting with +Bob Harding and trying to draw out all he knew without betraying +themselves, were summoned by a ragged orderly to present themselves in +General Madero's tent. +</P> + +<P> +At first a dreadful fear that their deception had been discovered +rushed into Jack's mind, as they arose from the ground outside Bob +Harding's tent and made their way to the general's quarters. This +fear, which his comrades shared with him, was speedily relieved, +however. General Madero greeted them with the same grave courtesy he +had shown them earlier in the day, and, after a few words, bade them be +seated. Each visitor having been accommodated with a camp stool, the +general turned to a written paper which he had before him on the +folding camp table, and which he had apparently been poring over +intently when they entered. +</P> + +<P> +"I sent for you, gentlemen," he said, "in the first place, because I am +sure, from what Señor Ramon told me, our new recruits are anxious to +distinguish themselves, and also because I have some duty to outline to +you which is peculiarly adapted for Americans to undertake. +</P> + +<P> +"You know, doubtless, that the funds of the insurrectos are not as +plentiful as they might be. Most of us are poor men. I myself have +disposed of my estate to make the revolution against the tyrant Diaz +successful." He paused and frowned at the mention of the hated name, +and then continued in the same grave, even voice: +</P> + +<P> +"It becomes necessary, therefore, for us to raise funds as best we may. +Of course, we might live upon the country, but this I am unwilling to +do. The people are friendly to us. They give us their moral support. +Let us then not repay good with evil by plundering them. Rather let us +pay for what we get as we go along." +</P> + +<P> +Harding nodded, as did the boys. It was best to give the general the +impression that they were deeply interested. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, then. But we must raise funds—and how? How better than +by helping ourselves to the product of which our country has been +robbed by favorites of Diaz. I refer, I need hardly say, to the +American mining men who have enriched themselves at my poor +countrymen's expense." +</P> + +<P> +Jack could hardly repress an angry start as he saw whither this line of +reasoning must lead. The gross injustice of the idea made him flush +hotly, but he was far too wise to expose his hand to the wily old +insurrecto leader, who was watching them with an eager look on his +withered, yellow face. +</P> + +<P> +"There is near here," continued the general, "a mine I have had my eyes +on for a long time. It belongs to a Señor Merrill, a rancher——" +</P> + +<P> +The general broke off abruptly. Jack had started so suddenly that the +lamp on the table was jarred. +</P> + +<P> +"Señor Hickey knows Señor Merrill?" he asked, bending his searching +black eyes on the lad. +</P> + +<P> +"I—no—that is, yes—I met Señor Merrill some time ago," stammered +Jack. "Hearing his name again startled me. I was not aware he was in +this part of the country." +</P> + +<P> +Apparently the explanation satisfied the old leader, for he continued +with a satisfied nod. +</P> + +<P> +"This Señor Merrill is rich, I hear. But all his wealth has not +prevented his miners leaving him to answer the call of the insurrecto +cause. His mine, The Esmeralda, is not more than twelve miles from +here. In the treasure room is stored much gold. Since we blew up the +railroad, he has not been able to ship it. We must have that gold." +</P> + +<P> +He paused and looked at the Americans inquiringly. Of the four, Bob +Harding alone looked enthusiastic. +</P> + +<P> +"It should be easy, general," he said; "if the Mexican miners have +quit, all we have to do is to march in and help ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but Señor Merrill is not unsurrounded by friends," went on the +general, while Jack's heart gave a bound of gladness; "he has a German +superintendent and several mine bosses. They have arms and ammunition, +and it will be a difficult matter to dislodge them. Also, there are +telephone wires by which he can summon aid from the regular troops." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what do you want us to do, sir?" asked Jack, with what was +really, under the circumstances, a creditable simulation of disinterest. +</P> + +<P> +"To undertake some scout duty. Find out just what his force is and the +best quarter from which to attack the mine. And, above all, sever his +communication with the outside world." +</P> + +<P> +"Cut the wires?" asked Bob Harding eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it. Make it impossible for us to fail." +</P> + +<P> +"But, general, do not the regulars already know of your presence in +this part of the country?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +General Madero smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"The heads of bone which command them know little beyond dancing and +how to flirt correctly," he said. "My flying column has, in the past +two days, passed from one end of the province to the other without +their being aware of it. The main part of my army is in eastern +Chihuahua, blowing up bridges and otherwise diverting their attention, +while I have come into, what you Americans call, Tom Tiddler's ground, +where I mean to pick up all the gold and silver I can. Why not?" he +demanded, with a sudden access of fury. "Is it not ours? What right +have these interlopers of Americanos here? Mexico for the Mexicans and +death to the robber foreigners!" +</P> + +<P> +He brought his lean, shriveled hand down on the table with a thump that +made the lamp shake. His Latin temperament had, for the moment, +carried him away; for a flash the blaze of fanaticism shone in his +eyes, only to die out as swiftly as he regained command of himself. +</P> + +<P> +"When shall we depart on this duty, sir?" asked Bob Harding, after a +brief pause. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow. The hour I will inform you of later. Not a word of this +in the camp, remember. I can trust to you absolutely?" +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely," rejoined Bob Harding, with, apparently, not a single +qualm of conscience. +</P> + +<P> +The general's eyes were bent upon the boys who had not rejoined to his +question. +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely," declared Jack, saving his conscience by adding a mental +"Not." +</P> + +<P> +Bob Harding, who was sharp enough in some things, was quick to detect a +change in the manner of the three supposed soldiers of fortune as they +left the general's tent. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't much like the idea of going up against your own countrymen, eh?" +he asked easily. +</P> + +<P> +"No," rejoined Jack frankly, "we don't." +</P> + +<P> +"Now look here, Hickey, isn't that drawing it pretty fine? Merrill and +chaps like that have practically buncoed old Diaz into granting them +all sorts of concessions, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm pretty sure Merrill never did, whatever the rest may have done," +was the quiet reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh-oh! Well, of course, it's all right to stick up for one's friends +and that sort of thing, but I guess that you chaps, like myself, are +down here to, line your pockets, aren't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," was the noncommittal reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, to be frank with you, I <I>am</I>. I'm down here just for what there +is in it, and if I can see a chance to line my pockets by a quiet visit +to the gold room of a mine, why, that's the mine owner's lookout, isn't +it? I run my risk and ought to have some reward for it." +</P> + +<P> +"That's queer reasoning, Harding." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Hickey, you're a rum sort of chap. So are your chums here, too. +Not a bit what I expected you to be like. I thought you were +rip-roaring sort of fellows, and you act more like a bunch of prize +Sunday-school scholars." +</P> + +<P> +There was a taunting note in the words that Jack was not slow to catch. +Particularly was the last part of Harding's speech brought out with an +insulting inflection. Jack's temper blazed up. +</P> + +<P> +"See here, Harding," he snapped out, "do you know anything about +dynamite?" +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? What? Yes, of course. But, good gracious, what's that got to do +with——" +</P> + +<P> +"Everything. Dynamite doesn't say or do much till it goes off, does +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"What are you driving at, my dear fellow, I——" +</P> + +<P> +"Just this;" Jack's eyes fairly snapped in the starlight, as he looked +straight into Harding's weak, good-natured countenance; "don't monkey +with high explosives. Savvy?" +</P> + +<P> +Harding's eyes fell. He mumbled something. For a minute he was +abashed, but he soon regained his spirits. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, Hickey," he exclaimed, "and you, too, Rafter and Divver. +I thought you were just a bunch of kids, but now I see you are the real +thing. Blown in the bottle, this side up, and all that. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, do you know," he went on, lowering his voice cautiously and +bending forward as if afraid the coffee-colored sentry pacing near by +might overhear, "for a while I even thought you were imposters." +</P> + +<P> +"No!" exclaimed Jack, starting back in well-assumed amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"Fact, I assure you. Funny, wasn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very funny for us had your suspicions been correct," put in Walt +Phelps. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Con, I should think not. Putting your eyes out with red-hot +irons would be one of the least things that old Madero would do to you. +Fatherly old chap, isn't he? But, as you said, Hickey: Don't fool with +dynamite!" +</P> + +<P> +A few paces more brought the boys to their tent. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, good night, or buenas noches, as they say in this benighted +land," said Harding, as they reached it. "Better turn in and have a +good sleep. And then to-morrow it's Ho! for Tom Tiddler's ground, a +pickin' up gold and silver." +</P> + +<P> +"And maybe bullets," came from Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my dear fellow, that's all in the life. Buenas noches!" +</P> + +<P> +And Bob Harding passed on, humming gayly to himself. +</P> + +<P> +The boys entered their tent and lit the lamp. It was silent as the +grave outside, except for the steady tramp, tramp of the sentries. At +long intervals the weird cry of some night bird came from the woods, on +the edge of which they were camped, but that was all. +</P> + +<P> +Jack sat down on the edge of his cot and gazed across the tent at the +others. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" came back from his two chums in danger. +</P> + +<P> +Thus began a conversation which, with intervals of silence, when the +sentries' heavy footsteps passed, continued into early dawn. Then, +with a consciousness that the future alone could bring about a solution +of their dilemma, the three tired lads tumbled into their cots to sleep +the slumber of vigorous, exhausted youth. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"DEATH TO THE GRINGOES!" +</H3> + + +<P> +It was broad daylight when the lads awoke. About them the life of the +camp had been astir for some time, in fact. Bugles rang out cheerily +and ragged troopers hastened hither and thither, with fodder or buckets +of water for their mounts, for in Madero's flying squadron each man +looked after his own animal, with the exception of a small force +detailed to commissariat duty. From the village below, curious-eyed +Mexicans began pouring into camp with the earliest dawn, and by the +time the three involuntary imposters were out of their tent and had +doused each other with cold water, the place presented a scene of +lively activity and bustle. +</P> + +<P> +"Sitting on the edge of a volcano seems to agree with us," remarked +Jack, as the three sauntered off to join Bob Harding, who was standing +outside his tent door, smoking a cigarette, a bad habit he had picked +up from the Mexicans. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, three more manly, rugged lads would have been hard to find. +Under their tanned skins the bright blood sparkled, and there was a +surety in their long, swinging stride and the confident set of their +shoulders that made one feel a certainty that there was a trio that +would be able to take care of itself in any ordinary emergency. +</P> + +<P> +Refreshed, even by the few hours slumber, and with sharp-set appetites, +the boys felt altogether different persons from the three bedraggled +youths who had been jounced through the tunnel, and later thrown into +such a perplexing combination of circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel fit for anything," Ralph confided to Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Good boy," rejoined his companion, throwing his arm about the Eastern +lad's neck; "we'll come out all right. I'm confident of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless the real Con Divver, Jim Hickey and Ted Rafter happen to show +up," put in the practical Walt, with a half-grin. +</P> + +<P> +"Botheration take you, Walt," exclaimed Ralph, in comic petulance; +"you're the original laddie with a bucket of cold water. As we figured +it out last night, we shall be far away from here on our way to the +Esmeralda mine before Ramon and the real soldiers of fortune whose fame +we have appropriated are anywhere near here." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so, for our sakes," muttered Walt, half to himself. Practical +minded as Walt was by nature, he saw only too clearly the imminent +peril in which they were moving. "Sitting on the edge of a volcano," +was the way Jack had put it. He had not stated the case a bit too +strongly. At any moment, for all they knew, Ramon or one of his men +might arrive with the true story, and then, where would they be? +</P> + +<P> +At the conference in the tent the night before, the three lads had +agreed on a definite course of action. This was to get as close to the +Esmeralda as they could, and then make a bold dash for Mr. Merrill and +their friends. If Bob Harding chose to join them, well and good. If +he did not—well, they could not force him. Somehow, both Jack and +Walt had reached the conclusion that Bob, for all his vivacity and good +humor and apparent courage, would prove a "rotten reed" in a moment of +stress. How accurately they had gauged his character, we shall see. +This plan, as our readers will agree, was a sensible one, and, +moreover, had the merit of being the only way out of their dilemma. +But it all hinged on one thing, namely, on their departing before Ramon +or any of his followers arrived and denounced them. +</P> + +<P> +Breakfast in the insurrecto camp was a peculiar meal. The officers +messed together, and, of course, the boys joined them. Once or twice, +Jack, looking up from his peppery stew, noticed one or another of the +insurrecto officers eyeing either himself or his companions curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"They think you're awful youthful looking to have done all the things +credited to you," whispered Bob Harding. +</P> + +<P> +After the meal was despatched, the boys expected some sort of orders to +emanate from the general's tent, but apparently he was in no hurry to +move forward till the errand upon which he had announced he meant to +send the Americans, had been accomplished. The morning was spent by +the three lads in strolling about the camp, striving their utmost to +appear at their ease, but starting nervously every time an out-rider +came into camp. Every hoof-beat upon the road was eloquent with +signification for them. Ramon could not be far off now. In this +wearing manner passed the morning hours. For some time they had seen +nothing of Bob Harding, when suddenly, loud voices, in which that of +their friend predominated, reached them. The sounds came from behind a +thick clump of manzanita bushes, where several of the officers had been +whiling away the hours at a native gambling game. Among them, we +regret to say, had been Bob Harding. +</P> + +<P> +As the boys, attracted by the disturbance, came up, they saw the young +American on his feet in the midst of a group of native officers, who +were clustered about him, angrily demanding something. From a handful +of gold which the young soldier of fortune clutched, it was evident +that he had been a winner, but that some dispute had arisen over his +success. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, and without the slightest warning, the young Mexican who had +been the most insistent of the apparent objectors, drew his sword and +rushed upon Harding, who was unarmed. He threw up his arm as the +thrust came, and succeeded in deflecting it at the cost of a slash on +the back of his hand. +</P> + +<P> +At the same instant he ducked nimbly, and, rushing in under the +swordsman's guard, he planted a blow upon the Mexican's jaw that sent +him reeling backward, waving his arms round and round, like a windmill. +With a howl of fury, the man's companions made a rush for Harding. +</P> + +<P> +"They're going to rush him!" whispered Jack to the others. +</P> + +<P> +"So I see," rejoined Walt, grimly clenching his fists. +</P> + +<P> +As the charge descended on Bob Harding, he suddenly found three of his +countrymen at his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank goodness you're here," he breathed, and that was all he had time +to say before the mob was upon them. +</P> + +<P> +Jack had just time to deflect a sword blade, when he saw a terrific +blow aimed at him with the butt of a rifle. He dodged just in time, +and, as the stock went whizzing by his ear, he knocked the dealer of +the blow flat on his back. In the meantime, Walt and Ralph had been +giving good accounts of themselves, and Bob Harding had succeeded in +disarming one of his opponents. +</P> + +<P> +But they were by no means in possession of the victory yet. With howls +of fury, the companions of the sprawling Mexicans charged once more, +and suddenly Jack, after dealing one of them a staggering blow, saw a +sword fall jangling at his feet. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly he seized the weapon, and prepared to receive all comers. +Now, fencing had been one of the fads at Stonefell during the past +term, and Jack, under the tutelage of Mons Dupre, the French +instructor, had become an expert swordsman. With the weapon in his +hand, he felt equal to facing any of the excited little yellow-faced +Mexican officers. As for them, they showed an equal disposition to +annihilate the Americanos. +</P> + +<P> +Hardly had Jack gauged the balance of his new-found weapon, before one +of his opponents, a lithe, sinewy chap, with fiercely twirled +moustache, came charging in, handling his sword like a duelist. Jack +parried his furious onslaught easily. The fellow checked abruptly, +when he found that, instead of a green boy, he had an expert swordsman +to deal with. Steadying himself, he began a systematic play for Jack's +heart. This was no play duel or mock fencing match with buttoned +foils. It was the real thing, and Jack knew it. +</P> + +<P> +But the lad kept his head admirably. The Mexican, on the contrary, as +lunge after lunge was parried, became furious. +</P> + +<P> +"Carramba!" he hissed. "You dog of an Americano, I keel you!" +</P> + +<P> +"If I let you," rejoined Jack, falling back a pace. The fierce thrust +of his opponent fell upon thin air. The next instant Jack recovered, +as if by magic, and his blade flashed and writhed thrice like a +writhing serpent. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the Mexican found his sword abruptly jerked clean out of his +hand by Jack's weapon, and sent ringing over the heads of the other +combatants. +</P> + +<P> +"Señor, I am at your mercy!" exclaimed the Mexican, dramatically +throwing his arms open for the death-thrust, which it is likely he +himself would have given, had the circumstances been reversed. +</P> + +<P> +"Bring me your sword," ordered Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The other fetched it and handed it, hilt first, to his conqueror. Jack +took it, and, placing it across his knee, snapped it clean in two. +</P> + +<P> +"Save the pieces," he said, handing them to the Mexican. +</P> + +<P> +"Diablo!" cried the fellow, mad at the deliberate insult, "for that you +die!" +</P> + +<P> +Holding a snapped section of the sword by the hilt, he drove in at Jack +full tilt, only to be met by a healthy American fistic uppercut, +planted with such accuracy that the Mexican's wiry form was actually +lifted off its feet. He whirled round twice in the air, as if +performing some sort of grotesque dance, and then fell in a heap. +</P> + +<P> +"You won't bother us for a time," muttered Jack, turning to aid his +companions. +</P> + +<P> +While he had been engaged with his officer, the others had had their +hands full. +</P> + +<P> +Like a snarling pack of wolves, the Mexicans had withdrawn and suddenly +made a swoop on them all at once. Defending themselves as best they +could, Walt, Ralph and Bob Harding were, nevertheless, driven back +against the bushes. So far as Walt and Ralph were concerned, it was a +real fight, but with Bob Harding it was different. His face was a +sickly yellow, and in his eyes was a light that Jack had seen +before—the expression of a coward at bay. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep 'em off, fellows—I'm coming!" yelled Jack, as he charged into +the thick of the fray. "The reinforcement was totally unexpected by +the Mexicans, and they fell back for an instant—but 'for an instant +only. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah, it is only another of those boys!" cried the one who seemed to be +their leader, a fat, pudgy little fellow, with a thick, drooping, black +moustache. +</P> + +<P> +"Death to the Gringoes!" yelled his followers, their deep-lying hatred +of Americans now stripped of its veneer of politeness, and lying +exposed in all its ugliness. +</P> + +<P> +The fat, pudgy little officer made a rush at Jack, who, instead of +meeting it, ducked and caught the other by his wrist. The fellow's +sword went flying, and, at the same instant, Jack made a quick turn. +As he did so, the pudgy man's rotund little body was seen to rise from +the ground and describe an aerial semi-circle. He came crashing to the +ground with a thud, his thick neck almost driven into his shoulders by +the force of the concussion. +</P> + +<P> +"Now for the others!" yelled Walt; but even as he uttered the cry, +there came another shout from beyond the bushes in which the battle was +being waged: +</P> + +<P> +"Ramon! Ramon the Black!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A RACE FOR LIFE. +</H3> + + +<P> +The electric thrill that passed through the lads at the words, and +temporarily rendered them powerless to move, would have speedily made +them an easy prey for the aggrieved Mexican officers, but that the +latter were equally excited by the announcement. The mention of +Ramon's name, in fact, seemed to cause a galvanic wave of activity +throughout the bivouac. Men could be heard running hither and thither, +and above all sounded the heavy trample of the new arrivals' horses. +</P> + +<P> +In less than two minutes the last of the wounded Mexicans had picked +himself up from the ground, and, clapping a hand over a rapidly +swelling "goose egg," was hurrying from the scene of the sudden battle. +The last to get up was the pudgy little officer whom Jack had +overthrown. This fellow painfully scrambled to his feet, and, +breathing the most terrible threats in his native tongue, limped off. +</P> + +<P> +The boys stood alone on the card-strewn, coin-littered battle-ground. +Dismay was pictured on their countenances. The crucial moment had +come, and they were fairly caught in a trap from which there seemed to +be no possible means of extricating themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, boys," cried Bob Harding, who had quite recovered his +equanimity, "here's your friend Ramon, now." +</P> + +<P> +He hastened off, not even looking to see if the supposed adventurers +were following him. Suddenly, while the three lads stood regarding one +another, there came a high-pitched voice ringing clearly above the +confusion and shouts: +</P> + +<P> +"You consarned yaller coyote, you take yer leathery lunch-hooks off me, +or I'll fill yer so full uv holes your ma can use you for a collander!" +</P> + +<P> +"Coyote Pete!" exclaimed Jack. "Oh, boys, he's all right!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Jack! What are we going to do?" gasped Ralph, pale under his coat +of tan, and looking about him nervously. +</P> + +<P> +"We must act quickly, whatever it is," exclaimed Jack. "Thank +goodness, Coyote Pete is safe. The professor must be all right, too, +then. Look, there are the Mexican's horses off yonder. Let's make a +dash for them, and try to sneak out while they are still looking for +us." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think we can do it?" Ralph's voice was full of hesitancy. +</P> + +<P> +"If we don't, we'll all be lined up with a firing squad in front of us +within the next ten minutes!" exclaimed Jack. "Hark!" +</P> + +<P> +They could hear shouts and angry cries, above which Ramon's voice +sounded, as if he were narrating something. +</P> + +<P> +"He's telling them about us," cried Jack. "Come on; there's not a +fraction of a second to lose." +</P> + +<P> +Headed by Jack, the three Border Boys started on the run for the grove +in which the horses had been picketed. Some of the animals were +saddled and bridled, and for these they made a dash. They were not to +escape without some difficulty, however, for, as they placed their feet +in the stirrups, preparatory to swinging into the high-peaked saddles, +a dozing trooper sprang up from a litter of opened hay-bales. He +shouted something in Spanish, and made a spring for the head of the +animal Jack bestrode. It was no time for half measures. The heavy +quirt, with its loaded handle, hung from the horn of the saddle. With +a quick movement, Jack secured it, and brought the loaded end down on +the fellow's skull. He fell like a log, without uttering a sound. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, forward boys!" cried Jack in a low tone, "it's a ride for life." +</P> + +<P> +The others needed no urging. As rapidly as they could, consistent with +making as little noise as possible, the three young horsemen rode out +of the patch of woods in which the camp had been made, and emerged on +the high road without being stopped. Suddenly, however, a sentry with +a fixed bayonet, seemed to spring from the ground in front of them. He +cried something in Spanish, to which Jack replied by driving his horse +full at him. The fellow went down, and rolled over and over, as the +horse's hoofs struck him. Before he recovered his feet, the Border +Boys were upon the road and galloping for dear life. There was no use +in caution, now. Everything depended, in fact, on putting as much +distance as possible between themselves and the camp before their +absence was discovered. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately, their horses were fresh, powerful animals, with long, +swinging gaits. They got over the ground at a wonderful rate, and +Jack's heart began to beat exultingly. Not far distant lay some hilly +ground, broken with deep gullies and thickly grown with wooded patches. +Could they gain it, they would have a chance of concealing themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo! They've discovered we've gone!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, as +behind them they could hear shots and bugle calls. "Don't spare the +horses, boys; we've got to make that rough country." +</P> + +<P> +The quirts fell unmercifully on the big, powerful horses, and they +plunged snorting forward. +</P> + +<P> +"We're kicking up dust enough to be seen ten miles," grumbled Walt. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be helped," flung back Jack, "speed is what counts now." +</P> + +<P> +Before many minutes had passed, such good progress had they made that +the edge of a clump of woods was reached, and they plunged rapidly into +the friendly shelter. +</P> + +<P> +"Where to now?" gasped Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Right on! Right on!" shot out Jack. "Keep going till the horses +drop, or they overtake us. It's our only chance." +</P> + +<P> +On and on into the wood, the hunted boys rode. Their wiry horses were +flagging now, but still seemed capable of more effort. Over the rough +ground, though, the pace at which they urged them was a killing one. +Still, as Jack had said, it was "their only chance." +</P> + +<P> +All at once, from their rear, they heard shouts and bugle calls. Jack +turned a shade paler. The demonstration was much too close to be +pleasant. He had hardly believed that it was possible for the Mexicans +to have gained upon them so rapidly. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess we're up against it," muttered Walt Phelps, in his usual laconic +manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, by a good sight," pluckily retorted Jack. "Come on—into +this gulch. It takes a turn above here, and we may find some means of +getting out of their sight altogether." +</P> + +<P> +Almost on their haunches, the horses were urged down the steep bank of +the gully to which Jack had referred. It was about twenty feet in +depth, with steep sides at the point at which they entered it, and +bare. Farther on, though, it took a turn, and was covered almost to +the bottom with chaparral and brush. +</P> + +<P> +As Jack had said, if they could gain this portion of it, it ought to +afford them an ideal hiding-place. +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly they pressed forward along the rough bottom of the gulch, which +was evidently a roaring water-course in times of heavy rain, but which +was now as dry as a bone. It was stiflingly hot, too, but none of them +noticed that. Other things far more overwhelming in importance, were +upon their minds just then. +</P> + +<P> +Evidently, such skilled trackers as the Mexicans, had not been at fault +in locating the woods into which the boys had vanished. The yells and +cries, which Jack had heard, were rapidly drawing nearer in the woods +above them. But, if they could only gain the shelter of the overgrown +part of the gulch, they might still be safe. +</P> + +<P> +It was in this extremity that Jack bethought himself of an old trick he +had heard the cow-punchers talk of at his father's ranch. They had +used it in old frontier days, when the Indians were thick and hostile. +The deception was a simple one. It consisted in the hunted person +slipping from his horse at a suitable hiding-place and then letting the +animal wander on. +</P> + +<P> +The pursuers would naturally be guided by the sound of the horses' +hoofs, and would follow them up, leaving the concealed victim of the +chase at liberty, either to double back upon his trail, or remain where +he was. His intention of putting this trick into execution Jack +rapidly confided to his two companions. They rode forward through the +thick brush, which they had now gained, gazing eagerly at the walls of +the gulch for some cave, or other suitable place of concealment. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Walt spied the very place which they were in search of, +apparently. It was a small opening in the rocky wall of the gully, +which appeared from below to penetrate quite some distance back into +the earth. Its mouth was sheltered with brush and creepers, and but +for the fact that a bird flew out from it as they passed, and thus +attracted their attention, they might have passed it unnoticed. +</P> + +<P> +A brief inspection showed that it was a small cave, about twenty feet +in depth, and, as has been said, well screened from below. +</P> + +<P> +"We're not likely to find a better place," announced Jack, after a +hasty inspection. +</P> + +<P> +"Turn the horses loose," he cried in a low, but penetrating voice, down +to Walt, who had remained below with the stock. +</P> + +<P> +The red-headed ranch boy slipped off the back of his steed and alighted +on a rock, so as to make no tracks. He then gave the three horses, +that had borne them so bravely, their liberty. At first the animals +would not move, but began cropping the green stuff about them. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, that won't do," breathed Jack, as the three lads crouched at the +cave mouth. "Throw some rocks at them, Walt." +</P> + +<P> +The boys picked up some small stones, which lay littered in front of +the cave, and commenced a fusillade. It had such good results, that a +few seconds later, the three horses were plunging off along the bottom +of the gully as if Old Nick himself had been after them. +</P> + +<P> +As their hoof-beats grew faint, Jack held up his hand to enjoin +silence, although the boys had been discussing their situation in such +low tones that their voices could not have traveled ten feet from the +cave mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +From farther down the gully came shouts and yells, and then the +distinct rattling sound of loose shale, as several horsemen descended +the steep bank into the gulch. +</P> + +<P> +"They've picked up the trail," commented Walt grimly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE. +</H3> + + +<P> +Let us now retrace our steps to the Haunted Mesa, and ascertain how it +fared with Coyote Pete and the professor, after the boys' astonishing +disappearance through the balanced trap-door in the base of the hollow +altar. As we know, the lads' elders were crouched at the opposite end +of the former sacrificial structure, when, before their eyes, the lads +were swallowed up. +</P> + +<P> +For an instant—as well they might have been—the two onlookers were +fairly paralyzed with amazement. The occurrence seemed to be without +natural explanation. But an investigation by Pete, crawling on his +hands and knees while he made it, soon revealed the nature of the +device which, as we know, was nothing more nor less than a balanced +trap-door of stone. An unusual weight placed upon one end of it +instantly tilted it and projected whatever was on it upon the staircase +below. +</P> + +<P> +The professor, who recalled having read of such devices in other +dwelling-places of ancient communities, was at first for following the +boys into the unknown interior of the mesa, but before any move could +be made in that direction, one of the newly-arrived party shoved his +face over the top of the hollow altar in a spirit of investigation. He +fell back with a yell, crying out that there were spirits within it, as +his eyes encountered the crouching forms of its two occupants. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, you fool?" demanded Ramon himself, who happened to +be close at hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the spirits! The spirits of the hollow altar!" howled the Mexican +in abject terror, his knees knocking together and his face taking on a +sickly pallor. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey! What's that the crazy galoot's after saying?" +</P> + +<P> +The question came from a thickset man, of about middle age, upon whose +upper lip bristled a fringe of reddish hair. His eyes were blue, +narrow and evil, and his face was scarred in half a dozen places. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Hickey, my amigo, he says that the place is haunted," laughed +Ramon. +</P> + +<P> +The man addressed as Hickey turned to his two companions, one of whom +was a tall, lanky chap, with straggly black hair, and bristly, unshaven +chin. The other was a short, fat, rather good-natured looking little +man, whose truculent chin, however, gave the lie to his incessant +smile. Somehow, you felt, after a lengthy inspection of this latter, +that he was by no means the amiable personage his fixed smile seemed to +indicate. Small wonder, considering that his smile was fixed upon his +face by reason of an old knife wound, which, in severing some facial +muscles, had drawn up the corners of his mouth into a perpetual grin. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo! Here's Rafter and Con Divver!" exclaimed the +bristly-moustached one. "Well, fellows, what d'ye think of this here +country?" +</P> + +<P> +"All right, as fur as we've gone," grunted the lanky man, "but I'm +itching to git across the border and git my paws on some of that gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Ye're right, Rafter," agreed the man with the perpetual smile, "that's +what we're after. I ain't made a good haul since we cleaned out the +safe of that asphalt company in Venezuela." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, gentlemen," smiled Ramon, in his most ingratiating manner, "you +will have ample opportunity shortly. I happen to know that one of the +first things that General Madero intends to do is to move upon the +mines of the robber Americanos, and get some of their gringo gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Hooray! That's the talk," grunted Jim Hickey, who, like his mates, +styled himself "soldier of fortune." But, alas! that high-sounding +title in his case, as in many others, was simply a polite way of +disguising his true calling, to-wit, that of an unscrupulous +adventurer, whose object was to line his own pockets. A fashion has +arisen of late of writing about soldiers of fortune as if they were +noble, Quixotic persons. Those with whom the author has come in +contact, however, have, without exception, been mercenary and +cold-blooded men, to whom the name highway robber could be applied with +far more justice than the higher sounding term. Such men were Jim +Hickey and his two companions, who had flocked like buzzards to the +border at the first word of trouble. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, thar's that greaser of yours still cuttin' up didoes," drawled +Divver. "What's ther matter with ther coyote, anyhow? Say, Ramon, +ain't that the main station of yer subway, yonder in ther rock pile?" +</P> + +<P> +He pointed to the hollow altar, in which crouched Pete and the +professor. They had heard every word of this conversation, of course, +and its effect upon them may be imagined. +</P> + +<P> +"That, señors, is indeed the entrance to our convenient little +underground river. Ha! ha! an excellent joke on the worthy Colonel +Briggs. He is guarding every point of the border but this one. Of +course, he concluded, in his wise way, that nobody could cross those +barren hills yonder, but, as you know, gentlemen, we go under, and not +over them." +</P> + +<P> +"Trust you greasers?" grinned Rafter, who was a New Englander; "ye're +as slick ez paint, and thet's a fact. But, let's see what in ther name +of juniper scairt thet feller o' yourn. Seems like he's teetotel +abstinence on thet altar." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there is a superstition that the mesa is haunted," rejoined +Ramon. "That is the reason why I could never get a man to ascend it +without myself. If you gentlemen noticed the tracks upon the pathway, +you would have seen they went only to the top of the path. Beyond that +my men would in no manner go on the night we came here to reconnoiter." +</P> + +<P> +"That was before you sent the order through fer the arms?" inquired +Hickey. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Si, señor</I>. But now, as you see, everything bids fair to go well, +and——" +</P> + +<P> +"By hemlock!" broke in Rafter's sharp voice, as he drew his pistol, +"thar's two cusses hidin' in ther altar." +</P> + +<P> +The New Englander had separated from the others, and taken a peek over +the edge of the ancient sacrificial device, to ascertain what had +caused the sudden alarm of the Mexican. What he had seen had caused +his amazed exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" came the bull-throated roar of Hickey, "two men in that +brick pile?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's whatsoever. One on 'em is a big, long, rangy cuss, like a +yearlin' colt, by gosh, and ther other's the dead spit of the school +teacher at ther Four Corners, back er hum." +</P> + +<P> +"We must see into this." +</P> + +<P> +It was Ramon who spoke. As he did so, he advanced in his agile, +cat-like way upon the altar. In his hand he held his revolver. But, +as he reached the edge of the pit and raised himself to peep over, +something—which something was Coyote Pete's fist—caught him full +between the eyes, and sent him toppling backward into the arms of +Rafter. Together the lanky New Englander and the Mexican crashed to +the ground, while Pete set up a defiant yell. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" he cried. "Any of your outfit thet's jes' pinin' fer a +facial massage, hed better step this way, an' be accommodated." +</P> + +<P> +Ill-advised as Pete's hasty action was, it at least created a brief +spell in which he had time to leap over the edge of the altar, and, +before Ramon or any of the rest could recover from their astonishment, +the cow-puncher had seized the Mexican's pistol and was standing at +bay, his back against the altar. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, then, any gent desirous uv heving his system ventilated free of +charge, will kin'ly step this way," he mocked. "Ah——" as Hickey's +hand slid to his waist, "don't touch thet gun, mister, or yer friends +will be sendin' you flowers." +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, by Juniper!" drawled Rafter, as he gathered his spidery form +together and scrambled to his feet. "You seem ter hev ther drop on us, +stranger." +</P> + +<P> +"Thet's what," retorted the cow-puncher, "and I mean to keep it till we +can come to terms. That Mexican gent yonder knows me of old—don't +you, Ramon?—and he knows thet what I say I'll do, I'll do." +</P> + +<P> +"So you are spying upon me again, are you?" grated out Ramon viciously. +"Not content with driving me out of the Hachetas, you must even +interfere with my political activities." +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, if yer gitting perlitically active with machine guns and +shootin' irons, I reckon Mister Diaz ull interfere with yer 'bout as +much as I will," grunted Pete, keeping the men before him covered with +the Mexican's pistol. The part of this speech referring to the machine +guns was a mere guess of the shrewd cow-puncher. But, as the reader +knows, he had struck the nail on the head. "But see here, Ramon," he +went on, dropping his tone, "we ain't here to molest you. We come out +here with a scientific gent, to measure the mesa. We was going back +home ter-night, an' was takin' a last look around when you come along. +I'll give you my word—and you know it's good—that we don't want ter +meddle with your affairs so long as they don't affect us. Run all the +guns you want—for I know that's your little game—but we've got some +kids with us, and it's up to me to get 'em back home safe. Let us git +out of here peaceable, and no more will be said." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum!" grunted the Mexican. "You forget that I owe you a little debt +for some things that happened across the border some time ago. Black +Ramon does not forget, nor does he forgive. I can guess who those boys +are you have with you, and here is my proposal: You leave that cub, +Jack Merrill, with me, and the rest of you can go, and——" +</P> + +<P> +<I>Swish</I>! +</P> + +<P> +Before Coyote Pete realized it, a raw-hide lariat circled through the +air from behind, and settled about his neck. The next instant he was +jerked from his feet, as Con Divver, who had crept unobserved around +the altar, drew the rope tight. Ramon had seen the other creeping up, +and had been talking against time till the crucial moment arrived. +</P> + +<P> +Now, with a howl of triumph, he rushed at the cow-puncher, and was +about to aim a terrific kick at his prostrate body, when a lanky form +suddenly appeared over the edge of the altar, and fixing ten bony +fingers in Ramon's inky locks, tugged till the Mexican yelled with pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Well may you cry aloud for mercy, sir!" exclaimed the professor, for +he it was who had suddenly come to the rescue, forgetting even the pain +of his ankle in the crisis. "Even in Homer you may find it written, +'Never kick a man when he's down.'" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Phew</I>!" whistled Hickey, his smile puckering up his whole face in an +evil grimace. "This is growing interesting." +</P> + +<P> +"Sanctissima Santos! Take him off! Make him let go!" yelled Ramon, +dancing in agony. But the professor's long digits were entwined in his +locks, and the man of science showed no disposition to let go. +</P> + +<P> +"Sa-ay, yo-ou animated hop-toad, I reckin you'd better let go uv ther +Mexican gent's draperies, er I'll be compelled ter drill yer, by +hemlock." +</P> + +<P> +It was Rafter who drawled out the words, and, as he spoke, he held a +revolver leveled at the professor's head. +</P> + +<P> +"Better drop the varmint, perfuss," directed Pete, from the ground, +"they've got us hog-tied and ready fer the brand." +</P> + +<P> +"By ginger! I cal-kerlate ther ain't no de-oubt uv thet," drawled +Rafter, as the professor dropped his hold on Ramon's locks, and began +flourishing a small geological hammer. +</P> + +<P> +It would be wearisome to relate in detail all that took place at the +mesa after this, but suffice it to say that Ramon's rage on the +discovery that the lads had accidentally found the underground +passageway was what it might have been imagined to be. As we know, a +fruitless pursuit of them followed. +</P> + +<P> +This over, the rascals were faced with a dilemma. The boat in which it +had been arranged that Hickey, Divver and Rafter were to take passage +had been appropriated by the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"A thousand evils light upon them," raged Ramon, as he stood dripping +on the bank of the stream. "It is a hundred to one that they also +seize the three horses I had reserved for your use, gentlemen." +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, I calkerlate thet sooner er later we'll cotch up ter these young +catermounts, and then, by chowder, we'll mek it quite interesting fer +them, whatsoever," promised Rafter significantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like we'll hev ter trek across ther mountains, after all," +commented Hickey, no more moved by what had occurred than he ever was +by anything. +</P> + +<P> +But in this he reckoned without Ramon's resourcefulness. The Mexican +was as clever as he was unscrupulous. Necessity being the mother of +invention, he soon devised a plan to avoid the long and perilous +excursion across the barren hills. +</P> + +<P> +Under his direction, the wagon-bed was taken off the running-gear, and +the tarpaulin cover so adjusted as to make it water-tight. Rafter was +a skillful carpenter, having once done honest work in a Maine shipyard, +so that the improvised boat was soon ready for transportation. Working +all night, in shifts, it was ready for its voyage down the river the +next morning, and just about the time our lads were eating breakfast, +the desperadoes, with the professor and Pete lying tightly bound in the +bottom of the clumsy craft, made a start. +</P> + +<P> +The stock, including that of the ranch party, which Hickey's sharp eyes +had discovered, was left in charge of some of Ramon's mestizos at the +mesa. As ill-luck would have it, almost the first thing that greeted +their eyes when they emerged from the tunnel was the sight of the old +Mexican whom Jack had bound and set adrift. He had been rescued from +his predicament by a rancher about ten miles down the stream, and had +made the best of his way back at once. His prayers, apologies and +explanations for the loss of the horses may be imagined as he faced +Ramon's wrath. In fact, but for the intervention of Hickey, it is +likely the old mestizo would have been flung into the water by his +enraged employer. +</P> + +<P> +A halt occurred on the river bank, while some peons were despatched for +fresh horses to a ranchero known to be friendly to the insurrectos. +Then began the ride to Madero's camp, which ended as we know. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BOB HARDING DOES "THE DECENT THING." +</H3> + + +<P> +"Back into the cave, fellows!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Jack who spoke, in a tone as low and cautious as they had +adopted since the beginning of their flight. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Jack, if they ever do locate us, we're in a regular mouse-trap," +exclaimed Ralph, gazing back into the cave, which had no outlet except +at the front. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be helped. Needs must when a certain person drives," responded +the rancher's son. "Listen, they're coming closer." +</P> + +<P> +The trampling of their pursuer's horses could, in fact, now be heard +quite distinctly in the gulch below. Suddenly all sound ceased. +</P> + +<P> +"They've stopped to listen," whispered Jack. "I only hope they hear +our horses up ahead." +</P> + +<P> +Apparently the searchers did hear, for, after a brief pause, on they +came again. As nearly as the boys could judge, there seemed to be +several of them. They made a formidable noise, as they came crashing +along below. Hardly daring to breathe, the boys crouched back into +their retreat. Their nerves were strung as taut as vibrating electric +wires, their hearts pounded till they shook their frames. The crucial +moment was at hand. +</P> + +<P> +If the insurrectos passed the cave-mouth without glancing upward and +noticing it, the boys were out of the most imminent part of their +peril. If, on the other hand—but none of the party concealed in the +cave dared to think of that. +</P> + +<P> +On came the trampling, and now it was quite near. A few moments would +decide it all. Voices could be distinguished now. Among them the boys +recognized the quiet tones of Madero himself. +</P> + +<P> +"You say, Señor Harding," he said, using English, "that those boys came +this way?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am almost certain of it, general," returned the voice of the +traitor. "I saw their tracks, and, as you know, called your attention +to them." +</P> + +<P> +"If you find them, Harding, you shall have the reward I promised. I +would not have them slip through my fingers now for anything in the +world. Merrill's son, you said, was one of them, Señor Ramon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," rejoined another of the horsemen, "and the young brat is as +slippery as an eel. He and this Coyote Pete, as they call him, escaped +me once before in the Grizzly Pass. I have a debt to even up with both +of them." +</P> + +<P> +Ramon did not mention the hidden treasure of the mission. Perhaps he +had reason to fear that to do so would be to bring the anger of General +Madero upon him, for he was now apparently posing as a patriot and an +active insurrecto agent. +</P> + +<P> +"We must have him," declared Madero, in a voice that fairly made Jack's +blood run cold. Its smoothness and velvety calmness veiled a merciless +ferocity. +</P> + +<P> +"We will get them, never fear, general," Bob Harding's voice could be +heard assuring the insurrecto leader; "if they escape now, it will mean +the ruination of all our plans." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right, Señor Harding," came Madero's voice; "and now, would +you oblige me by seeing if that is not a cave up there on the bank of +the gulch." +</P> + +<P> +Important as absolute silence was, a gasp of dismay forced itself to +the lads' lips. From the conversation they had overheard, it was +evident Bob Harding was trying hard to cultivate favor with General +Madero. In that case, he was not likely to conceal the fact that it +was actually a cave Madero's sharp eyes had spied, or that the cavern +held the very three youths the Mexicans were in search of. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's rush out and end it all," whispered Ralph, upon whom the tension +was telling cruelly. +</P> + +<P> +"If you attempt any such thing, I'll knock you down," Walt assured him. +The ranch boy had taken the right way to brace Ralph up. The Eastern +lad bit his trembling lip, but said no more. Do not think from this +that Ralph Stetson was a coward in any sense of the word. There are +some natures, however, that can endure pain, or rush barehanded upon a +line of guns, which yet prove unequal to the strain of awaiting a +threatened calamity in silence and fortitude. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, hold my horse," they heard Harding say to one of his companions, +"I'll soon see if that is a cave or not." +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! It is nothing but a hole in the ground," scoffed Ramon, "we are +wasting time, my general." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so," retorted Madero. "I mean to have those boys, if we have to +turn over every stone in the valley for them." +</P> + +<P> +"Ye-ew bate," drawled Rafter, who was one of the searching party, with +his two companions, "I've got a word ter say, by silo, ter ther boy who +used my name." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess that goes for all of us," rumbled Divver's throaty bass. +</P> + +<P> +Harding's footsteps could now be heard clambering up the bank. From +below his companions shouted encouragement to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ef they be in thar, yew let me take fust crack at 'em, by chowder," +admonished Rafter's voice from below. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll all get a turn," came from Harding, in his lightest, most +flippant tones. +</P> + +<P> +"How can men be such ruffians?" wondered Jack to himself, as he heard. +He knew now why he had instinctively mistrusted Harding from the first. +Yet they had saved his life that very morning. Was Harding going to +return evil for good, by betraying them to their merciless enemies? It +looked so. +</P> + +<P> +The former West Pointer's feet were close to the cave mouth now. +Crouching back in the dark, the lads awaited what the seconds would +bring forth. Jack's active brain, in the brief time he had had for +revolving plans to avert the catastrophe that seemed impending, had +been unable to hit upon one hitherto. Suddenly, however, he gave a +sharp exclamation, and muttered to himself: +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do it. It can do no harm, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, is it a cave?" +</P> + +<P> +The question came up from below, in Ramon's voice. The ruffian's +accents fairly trembled with eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know yet—this confounded brush. What!" +</P> + +<P> +Harding, who had crawled in among the chapparal, started back, as +Jack's voice addressed him, coming in low, tense accents from the +interior of the cave: +</P> + +<P> +"Remember, Harding, we saved your life this morning—are you going to +betray us now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is that you, Merrill? You see I know your name. That was a shabby +trick you worked on us." +</P> + +<P> +"Shabby trick! Our lives were at stake," retorted Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry up thar, young feller," came from below in Rafter's voice; "by +hemlock, I thought I hearn horses up ther canyon apiece." +</P> + +<P> +"All right; I'll be there—just investigating," flung back Harding. +"What do you want me to do, Merrill?" +</P> + +<P> +"What your own conscience suggests," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"But, if they ever found out, it would cost me my life," almost +whimpered Harding, all his craven nature showing now. +</P> + +<P> +"But they never will. Don't let them know we are here, and ride on. +We will escape, if possible, and if we are caught, your secret is safe +with us." +</P> + +<P> +"You—you'll promise it?" +</P> + +<P> +"On my honor." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll—I'll do it, then, Merrill; but for Heaven's sake, don't betray +me." +</P> + +<P> +"You need not fear that," rejoined Jack, with a touch of scorn in his +voice. "I have given my word." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, young feller, hev yer found a gold mine up thar?" shouted Rafter. +</P> + +<P> +"What is detaining you, Señor Harding," came Madero's voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing, sir," rejoined Harding, diving out of the bushes once more, +and standing erect on the hillside; "that cave was quite deep, and it +took me some time to make sure it was empty." +</P> + +<P> +"Empty! By chowder, them <I>wuz</I> horses, I hearn up ther canyon, then," +ejaculated the lanky Rafter. +</P> + +<P> +"You found no traces of those lads there, señor?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Ramon who spoke now, all his sinister character showing in his +face. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a trace of them," rejoined Harding, scrambling down the hill, +grasping at bushes, as he half slid on his way, to steady himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, gentlemen, they cannot be far off. We will have them ere long," +General Madero assured his followers, as Bob Harding mounted once more, +and they rode off, pressing forward hotly in the direction of the +tramplings Rafter had heard, and which came, as my readers have +guessed, from the horses the boys had turned loose. +</P> + +<P> +"Say," whispered Walt, as still a-tremble with excitement the lads +listened to the departing trampling of the insurrectos' horses, "that +was a decent thing for Harding to do." +</P> + +<P> +"The first decent thing, I imagine, that he ever did in his life," +rejoined Jack. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TABLES TURNED. +</H3> + + +<P> +How the hours after that dragged themselves on, the boys never could +recollect exactly. The great danger through which they had just passed +had thrown them into a sort of coma. Ralph actually slept a part of +the time. An uneasy, troubled slumber, it was, frequently interrupted +by outcries of alarm. Walt Phelps sat doggedly at Ralph's side, and, +between them, the two came to the conclusion that, come what might, +they would have to abandon the cave before long. +</P> + +<P> +In the first place, the Mexicans might take it into their heads to make +a second search, in view of the fact that they could not discover the +boys anywhere else. In the second, there was no water or food near at +hand, and if they did not take the trail pretty soon, there was grave +danger of their being too exhausted to do so. +</P> + +<P> +It was almost dusk when the three lads emerged from their retreat. +Jack had previously made a careful reconnoiter, without, however, +seeing anything to cause alarm. As quietly as they could, considering +the nature of the ground, they descended the steep side of the gulch +and gained the bottom without mishap. +</P> + +<P> +So far, not a sign had they been able to detect of the insurrectos, and +their spirits rose accordingly. Gauging their direction by the sinking +sun, the fugitives struck out for the east. That, they had concluded, +would be the best general direction. Toward the east, they knew, lay +the railroad and the more cultivated part of the province. Westward +were nothing but sterile, arid plains, without water or inhabitants, +supporting no vegetation but thorny bushes and the melancholy, odorous +mesquite bush. +</P> + +<P> +Halting frequently, to make sure that they were not being followed or +spied upon, the lads pushed steadily forward, climbing the opposite +slope of the gulch, and finally emerging into a close-growing tangle of +pinon and spiny brush of various kinds. Through this tangle—at sad +cost to their clothes, they pushed their way—disregarding the +scratches and cuts it dealt them, in their anxiety to get within +striking distance of their friends, or, at any rate, of the Mexican +army. From camp gossip, they knew that the regulars were devoting most +of their attention to guarding the railroad line, inasmuch as the +insurrectos had hitherto concentrated most of their attacks on the +bridges, tracks and telegraph lines. +</P> + +<P> +For half an hour or more they shoved steadily forward without +exchanging more than an occasional word. It was rapidly growing dark +now, and the light in the woodland was becoming gray and hazy. +Suddenly, Jack, who was slightly in advance, halted abruptly, and +placed his finger to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +It needed no interpreter to read the sign aright. +</P> + +<P> +Silence! +</P> + +<P> +Tiptoeing cautiously forward behind their leader, the other two lads +perceived that they had blundered upon a spot in which several horses +had been left unguarded by the search parties, while they pushed their +way on foot through the impenetrable brush. But it was not this fact +so much that caused them to catch their breaths with gasps of +amazement, as something else which suddenly became visible. +</P> + +<P> +To the boys' utter dumfounding, they beheld, seated on the ground, +bound hand and foot with raw-hide—the professor and Coyote Pete! Both +looked dismal enough, as they sat helplessly there, while three +soldiers, who had been left to guard the halting-place, rolled dice on +a horse-blanket. +</P> + +<P> +So intent were these men on their game, that they had laid aside their +arms, and their rifles lay temptingly almost within hands' reach of the +three lads crouching in the brush. To make any sudden move, however, +would be to attract attention, and this was the last thing they desired +to do, naturally. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, and before Jack could withdraw his eager, gazing face from +its frame of brush. Coyote Pete looked up. His eyes met Jack's in a +startled, incredulous stare. But the old plainsman was far too +seasoned a veteran to allow his amazement to betray him into an +exclamation. Nor did he apprise the professor by even so much as a +look of what he had seen. The man of science was staring abstractedly +before him, at the gamblers, perhaps, as he watched the rolling dice, +working out a calculus or other abstruse problem. Such a mental +condition, at any rate, might have been assumed, from the far-away +expression of his benevolent countenance. +</P> + +<P> +Without making a move, Pete rolled his eyes toward the rifles. To +Jack, this motion read as plain as print: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Nail them</I>." +</P> + +<P> +This, of course, was just what the lad desired to do, but how to +accomplish it without arousing the gamblers, who, despite their +absorption in their game, every now and then cast a glance around, was +a problem. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Pete threw himself to the ground. Apparently, he had been +seized by some terrible pain. Groaning, in what appeared to be agony, +his bound figure rolled about on the earth, while his legs, which below +his knees were free, kicked vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh—oh—oh!" groaned Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" cried the gamblers, springing up in consternation +at this sudden seizure. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, oh! mucho malo estomago!" howled Pete. +</P> + +<P> +So well was all this simulated, that even the professor came out of his +reverie and looked concerned, while the gamblers, laying down their +dice for an instant, hastened to the struggling, writhing cow-puncher's +side. +</P> + +<P> +It was the moment to act. +</P> + +<P> +Silently, almost as so many serpents, Jack and his comrades wriggled +out of the brush, and, in a flash, the coveted rifles were in their +possession. As Ralph seized his, however, the boy, in his eagerness, +tripped and fell with a crash against some tin cooking pots. +</P> + +<P> +Like a flash, the soldiers, who had been bending over Pete, wheeled +about. But it was to look into the muzzles of their own rifles they +did so. +</P> + +<P> +Too dumfounded at the sudden turn events had taken to move, the +insurrectos stood there quaking. Evidently the mestizos expected +nothing better than instant death. +</P> + +<P> +"Ralph, take your knife, and cut loose Pete and the professor, quick!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack gave the order without averting his eyes from the three scared +insurrectos. +</P> + +<P> +While he and Walt kept the fellows covered, Ralph hastened to Pete's +side, and in a few seconds the cow-puncher and the professor were free, +although almost too stiff to move. The professor was, moreover, lame. +With a groan, he sank back on a rock, unable, for the time being, to +move. +</P> + +<P> +Pete, however, gave himself a vigorous shake, and instantly made a dart +for the saddle of one of the horses. He returned in a jiffy with two +lariats, with which he proceeded to "hog-tie" the Mexicans with +neatness and despatch, as he himself would have expressed it. +</P> + +<P> +This done, he turned to Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank the Lord, you're safe, boy," he breathed, and for a minute Jack +saw something bright glisten in the rugged fellow's eyes. But the next +instant he was the same old Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal," he said, looking about him, "I reckon the next move is to stop +these gents frum any vocal exercise, and then we skedaddle." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the program, Pete," assented Jack, hastening to the professor's +side. The old man was almost overcome. +</P> + +<P> +"My boys! My boys!" he kept repeating. "I never thought to see you +again." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor we you, for a while, professor," said Jack hastily, while Pete, +not over-gently, stuffed the Mexicans' mouths full of gags made from +their own shirts. +</P> + +<P> +"But, my boy, you will have to leave me again," went on the man of +science dejectedly, "my ankle pains me so that I cannot move." +</P> + +<P> +"But you can ride, can't you, sir?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! yes! I can do that. But where are your horses?" +</P> + +<P> +"Right thar," said Pete, coming up. He waved his hand in an eloquent +gesture at the animals standing at the edge of the little clearing, +"take yer pick, gents. Thet little sorrel jes' about suits me." +</P> + +<P> +So saying, the cow-puncher picked out a wiry, active looking little +beast, and selected four others for his companions. The professor was +aided into the saddle somehow, and, once up, sat clinging to the horn +desperately. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll never take me alive, boys," he assured them. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the stuff, sir," cried Pete lustily; "you'll make a +broncho-busting plainsman yet. Now, then, are we all ready?" +</P> + +<P> +"All ready here," sung out Jack, who, like the others, was already in +his borrowed saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, then. We're off, as the fellow says." +</P> + +<P> +Pete dug his heels into his active little mount's sides, and the cayuse +sprang forward in a way that showed Pete he was bestride of a good +animal for their purposes. +</P> + +<P> +Followed by the others, he plunged forward into the darkling woods, +while behind them in the clearing three of the most astonished Mexicans +across the border stood raging inwardly with seething fires, but +outwardly voiceless and helpless as kittens. Thus, by an astonishing +train of circumstances, were our adventurers once more together. +</P> + +<P> +"But how in thunderation——?" began Pete, as they rode forward. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll tell you some other time," broke in Jack. "The main thing now +is to get away from here, for I've a notion that in no very short time +it's going to be mighty unhealthy for gringoes." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess you're right, lad. How're yer makin' out, perfusser?" +</P> + +<P> +"Except for a pain in my ankle, I am getting along very well, thank +you," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, he's all wool and a yard wide, even if he does look like a +softy," declared Pete, to himself. +</P> + +<P> +Threading their way through the wood, the fugitives emerged, after some +hard riding, upon the bare hillside. Below them, and some distance +ahead, could be seen the twinkling lights of the village Jack had +noticed the night before, while on their right hands gleamed the +firefly-like lights of the insurrecto camp. +</P> + +<P> +"That must be ther road down thar," said Pete, pointing. "What d'ye +say, ef we cut inter it below ther camp?" +</P> + +<P> +"And ride into the village?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Not to any vast extent, lad," rejoined the cow-puncher. "I'll bet +Ramon and Muddy-hairo, or whatever his name is, hev thet greaser +community purty well tagged with our descriptions by now. No, we'll +hit ther road below the camp, and then swing off afore we hit ther +village. It will beat wanderin' about on these hills, and, besides, +we've got ter hev water an' food purty soon. I'm most tuckered out." +</P> + +<P> +This reminded the others that they, too, were almost exhausted, and it +was agreed by all that Pete's plan was a good one. By keeping to the +road, they might find a hacienda or native hut where they could obtain +refreshments without being asked embarrassing questions. +</P> + +<P> +As they rode along, talking thus in low tones, Coyote Pete suddenly +drew rein. On the dark hillside he loomed for an instant, as fixed and +motionless as an equestrian statue. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the trouble?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Hush, lad. Do you hear something?" +</P> + +<P> +Faintly, very faintly, out of the west came a sound full of sinister +significance. +</P> + +<P> +<I>Clickety-clack</I>! <I>Clickety-clack</I>! <I>Clickety-clack</I>! +</P> + +<P> +"They're after us!" exclaimed Jack, reading the night-borne sounds +aright. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BUCK BRADLEY'S AUTOMOBILE. +</H3> + + +<P> +How their escape had been discovered so soon, was, had there been time +for it, a matter of speculation. There was little doubt, though, that +some of the searchers, returning unexpectedly, had come across the +bound mestizos, and had at once given the alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Coyote Pete glanced about him, as if looking for some means of escape. +The turn of the road that they hoped to make was still some distance +ahead, but the road itself lay stretched, like a white, dusty ribbon, +just before them. In the darkness, it showed clearly, and, as his eyes +fell upon it, Coyote Pete's mind was made up. +</P> + +<P> +"Take to the road," he cried, "there's a gulch just a little way up +ahead of us." +</P> + +<P> +In fact, the plainsman's watchful eye had detected, a short distance +ahead, a black void in the surface of the hillside, which he guessed to +be a deep arroyo. +</P> + +<P> +Their horses' hoofs clattered in an unpleasantly loud manner, as they +reached the hard highway, and began to hammer down it, still bearing +due east. Behind them now they could hear distinctly the yells and +shouts of the pursuers. They were still some distance off, however. +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'em howl," remarked Coyote Pete. "The lung exercise is all +they'll git. With this start, we ought to beat them out easy." +</P> + +<P> +"Look! Look!" cried Ralph, suddenly pointing ahead. "What's that?" +</P> + +<P> +They all saw it at the same moment—two big lights, like eyes. +Seemingly, the astonishing apparition was coming toward them at a good +speed. The shafts of light cast forward cut the darkness like fiery +swords. +</P> + +<P> +The fugitives paused, bewildered. What did this new circumstance +betoken? +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make her out to be, Pete?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, boy, if it warn't thet we're down in such a benighted part of +ther country, I should say that yonder was a gasoline gig." +</P> + +<P> +"An automobile!" exclaimed Walt. "It does look like one, for a fact." +</P> + +<P> +"And, to my way of thinking, a naughtymobile is jes' about the ticket +fer us, right now," grunted Pete. "Hark!" +</P> + +<P> +There was no doubt now that the two shimmering bright lights ahead were +the head lanterns of an auto. They could hear the sharp cough of her +engines, as she took the hill. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a powerful one, too," commented Ralph, listening. The Eastern +lad knew a good deal about motor cars. His face bore an interested +expression. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know who'd own one of them things down here but an American," +went on Pete, as if he had been in a reverie all this time, "and if it +is a Yankee, it means that maybe we are out of our difficulties." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what shall we do?" demanded Jack. "Meet it, or take to the +woods?" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, from far behind them came the sound of shots and shouts. +That settled it. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll take a chance, and meet them," declared Pete, riding forward. +</P> + +<P> +Followed by the others, he deployed across the road, and an instant +later the bright glare of the car's headlights enveloped them. From +the vehicle, there came a sharp hail as the driver ground down the +brakes. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, you fellows, can you direct us to the camp?" +</P> + +<P> +"They're nothing but a bunch of greasers," came another voice from +behind the lights; "drive ahead, Jim." +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on thar, Buck," hailed Coyote Pete. "I'd like ter hev a word +with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, are you chaps Americans?" demanded an astonished voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Reckon so," hailed back Pete dryly, "that's what my ma said. Who air +you, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am Big Buck Bradley, manager, owner and sole proprietor of Buck +Bradley's Unparalleled Monst-er-ous and Unsurpassed Wild West Show and +Congress of Cowboys," came back the answer. "Who are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I reckon jes' at present we're in danger of being made a Wild +West Show of, ourselves," drawled Pete. "But are you really Buck +Bradley himself?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was, at dinner-time," was the response. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoorah!" yelled Pete. "It ain't possible, is it, Buck, thet you've +forgot Mister Peter de Peyster?" +</P> + +<P> +"What, Coyote Pete?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, you thundering old coyote, what air you doin' here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gittin' chased by a bunch of the toughest insurrectos you ever clapped +eyes on, and it's up ter you ter help us out," responded Pete. He +looked back, and motioned to the others, who had listened in +astonishment to this dialogue. "Come on, boys, and git interduced; +there ain't much time fer ettiquette." +</P> + +<P> +"Yee-ow-w-w-w-w!" came a yell behind them. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" exclaimed Buck, who, as the boys could now see, was a +big, red-faced chap, clad in a linen auto-duster, combined with which +his sombrero, with its beaded band, looked odd. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that's an invitation ter us ter stop," rejoined Pete. +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly he explained the case, and Buck began to roar and bellow +angrily, as was his wont. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, what d'yer think uv that? The derned greasers! And I was on my +way ter give 'em some free tickets. We show down in the village +to-night. Help you out? Surest thing you know. Turn them broncs +loose, and you and yer friends pile in. Tell me ther rest as we go +along." +</P> + +<P> +The party of adventurers, as may be imagined, lost no time in accepting +the Wild West Show man's hearty invitation, the professor being helped +into the tonneau by Coyote Pete, who lifted the bony scientist as if he +were nothing but a featherweight. +</P> + +<P> +"Back her up, and turn around, bo," Buck ordered his chauffeur. "I'm +out in my guess if we've got much time to lose." +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly the car was turned, and was soon speeding in the direction they +wished to go. The stolen insurrecto horses galloped off into the +hills, snorting with terror, as the car began to move. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Pete, what-cher bin doin'?" began Buck, as the vehicle gathered +way, "shootin' up ther town?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, siree! I'm a law-abidin' citizen now," came from Pete, "and +actin' as chaperony to this yer party." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem ter hev chaperoned them inter a heap of trouble," observed +Buck dryly, as the car gathered way. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tain't all my fault. Listen," rejoined Pete, and straightaway +launched into a detailed account of their adventures. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal," observed Buck, at the conclusion, "you sure are the number one +chop feller fer gettin' inter trouble, but you bet yer life I ain't +a-goin' ter fergit ther time yer stood up with me and held off a bunch +of crazy cattle-thieves, down on the Rio Grande. So, gents, give yer +orders, and Buck Bradley 'ull carry 'em out." +</P> + +<P> +But, alas! as the redoubtable owner of Buck Bradley's Unparalleled, +etc., Wild West uttered these words, there came a sudden loud report. +</P> + +<P> +<I>Bang</I>! +</P> + +<P> +"Christopher! They're firing from ambush!" yelled Pete, jumping two +feet up from his seat in the tonneau. +</P> + +<P> +"Worse than that, consarn the luck!" growled Bradley, "thet rear tire's +busted agin." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you run on a flat wheel?" asked Ralph anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Not over these roads, son. We wouldn't last ten minutes. Hey you, +chaffer! Get out an' fix it, willyer?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll try, sir," said the man, bringing the bumping, jolting car to a +stop. +</P> + +<P> +"Try, sir?" echoed Buck indignantly. "Didn't you tell me, when I hired +you, thet you was a first-class, A number one chaffer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I did," was the indignant reply, as the driver knelt in the dust +and began examining the tire carefully. "But you can't fix a puncture +in a jiffy." +</P> + +<P> +"This one is a-goin' ter be fixed in a jiffy," rejoined Buck ominously, +"or there'll be a punctured chaffer 'round here." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, the proprietor of the Wild West Show moved his great bulk +in the forward seat, and produced a heavy-calibred revolver, that +glistened in the starlight. +</P> + +<P> +"Get busy!" he ordered. +</P> + +<P> +"Y-y-y-y-yes, sir," stuttered the chauffeur, who had been hired in San +Antonio, before the show crossed the border, and found itself in the +country of the insurrectos. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I can give him a hand—I know something about cars," volunteered +Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Then help him out, will yer son?" puffed the red-faced Buck Bradley. +"It's my private opinion," he went on, in a voice intended to be +confidential, but which was merely a subdued bellow, "that that chaffer +of mine couldn't chaff a chafing dish." +</P> + +<P> +Ralph took one of the oil headlights out of its socket, and, taking it +to the back of the car, found the chauffeur scratching his head over +the tire. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the trouble?" asked Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you see, sir," stammered the chauffeur, "I don't just exactly +know. I think it's a puncture, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, aren't you supposed to be a chauffeur?" inquired Ralph +disgustedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, I run a taxicab onct," was the reply, in a low tone, however, +"but that's all the chauffering I ever done. You see, I went broke in +San Antone, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"All right; all right," snapped Ralph impatiently. "Say, you people, +you'd better get out of the car, while I tinker this up." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it a bad bust-up?" puffed Buck Bradley, clambering out. "I only +bought ther car a week ago, and I've spent more time under it than in +it, ever since." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not very bad—just a little blow-out," announced Ralph, who had +been examining the wheel. "Got a jack and an emergency kit?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" snorted Buck Bradley. "Here, you excuse for a chaffer, git +ther hospital outfit, and hurry up." +</P> + +<P> +"Please, sir, I—I forgot the emergency kit," stuttered the new +chauffeur. +</P> + +<P> +"You forgot! Great Moses!" howled Buck. "Have you got the jack, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Get it, please," said Ralph, pulling off one of his gloves. The boy +rapidly slashed it with his pocket-knife, while the others watched him +interestedly. In the meantime, the chauffeur had tremblingly "jacked +up" the car. +</P> + +<P> +Binding his handkerchief about the puncture, and placing the leather +from his glove about that, Ralph rapidly wound some strips of raw-hide +from Pete's pockets about the bandage. This done he proceeded to blow +up the tire. To his great joy the extemporized "plug" held. The tire +swelled and grew hard. +</P> + +<P> +"It won't last long, but it may hold long enough for us," said Ralph, +as he let the car down again and handed the jack to the "chaffer." +</P> + +<P> +As the man took and replaced it at the back of the car, Buck Bradley +regarded him with extreme disfavor. Then he turned to Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, sonny," he said, "did you say you could run a car?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"This one?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think so." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley turned to his "chaffer." +</P> + +<P> +"Here, you!" he bellowed, "it's about two miles into town. Hoof it in +thar an' when yer git ter camp tell Sam Stow to run ther show +ter-night. I'm off on important business, tell him." +</P> + +<P> +As the "chaffer" shuffled off, Buck Bradley began to hum: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"I knew at dawn, when de rooster crowed,<BR> +Dere wuz gwine ter be trouble on de Gran' Trunk Ro-ad!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It's a good thing you got that done in jig-time, young feller," spoke +Buck, as the job and his song were finished, and they scrambled back +into the car, "fer here they come." +</P> + +<P> +He pointed back up the starlit road. +</P> + +<P> +Not more than a few hundred yards off, several mounted figures came +into view. At the same moment that the occupants of the car sighted +them, the pursuing insurrectos made out the automobile. +</P> + +<P> +Yelling at the top of their voices, they swept down upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'er out, and don't bother ter hit nuthin' but ther high places," +Buck admonished Ralph, who now held the wheel. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE ESMERALDA MINE. +</H3> + + +<P> +"If only I was certain that my boy and his friends were safe, Geisler, +I wouldn't feel so much anxiety." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merrill, an anxious look on his face, paced up and down the floor +of the office of the Esmeralda Mine. It was the morning of the day +following the dash for safety in Buck Bradley's car, and the mine owner +and his superintendent had been in anxious consultation since +breakfast. In truth, they had enough to worry them. In the specie +room of the mine was stored more than $20,000 worth of dust, the +product of the big stamp mill. +</P> + +<P> +From what they had been able to ascertain, the insurrectos were +unusually active in the neighborhood. Open warning had been sent to +the American mine owners, including Mr. Merrill, to be prepared to +yield up generously and freely, or have their property destroyed. In +addition to this worry, the mine owner and his superintendent, together +with the three young "level bosses," had been practically cut off from +communication with the outside world for the past twenty-four hours. +</P> + +<P> +A branch of the Chihuahua Northern tapped the mine, but no train had +puffed its way up the steep grade for more than three days, and it was +useless to try to use the wires, as they had been put out of commission +almost at the beginning of the trouble in the province. +</P> + +<P> +"If I had ever dreamed the trouble would assume such serious +proportions, the last thing I would have done would have been to allow +the professor or his young charges to journey to the Haunted Mesa," +continued the mine owner. +</P> + +<P> +Geisler, a rotund German, with a wealth of flaxen hair and moustache, +puffed at his china-bowled pipe before replying. +</P> + +<P> +"Dese Megxicans is der teufel ven dey get started, ain'd idt?" he +remarked. "For a veek, now, dere has not been a tap of vork done py +der mine, und nodt a sign uv der rabblescallions uv loafers vot vos +employed deere." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a lesson to me in employing Mexican labor," declared Mr. +Merrill emphatically. "If it isn't a saint's day carousal, it's a +revolution, and if it isn't a revolution, it's a bad attack of aversion +to work. I tell you, Geisler, the folks who are sympathizing with +these insurrectos don't know the people or the country." +</P> + +<P> +"Dot is righd," rejoined Geisler, expelling a cloud of blue smoke. "De +country iss all righd, but der peoples—ach!" +</P> + +<P> +He spread his hands, as if in despair. As he did so, the door of the +wooden building opened, giving a glimpse of the empty, idle shaft-mouth +beyond, and a young man of about twenty-two or so entered. +</P> + +<P> +He was a mining student, employed as a level boss by Mr. Merrill. His +employer looked up as he entered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Markley, any news?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, sir, that arrant rascal, Pedro, just rode by. I asked him if he +couldn't get the men back to work on Number Two, and he wouldn't hear +of it. He says that the insurrectos are going to wipe out all the +American mines, and drive the gringoes out of the country." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they are, are they?" questioned Mr. Merrill, a grim look +overspreading his face. "Just let them try it on the Esmeralda, that's +all." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean that you would oppose them, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oppose them! Holy smoke, man, you don't think I'd sit here with my +hands folded and let a lot of rascally mestizos wreck my property, do +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should remarg idt not," puffed Herr Geisler. +</P> + +<P> +"But, sir, there are only five of us here. How long do you suppose we +could stick it out?" +</P> + +<P> +"Till der lastd oldt cat be dead, py chiminy!" exploded the German. +"Herr Merrill, you are all righd. Young man, are you afraidt?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," protested young Markley indignantly, "but——" +</P> + +<P> +"Budt what, eh? Answer me dot, blease. Budt vot?" +</P> + +<P> +The belligerent German advanced till his pudgy forefinger was shaking +under Markley's aristocratic nose. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they say, you know, that Madero isn't very gentle to his +prisoners, especially when they happen to be gringoes." +</P> + +<P> +"There, there, Markley," said Mr. Merrill, with a tinge of impatience, +"don't repeat all the old gossips' tales about Madero. Why, if one +believed half of them, he would be endowed with hoofs and horns, not to +mention a tail with a spike on the end. If either you or Redman or +Jennings wishes to leave the mine, you may. I'll write you a check for +the amount I owe you now." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you see, sir," began Markley, but Geisler interrupted him +furiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach Himmel! Vot are you, a man or a Strassbourg pie? Donnervetter! +Go! Raus! gedt oudt! Vamoose!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sir," began Markley, turning to Mr. Merrill from this furious storm of +abuse. +</P> + +<P> +But his employer had taken out his check-book and fountain pen, and +seemed intent upon making out the pink slips. Markley, baffled, turned +with a red face toward Geisler. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right for you to talk," he said in an aggrieved tone, "but we +are all young fellows. We have our careers in front of us. We want to +make something of ourselves——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ach!" broke out the German explosively, waving his pipe about angrily, +"make deaders of yourselfs. Dot is vot you shouldt do. Go on. Dere +are your pay checks. Take dem, und gedt oudt." +</P> + +<P> +Glad enough to escape, Markley hastily thanked his employer, and, +snatching up the pink slips, made for the door. Outside, Redman and +Jennings were waiting. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on," said Jennings, as Markley waved the checks, "let's get out +of here. Old Madero may be along at any minute, and they say he hangs +you up by the thumbs, and——" +</P> + +<P> +Their voices died out, as they hurried off to pack their belongings, +after which they made off for the nearest town, some ten miles away to +the southeast. +</P> + +<P> +"Veil," began the explosive Teuton, as their voices died away, "dere +iss dree vine specimens—nodt by no means." +</P> + +<P> +"You can hardly blame them for looking out for their own interests," +rejoined Mr. Merrill. "It isn't everybody who, like you, would stick +by his employer at the risk of his neck." +</P> + +<P> +"You is more dan my employer, py chiminy, you voss mein friendt," +exclaimed Geisler. "I aindt forgot it dot time dat no vun vouldt gif +me a chob pecos dey dink I been vun pig vool. Vot didt you do, den? +You proved yourself anudder fooll py gifing me a chob. Dink you, den, +I run from dis, my dearie-o? Oh, not by a Vestphalia ham! Here I am, +und here I shtay shtuck, py chiminy!" +</P> + +<P> +The mine owner gave his faithful super a grateful look, and then +snatched up his soft hat with a brisk movement. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Geisler," he said, "let us take a look around. Possibly, in the +event of an attack, there may be one or two places that will need +strengthening." +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, Himmel! vot a mans," muttered the German to himself, as he +followed his employer out. "I vork for him, und, py chiminy grickets, +I vight for him too, alretty." +</P> + +<P> +The stamp mill and main buildings of the mine, including the boiler and +engine room, were surrounded by a stout fence of one-inch planking, +perhaps ten feet in height. Frequent strikes and minor outbreaks among +the Mexican miners had persuaded Mr. Merrill to follow the example of +most of his fellow American mine owners in Mexico, and be prepared for +emergencies. Facing toward the west, was a large gate in this +"stockade," as it might almost be called. Surmounting this, was the +bell, idle now, with which the miners were summoned to work. From the +gate, which was swung open as Markley and his cronies had left it in +their retreat, could be seen a huddle of small adobe houses—the homes +of the laborers—and beyond these, and deeper in the valley, lay the +red-tiled roofs and green gardens of Santa Marta, the nearest town. +</P> + +<P> +Men could be seen moving about the laborers' huts—in fact, there was +an air almost of expectant bustle about the place. Shielding his eyes, +Mr. Merrill gazed down toward the little town. His keen vision had +caught the glint of a firearm of some sort between the legs of a man +seated outside one of the huts. +</P> + +<P> +"These chaps must have advance information of some sort," he remarked +to Geisler. "That fellow yonder is cleaning up a rifle." +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like it voss business alretty," remarked Geisler. "Himmel, I +vould gif vun dollar und ninety-eight cents, alretty, to see a troop of +regulars coming up der railroad tracks." +</P> + +<P> +But the tracks lay empty and shining before them, without even a +freight car backed upon a siding to suggest the activity that, at this +time of the week, usually reigned about the mine. +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't a regiment nearer than Rosario, at last reports," rejoined +Mr. Merrill, "and no way of reaching them, now that the wires are cut. +If only I dared leave the place, I'd ride to Rosario, but the instant +we vacated it, those yellow jackals down yonder would come swarming in." +</P> + +<P> +"Dot is right," agreed Geisler, with a frown, "dey know, vorse luck, +aboudt der amount of goldt vot is stored in der strong room. I bet you +your life, dey iss yust votching for a chance to make idt a addack py +der mine." +</P> + +<P> +"That's my idea, too, Geisler, and—— Hullo, who's this coming?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN ACT OF TREACHERY. +</H3> + + +<P> +He pointed inquiringly down the hillside at a young figure on horseback +that was wearily climbing the declivity. +</P> + +<P> +"He voss come a goot long vay, alretty," commented Geisler, taking in +the dust-covered appearance of horse and rider. The gray powder, which +covered both, was visible even at that distance. +</P> + +<P> +"He's an American," went on Mr. Merrill, "a young man, too. I don't +recollect ever having seen him before round here. Wonder what he +wants?" +</P> + +<P> +While he spoke, the rider came rapidly forward, and presently drew rein +beside the miner and his super. He was a young man, tall, well +muscled, and with a well-poised head, but his eyes were set rather too +close, and there was something about that clean-shaven chin that rather +made you distrust him. +</P> + +<P> +"I've beaten those kids to it," he muttered to himself, as his eyes +first took in the two solitary figures standing at the gate. "The rest +will be easy." +</P> + +<P> +Bob Harding, for it was the exiled West Pointer, could hardly help +smiling, in fact, as he comprehended the simplicity of his task. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," he said in a pleasant voice, as he rode up. "Is this +the Esmeralda Mine?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is," rejoined Mr. Merrill, "and I am its owner. Come in and rest +yourself, won't you? You look fagged." +</P> + +<P> +It was the hearty, cordial greeting of one American in a strange land +to a fellow countryman. Bob Harding accepted with alacrity. He +slipped from his saddle as if he were weary to death, and, indeed, his +travel-stained clothes supported that idea. If the two men facing him, +though, could have seen him scattering dust in liberal proportions over +himself and his horse a short time before, they might not have fallen +into his trap so easily. With quirt and spur, he had worked his horse +into a sweat. At such tricks, Bob Harding was an adept. +</P> + +<P> +But of all this, of course, neither Mr. Merrill nor his super had any +idea. To their unsuspecting minds, Bob Harding was a fellow-countryman +in difficulty, and they treated him accordingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Phew!" remarked Harding, slipping his reins over his arm, and +following Mr. Merrill within the stockade, "I had a tough time getting +away from those insurrectos." +</P> + +<P> +The remark had just the effect he intended it should have. Mr. Merrill +regarded him with astonishment. Geisler muttered gutturally. +</P> + +<P> +"The insurrectos!" exclaimed Mr. Merrill. "Are they near at hand?" +</P> + +<P> +"They were," rejoined Bob Harding, secretly rejoicing to see how well +his plan was working, "but they are now in retreat. The government +troops met them near San Angelo, and drove them back to the west." +</P> + +<P> +"I had no idea there were any government troops closer than Rosario." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor had Madero's flying column, as he called it. But he found out a +few hours ago. In the confusion I escaped and rode on here. I have a +message for you from your son." +</P> + +<P> +"My son! Good Heavens! Is Jack in the hands——" +</P> + +<P> +"He was a prisoner of Madero, but he has escaped, and is now lying +wounded at a spot I will guide you to." +</P> + +<P> +"Himmel! Yack Merrill a prisoner, alretty!" gasped Herr Geisler. +</P> + +<P> +"Not only Master Merrill, but two boy friends of his, an old gentleman, +whom I should imagine was their instructor, and a cowboy." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it must be them!" exclaimed Mr. Merrill. "But how, in the name +of all that's wonderful, did they come across the border? I thought +they were at the Haunted Mesa, in New Mexico." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too long a story to relate to you now, señors," rejoined Bob +Harding, "I may tell you, though, that they are safe at the hacienda of +a friend. But your boy is seriously wounded, and must see you at once." +</P> + +<P> +"Good Heavens, Geisler! This is terrible news, Mr.—Mr.——" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Allen, of New York," put in Harding glibly. +</P> + +<P> +"Terrible news that Mr. Allen of New York brings us. You were with +them, Mr. Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was, sir. In my capacity as war correspondent for the <I>Planet</I>, I +was with Madero's column. But, in the moment of defeat at the hands of +the regulars, the miserable greasers turned on me as a gringo. I was +compelled to flee for my life. First, however, I cut the bonds of our +young friends and their comrades, and under cover of night we escaped." +</P> + +<P> +Bob Harding was certainly warming to his subject as he went along. Mr. +Merrill regarded him with gratitude. +</P> + +<P> +"I've a horse in the stables, Mr. Allen," he said. "I'll saddle up, +right away, and accompany you. How can I ever thank you for all you +have done for my boy and his friends?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't mention it," said Allen glibly; "we Americans must do little +things for one another, you know. But hurry, sir. Your boy was +calling for you when I left." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor lad!" exclaimed the deluded mine owner, hastening toward the +stable. "Geisler, you must stay and look after the place. How far is +it, Mr. Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not more than ten miles, sir," was the rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"I can ride there and back before dark, then," declared Mr. Merrill. +"If the lad is strong enough to be moved, I'll bring him with me." +</P> + +<P> +All this time Geisler had been examining "Mr. Allen's" horse with a +singular expression. As the miner owner vanished in the direction of +the stable, he spoke: +</P> + +<P> +"Dot poor horse of yours vos aboudt tuckered in, aindt it?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, poor brute," rejoined Bob Harding, "I rode at a furious pace." +</P> + +<P> +"Und got all der dust on his chest, und none on his hind quvarters," +commented the German suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +But Harding returned his gaze frankly, and wiped his brow with a great +appearance of weariness. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that so?" he said. "I didn't notice it. But then, I rode so hard, +and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you ready, Mr. Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Mr. Merrill's voice. He rode up, as he spoke, on a big +chestnut, which he had saddled and bridled faster than he had ever +equipped a horse before. +</P> + +<P> +"All ready, sir," was the response, as Bob Harding swung himself into +his saddle again. +</P> + +<P> +Geisler had run into the office. Now he reappeared, holding something +under his coat. He approached Mr. Merrill's side, and, while Bob +Harding was leaning over examining his saddle-girth, the German slipped +the object he held to his employer. +</P> + +<P> +"Idt's a gun," he whispered. "Keep idt handy. Py chiminy, I dink +maype you need him pefore you get through." +</P> + +<P> +"With the insurrectos in retreat?" laughed Mr. Merrill. "Geisler, you +are getting nervous in your old age. Come, Mr. Allen, let's be getting +forward, I can hardly wait till I see my boy." +</P> + +<P> +The horses plunged forward and clattered down the hillside. +</P> + +<P> +Geisler watched them till a bend in the road below hid them from view. +Then he turned slowly to reenter the stockade. +</P> + +<P> +"Py chiminy," he muttered, emitting huge clouds of blue smoke, "I dink +me dere vos a vood-pile in dot nigger, py cracious." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT ROSARIO STATION. +</H3> + + +<P> +The dull gray of the dawn was illuminating the east, and the breath of +the morning astir in the tree-tops, when Bill Whiting, station agent at +Rosario, began to bestir himself. The station agent was not about so +early on account of passengers that might be expected by an early +train—for the excellent reason that there was no morning train. Since +fighting had begun in Chihuahua, schedules had, to quote Bill, "gone to +pot." On a sidetrack lay a locomotive, smokeless and inert, just as +her crew had abandoned her. Some loaded freight cars, their contents +untouched, likewise stood on the spur. That Bill Whiting, however, +meant to guard the railroad's property, was evidenced by the fact that +strapped to his waist was a portly revolver, while a rifle lay handy in +the ticket office, in which, since the outbreak of trouble, he had +watched and slept and cooked. +</P> + +<P> +Bill's first task, after tumbling out of his blankets and washing his +face in a tin basin standing in one corner of the office, was to tap +the telegraph key. The instrument gave out a lifeless "tick-tick." +</P> + +<P> +"No juice—blazes!" grunted Bill, and, being a philosophical young man, +he bothered himself no more about the matter, and went about getting +his breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of his preparations, however, he suddenly straightened up +and listened intently. To hear better, he even shoved aside the +sizzling frying-pan from its position over one burner of his kerosene +stove. What had attracted his attention was a distant sound—faint at +first, but momentarily growing nearer. +</P> + +<P> +"Blazes!" muttered Bill, scratching his head, and making for a rear +window, which commanded a view of the long, white road. "What's that, +I wonder? Sounds like a sick cow." +</P> + +<P> +He gazed out of the window earnestly, and then suddenly recoiled with a +startled exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"Blazes! It ain't no cow. It's an automobubble. Yes, sir, as sure as +you live, it's a bubble. Whose can it be? Maybe it's old man +Stetson's himself." +</P> + +<P> +Chugging in a spasmodic sort of way, the car drew nearer, and the +station agent now saw that there were several people in it. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like that car is spavined, or something," commented Bill. "Why, +it's regularly limping; yes, sir—blazes!—it's limping, fer a fact." +</P> + +<P> +Buck Bradley's auto was, in fact, at almost its "last gasp." Ralph's +temporary repair had not lasted any longer than he had expected. +Fortunately, at the time it gave out, the insurrectos had apparently +given up the chase, and the party was not far from the hacienda of a +friend of the genial Buck. At his suggestion, therefore, they diverted +from their road to the mine, and swung off to this house. Here a hasty +meal and a warm welcome were enjoyed, and Ralph set the car in order as +best he could. Buck's friend, however, had news for them. He had +heard that there was an encampment of regulars at Rosario, from which +it was only a short run by rail to the branch on which the Esmeralda +was located. +</P> + +<P> +This information caused the party to change their plans. With the car +in the condition in which it was, they doubted whether it would be +possible to travel over the rough roads intervening between themselves +and the mine. On the other hand, Rosario was not far off, and on a +smooth, hard highway. If the information of Buck Bradley's friend was +correct, and there was no reason to doubt it, the regulars were camped +at Rosario guarding the line. What more easy than to explain their +case to the leader of the Mexican regulars, and steal a march on the +insurrectos by reaching the Esmeralda first by rail, and wiping out the +band of Madero? +</P> + +<P> +But, alas for human plans! The party in the auto was doomed to bitter +disappointment. As they approached, and no camp was to be seen, they +began to realize that their information had been inaccurate. Bill +Whiting speedily clinched all doubt in the matter. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, my friend," hailed Buck Bradley, as the agent emerged from his +shack, "where are the soldiers?" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean the greaser regulars?" was the rejoinder. "Blazes, they went +off yesterday. Had a tip where Madero was, and they are after him, +hot-foot, I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +The boys exchanged despondent glances. Here was a fine end to their +high hopes. The Esmeralda was now farther off than ever, and the auto +was hopelessly crippled. One tire was worn almost to ribbons, a rim +had been sprung, and two spark plugs had cracked. Every one of the +party realized, as the car stopped with a sigh, that it couldn't move +again until a tall lot of overhauling had been done. +</P> + +<P> +"Anything I can do to help yer?" volunteered Bill, noting the woebegone +faces of his countrymen. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing, son, unless you've got a wire working," sputtered Buck, who, +as he did with everything, had gone into this matter, heart and soul. +</P> + +<P> +"Wire!" echoed the station agent, "why, blazes, I couldn't put through +a tap fer Diaz himself. The wire went dead two days ago, and I've been +on my own hook since." +</P> + +<P> +"What was the last word you had?" asked Jack, thinking, perhaps, that +they might have some information in regard to affairs at the mine. +</P> + +<P> +The agent dived into his pocket and fished out a yellow paper. +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is," he exclaimed, "and it's signed by 'King Pin' Stetson +himself: 'Keep freight moving at all hazards.'" +</P> + +<P> +"It's signed by Mr. Stetson, you say?" exclaimed Ralph eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. He's the main boss on this road, you know, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"I know, I know!" cried Ralph eagerly, "but is he here across the +border?" +</P> + +<P> +"Huh? Not he. He's in the best hotel in El Paso, consulting and +smoking two-bit seegars. But my job's here, and here I stick." +</P> + +<P> +But Ralph and Jack had not heard this speech. A light shone in the +Eastern boy's eyes, the light of a great idea. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a locomotive yonder, Jack," he whispered. "I can run one. I +learned one summer when pop took me over the Squantock and Port Gloster +line. You said there was a branch connecting with the Esmeralda. Why +can't we go by rail?" +</P> + +<P> +"By ginger, Ralph! Have you got the nerve?" +</P> + +<P> +"Look at me." +</P> + +<P> +Jack regarded his comrade an instant. There wasn't a flicker of an +eyelash to show that Ralph was the least bit nervous. The experiences +of the last few days had taught him much. +</P> + +<P> +While Bill Whiting regarded them curiously, Jack hastily told the +others of what Ralph had proposed. +</P> + +<P> +"That appeals ter me as a ring-tailed roarer of a good idee," announced +Buck Bradley, when he had finished. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, I'm more used ter doin' my fightin' ahorseback than from a loco, +but I guess it goes here," chimed in Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"An eminently sensible suggestion," was the professor's contribution. +The maimed ankle of the man of science was now almost well, and, as he +put it, he was "restored to his customary salubriosity." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, all we've got to do, is to get permission to take the +locomotive," declared Jack. He turned to Bill Whiting, who had been +eyeing them curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"We've got to get through to the Esmeralda mine," he said. "Our auto +is broken down, and yet the fate of the mine, and perhaps the lives of +its defenders, hang upon our arrival there as soon as possible. Have +we your authority to run the locomotive through?" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, son," drawled Bill Whiting, "put on your brakes. That's a +compound, and even supposing I could let you take her, how would you +run her?" +</P> + +<P> +"There's a boy here who can run her all right," cried Jack impatiently. +"All we need to have is your authority." +</P> + +<P> +Bill Whiting shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry," he said. "I don't know you, and that loco's railroad +property. I'm responsible fer it. Suppose you'd ditch her? +No—blazes!—it wouldn't do at all." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll give yer a hundred dollars gold fer two hours use uv that +ingine," cried Buck Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"No good," declared Bill, shaking his head; "it's railroad property. +I've got my job to look after, even if Chihuahua is turned inside out." +</P> + +<P> +"But this is a matter of the utmost urgency," argued Jack. "Listen." +</P> + +<P> +He rapidly detailed the outlines of their situation to the agent. The +man was obdurate, however. +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't nobody touch that ingine but old man Stetson himself." +</P> + +<P> +"How about his son?" Ralph's voice rang out clearly above the excited +tones of the others. +</P> + +<P> +"Waal, I reckon he could, but he ain't here." +</P> + +<P> +"He isn't, eh?" demanded Ralph, hopping out of the tonneau, "well, my +name happens to be Ralph Stetson." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, quit joking. You're Americans, like myself, and I'd like ter help +you out, but I can't do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you give me a chance to prove to you I'm Ralph Stetson?" asked +Ralph eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure; a dozen, if yer want 'em," grinned the agent, gazing at the +ragged, tattered figure before him. +</P> + +<P> +Ralph dived into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of letters and +papers. Motioning the agent to sit beside him at the edge of the +platform, he skimmed through them for the other's benefit. The group +in the auto watched anxiously. A whole lot depended on Ralph's proving +his identity. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, blazes!" burst out the agent suddenly, "<I>you are</I> Ralph Stetson, +ain't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think those letters and papers prove it," answered the boy. "Now, +do we get that loco?" +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon so, if you say so. But, will you sign a paper, releasing me +of responsibility?" +</P> + +<P> +With what speed that paper was signed, may be imagined. In the +meantime, Buck Bradley, who knew a thing or two about railroading +himself, had his coat off, and was hard at work waking up the banked +fires. Presently the forced draught began to roar, and black smoke to +roll from the smoke-stack. By the time the auto had been wheeled in +under a shed, and Bill Whiting asked to communicate with the government +troops as soon as possible, all was ready for the start. +</P> + +<P> +The engine was trembling under a good head of steam, white jets gushing +from her safety valves. +</P> + +<P> +"All ab-o-a-r-d!" yelled Pete, in the manner of a conductor, and Buck +Bradley, who had stepped off after his labors to cool up a bit, began +to climb back again. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, are you going with us, Mr. Bradley?" demanded Jack amazedly. +"What about your show?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Sam Stow kin look after that," was the easy rejoinder. "It won't +be the first time. I've worked long enough; now I'm off for a little +play." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't be much play about it, I'm thinking," grunted Pete. +</P> + +<P> +The engine bell clanged, a hoarse shriek came from her whistle, and the +wheels began to revolve. Ralph was at the throttle, while Bill Whiting +was up ahead to throw the switch. +</P> + +<P> +"Good luck!" he cried, waving his hand as the locomotive swept by and +rolled out upon the main line. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by!" cried the crowd of adventurers in the cab, waving their +hands back at him. +</P> + +<P> +Buck threw the furnace door open, and sent a big shovelful of coal +skittering into the glaring interior. The cumbrous machine gave a leap +forward, like a scared greyhound, as Ralph jerked the throttle open. +</P> + +<P> +The Border Boys were off on what was to prove one of the most +adventurous incidents of their lives. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JACK MERRILL'S "SPECIAL." +</H3> + + +<P> +The landscape swam by, the telegraph poles flashed past, as the flying +locomotive gained headway. The ponderous compound jolted and swung +along over the rough tracks like a ship in a stormy sea. But the +thrill of adventure, the buoyant sense of facing a big enterprise, +rendered the lads oblivious to everything but the track ahead. +</P> + +<P> +From time to time, Buck Bradley stopped his shoveling, and, holding by +a hand-rail, leaned far out from the footplate, scanning the metals +that stretched out in two parallel lines ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Be like them varmints to hev blown up a bridge, or spiked a track," he +muttered. +</P> + +<P> +All eyes were now on the alert for the first sight of the red-brick +station—the only one on the line—which Bill Whiting had told them +marked the Esmeralda switch. As yet it had not come into view, but +they judged it must be around a curve which lay ahead, the far side of +which was hidden from them by a clump of woods. Suddenly, from this +clump emerged a figure, waving a red flag. He stopped in the middle of +the track, waving his flag frantically. +</P> + +<P> +"Shut down!" yelled Buck. "There's danger ahead!" +</P> + +<P> +"Looks more like a trick, to me," growled the wary Coyote Pete. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't afford to take chances," rejoined Buck. "How do we know what's +the tother side of that curve?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," agreed Pete; "them critters might hev planted a ton of +dynamite there, fer all we know." +</P> + +<P> +The brakes ground down, and the panting locomotive came to a stop +within a few feet of the man with the red flag. It could now be seen +that he was a small, dark Mexican, wearing a high-crowned hat. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I know that fellow, he——" began Ralph. But his recognition of +the fellow, whom he had seen in Madero's camp, came too late. +</P> + +<P> +From the woods ahead of them, a perfect hailstorm of bullets began to +spit about the engine. Fortunately, none of the occupants of her cab +were struck, although the windows were splintered and the woodwork +honeycombed. +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead!" roared Buck. +</P> + +<P> +"What if they've torn up the track?" gasped Ralph. +</P> + +<P> +"Not likely. If they had, they wouldn't be bothering to shoot at us. +Let her out. Ouch!" +</P> + +<P> +A bullet whizzed past the burly showman's ear, and just nicked the tip +of it. +</P> + +<P> +With a roar of rage, like the bellowings of an angry bull, he leaned +his huge form out of the window and began pumping lead from his +revolver into the woods. It is doubtful if his fire had any effect, +but at that minute Ralph started the engine up again. A yell came from +the Mexicans within the wood, as he did so. A hundred or more poured +out, firing as they came. +</P> + +<P> +"Duck, everybody!" yelled Coyote Pete, as the storm broke. +</P> + +<P> +A tempest of lead rattled about the engine, but, thanks to the +protection of the steel cab, not one of the crouching occupants was +hurt. Almost before they realized it, they had swung around the curve, +and were safe. As Buck Bradley had surmised, no attempt had been made +to wreck the track beyond, the insurrectos having counted, seemingly, +on stopping the dash for the Esmeralda by their ambush in the wood. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-258"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-258.jpg" ALT="A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. Almost before they realised it, they had swung around the curve." BORDER="2" WIDTH="381" HEIGHT="580"> +<H3> +[Illustration: A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. <BR> +Almost before they realised it, they had swung around the curve.] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Consarn their yellow hides," grunted Pete, "that shows they kep' +closer tabs on us then we knew. I reckon they was scared to follow us +to Rosario, thinking, like we did, that the regulars was there. Waal, +that was a neat little surprise party, but it didn't work." +</P> + +<P> +Round the curve they tore, at a hair-raising gait, but the engine stuck +to the metals. Ten minutes later a cheer went up, as the red-brick +station, which they knew must mark the Esmeralda switch, came in sight. +</P> + +<P> +"I got the switch key from Whiting," cried Buck, as they reached the +switch, "I'll throw it." +</P> + +<P> +He swung himself down from the cab, and ran rapidly ahead, down the +track, to the switch lever. As he bent over it, from a clump of bushes +near by, there leaped a score or more of men. +</P> + +<P> +"Buck! Buck!" yelled Coyote Pete. +</P> + +<P> +The big fellow looked up just in time. The foremost of his attackers +was upon him as he threw the switch over. Buck picked him up, and +fairly pitched the little Mexican over his head. The man fell in a +heap at one side of the track. +</P> + +<P> +"Come ahead!" bawled Buck, while the others hesitated and held back. +</P> + +<P> +Ralph started the engine up, and it rolled toward the switch points. +This seemed to wake the hesitating Mexicans to life. With a yell, they +made a concerted rush for Buck, but, as they did so, Ralph pulled the +whistlecord, and the locomotive emitted an ear-splitting screech. The +Mexicans hastily jumped aside, to avoid being run down, while Buck made +a leap to exactly the opposite side of the track. As the engine puffed +by, he swung on. As he did so, however, one of the yellow men made a +spring for the switch. It was his evident intention to throw it, while +the engine was passing over it, and ditch them. +</P> + +<P> +But, before he could carry out his intention, Jack, who had seen what +was about to happen, had snatched up a hunk of coal. With all his +force, he aimed it at the fellow, and struck him fair and square on the +head. The would-be train-wrecker toppled backward with a groan, just +escaping the wheels of the engine. Before he gathered himself up and +realized what had hit him, the engine was roaring and puffing its way +up the grade to the Esmeralda. +</P> + +<P> +"That shows us what we may expect at the mine," commented Jack. "I +hope they are still all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry about that, boy," comforted Buck, noting his troubled +face. "The fact that Madero had his men along the line shows that he +anticipated our game—like the shrewd ruffian he is. It stands to +reason he couldn't have his precious squadron, or column, or whatever +he calls it, in two places at once, so I guess we'll be in time yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so, I'm sure," breathed Jack. "If we failed now, it would be +the bitterest moment of my life." +</P> + +<P> +But, as they came in sight of the tall stockade and the smokeless +chimneys of the Esmeralda, they saw that their apprehensions were +groundless. No sign of life appeared about the mine buildings. But +presently, in answer to a long blast on the whistle, a strange figure +came toddling out of the gate. It was that of Geisler. As he saw the +engine, with its load of friendly faces, he broke into a cheer, and ran +toward the track side. +</P> + +<P> +"Hoch! Hoch! Hoch!" he yelled, waving his china-bowled pipe about his +head. "Diss iss der bestest thing I've seen since I had idt der +Cherman measles, alretty yet." +</P> + +<P> +As the brakes ground down, and with a mighty exhalation of steam and a +sigh from the air-brakes, the locomotive came to a stop, Jack leaped +from the cab and ran toward the German. To his astonishment, Geisler +almost recoiled as he drew near, and uttered a shout. +</P> + +<P> +"Donner blitzen! I voss righdt den, idt vos a trap dot dose rascals +laid." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean, Mr. Geisler? Where is my father?" gasped Jack, all +in one breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Himmel!" sputtered the German. "Oh, diss is an onloocky day, py +chiminy. A young feller rode it to der mine, early to-day, undt told +your fader dot you vos wounded, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"My father went with this fellow?" demanded the boy, his eyes blazing +with eagerness and anxiety. +</P> + +<P> +"Ches. He thought dot idt vos all righdt, und——" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a trick of Madero's to rush the mine!" exclaimed Buck, who, with +the others, came up as the German was ejaculating the last words. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot is vot I dink idt. Listen." +</P> + +<P> +Forthwith the German launched into a detailed report of what had +occurred, not omitting a full description of Harding, which was +instantly recognized by the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Harding, the scoundrel!" exclaimed Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to get my hands on him for just five minutes," breathed Walt +viciously. +</P> + +<P> +Buck and the others, who were, of course, familiar with what had +occurred to the boys with Madero's column, were also incensed. +</P> + +<P> +"Such men should be hanged!" exclaimed the professor, with what was for +him, a remarkable display of emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"Budt come," urged the German, as he concluded his narrative, "vee hadt +better be getting inside der stockade." +</P> + +<P> +He pointed down toward the miners' village, where men could be seen +hastening about, as if preparing to take action of some sort. What +that action was, they guessed too well. Acting in concert with Madero, +they meant to storm the mine, and break open the specie room. +</P> + +<P> +Ralph ran the locomotive upon a switch and locked the throwing lever. +Then he followed the others through the gate of the stockade. As it +closed behind them, Geisler let fall a stout wooden bar into sockets +prepared for it. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess dot holdt dem for a viles," he said, as the bar clattered into +position. +</P> + +<P> +But Jack's thoughts were distracted, and his manner absorbed. His mind +was fixed upon Harding's rascality, and the probable dilemma in which +his father now was. Buck Bradley noticed the boy's despondent air, and +sought to cheer him up. +</P> + +<P> +"Brace up, Jack," he roared in his hearty way, "your pop is all right. +According to my way of thinking, those greasers just lured him away +from here, so that they could have easy access to the specie room. +They knew that if he was on the ground, he'd blow up the whole +shooting-match before he'd let them get at the gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you don't think they have harmed him, Mr. Bradley?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not they, my lad," was the reassuring rejoinder, "they wouldn't dare +to injure a prominent American like your dad. Why, our troops are all +massed at San Antone—for manoeuvers, the department says—but as +surely as my name is Buck Bradley, the troops are there to see that the +greasers don't get too fresh. You see, Jack, Uncle Sam don't want to +mix in other folks' troubles. He believes in playing in his own back +yard, but when any one treads on your Uncle's toes, or injures one of +his citizens—then, look out for high voltage shocks." +</P> + +<P> +"You have relieved my mind a whole lot, Mr. Bradley," said Jack +gratefully. "I guess it's as you say. Madero and his crowd wouldn't +want to run the risk of an American invasion." +</P> + +<P> +"You can bet a stack of yaller chips on that, boy. But now, let's +follow this Dutchman around and see what the lay of the ground is. If +we've got to put up a scrap—and I guess we have—it's a long move in +the right direction to have your surroundings sized up accurate. By +the way, is this fellow Geisler all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"My father thinks he is the most faithful and capable mining super in +the country," answered Jack warmly. "I guess he is, too. I only met +him once before on a former visit to the mine, but he sort of inspires +me with confidence." +</P> + +<P> +"Same here, Jack. I tell you the Dutch kin raise some Cain when they +get going, and that fellow looks to me like one of the right brand." +</P> + +<P> +Thus talking, they came up with the others. Geisler was explaining +volubly his plan of defense. Buck Bradley interrupted him. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with boring some holes all around the stockade?" he +asked. "We can fire from behind them if it's necessary, without +exposing ourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"Buck, that's a great idea," declared Pete, whose eyes were shining at +the thought of what he termed "some action." "Got a brace and bit, +Geisler?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. Ve-e haf a whole barrel of braces and bitters," was the +response, as the corpulent Teuton hastened off to get the tools. +</P> + +<P> +At the part of the stockade at which they now were standing a ladder, +used in some repairing job, still leaned against the high, wooden +fence. Coyote Pete, struck by a sudden idea, clambered up it, and +gazed over the top of the defensive barricade. As his head topped the +summit, he gave a shout and rapidly ducked. At the same instant a +sound, like the hum of an angry bee, buzzed above their heads. +</P> + +<P> +"A bullet!" gasped Buck Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"That's wot, pod'ner," rejoined Pete, "and it's the first of a whole +flock of such like. The country off to the southwest is jest alive +with insurrectos!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ATTACK ON THE MINE. +</H3> + + +<P> +Flinging his legs over each side of the ladder, Coyote Pete slid to the +ground like a boy sliding down a cellar door. +</P> + +<P> +"I could catch the glint of sunlight on their rifles," he explained. +"The beggars were trying to approach unseen, though, I guess, for they +were sneaking round a neck of woods so as to take advantage of that +arroyo that runs almost up to the mine. Better get busy with that +borer." +</P> + +<P> +And "get busy" they did. Holes were rapidly bored in the stockade, the +apertures being of sufficient size to accommodate comfortably the +muzzle of a rifle. Above each such hole another was bored, to enable +the defenders to see the position of their foes. Although this work +took more than an hour, there was still no sign of the enemy. But they +evidently had a close watch kept on the mine, for a hat elevated on a +long stick above the top of the stockade was promptly riddled with +bullets. +</P> + +<P> +"Jingo!" gasped Jack. "Those fellows mean business." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you suppose they are going to do?" Walt asked Buck Bradley. +The stout showman looked grave. +</P> + +<P> +"This hanging back looks bad," he rejoined. "I guess they are waiting +till dusk so as to try and catch us unprepared. Evidently they figger +they've got us where they want us, and there is no use being in a rush +about finishing us up." +</P> + +<P> +Buck's words were grim, but his expression was grimmer yet. The former +ranch boss had been in many a tough place in his day, but revolving the +situation in his mind he could not call to recollection any more +dangerous circumstances than those in which he now found himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Bottled and corked," was the way he expressed it to Coyote Pete, who +fully shared his apprehensions. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately, behind the office of the mine, there was a small room well +stocked with rifles and ammunition. This was wise precaution of Mr. +Merrill's, who, knowing the Mexican character to a T, had insisted on +this room being provided in case of strikes or other difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +The store of arms was drawn upon freely, and each of the defenders had +a spare rifle at his side. The weapons were piled by their respective +holes while the besieged awaited the attack. But a hasty dinner was +prepared on the coal-oil stove Of the office, and eaten and digested +before there came any move on the part of Madero's men. +</P> + +<P> +Through the peep-holes a casual inspection showed nothing outside but +the hillside sloping away from the mine, with here and there a clump of +bushes or small, scrubby trees. But every once in a while the grass +would stir, or a clump of bushes would be agitated strangely, as some +concealed form crept up yet closer to the stockade. Evidently, as Buck +had said, the intention of Madero was to "rush" the place. +</P> + +<P> +The mining village now seemed deserted, except for a few forms of women +and children which could be seen flitting about. Evidently most of the +men had joined the insurrectos, hoping to have a share in the loot when +the time came. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Geisler!" exclaimed Buck Bradley suddenly, "got any steam in the +boiler?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ches. Aboudt forty or fifty pounds. Der fires vos banked. Pud vy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothing. I've just got a little plan in my head. Now, Jack, +suppose you and I take a little run to the boiler room and look about +us a bit." +</P> + +<P> +The boy was glad of anything to do to relieve the tension of waiting +for the attack that didn't come. He gladly accompanied the +self-reliant Westerner to the boiler house. They found, as Geisler had +said, that in one of the boilers steam was still up. +</P> + +<P> +"Now let's take a look around here, sonny," said Buck, glancing about +the walls as if in search of something. "Ah! Here we are, that will +do." +</P> + +<P> +He pounced on a big reel of fire hose attached to the wall, as he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine! Couldn't be better," he continued, as he rapidly unwound it. +"Why, there must be fifty feet or more here. Now let's see. Where is +the blow-off valve of this boiler?" +</P> + +<P> +"This is it, isn't it?" asked Jack, indicating a valve, with +wheel-controlled outlet near the base of the boiler. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it. Now then for a monkey wrench and then we are all ready to +give those greasers the surprise of their lives in case they try an +attack upon this side of the stockade." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going——" +</P> + +<P> +That was as far as Jack got in his question. As the words left his +lips, there came from without the sharp sound of a shot. +</P> + +<P> +Bang! +</P> + +<P> +"Phew!" whistled Buck. "That's the overture. The performance is about +ter begin." +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, the members of the party left at the peep-holes by +Buck Bradley and Jack, had been trying their level best to obtain some +inkling of which side the insurrectos meant to storm first. But, for +all the sign the long, waving grass gave, or the bushes imparted, they +might as well have gazed at the sky. Had they not known that the +insurrectos were out there somewhere, they would have deemed the +hillside barren of life. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, however, as Coyote Pete's keen eye was sweeping the open +space before the stockade, the grass quite near at hand parted, and a +wiry little Mexican stepped out. +</P> + +<P> +It was a good evidence of the control that Madero exercised over his +men that this fellow, although he must have known he was placing his +life in deadly peril, advanced to within a few feet of the stockade +without a tremor. +</P> + +<P> +Apparently, judging from his expression, he was astonished that no +hostile demonstration came from within. But the defenders had no wish +to sacrifice life needlessly, and refrained from firing upon him. +Suddenly he halted, and raising his voice, cried out in Spanish: +</P> + +<P> +"Will you foolish gringoes surrender and give up the gold peaceably, or +must we attack the mine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did Madero tell you to ask that?" shouted Pete through his peep-hole. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; the general demanded that I should offer you this chance for your +lives." +</P> + +<P> +"Then tell the general, with our compliments, that if he thinks he'll +get Mr. Merrill's gold without a fight, he's up against the toughest +proposition he ever tackled." +</P> + +<P> +"As you will, señors. Adios!" +</P> + +<P> +With a wave of his hat, the Mexican ran speedily back down the +hillside, and dived into some bushes. The watchers of the stockade +were of the opinion that the wave of the hat was merely a bit of Latin +extravagance. They soon found out, however, that it had the +significance of a signal. For, as the fellow dropped into cover, the +grass became alive with human forms. Coyote Pete's finger, which had +been trembling upon the trigger, pressed it. +</P> + +<P> +Bang! +</P> + +<P> +It was the first shot of the desperate battle for the defense of the +mine, and the sound that had reached the two in the boiler house. +</P> + +<P> +The report was followed by a series of appalling yells from without the +stockade. Mexicans seemed to spring from every clump of grass and bit +of brush. It was amazing how they could have crept so close without +being detected. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't last five minutes!" gasped Walt, as he gazed out. The lad +fired grimly into the advancing rush, however, and the others stood to +their guns like veterans. Their cheeks were blanched under the tan, +though, and the corners of their mouths tightened. Each one of those +defenders realized the practical hopelessness of their positions. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, amid the besiegers' onrushing forms, appeared a figure +mounted upon a superb black horse. The animal curvetted and plunged as +the reports of the rifles of both sides rattled away furiously, but his +rider had him in perfect control. +</P> + +<P> +"There's Ramon, the scoundrel!" roared Pete, gazing at the defiant +figure. "I'll give him a shot for luck." +</P> + +<P> +But for once the plainsman's aim was at fault. The bullet evidently +did not even ruffle the former cattle rustler. +</P> + +<P> +"Ledt me try!" puffed the German ferociously. +</P> + +<P> +He fared no better. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! Und I thought I vos a goodt shot!" he exploded. +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't that," rejoined Pete superstitiously. "The Mexicans say that +Ramon bears a charmed life, and that only a silver bullet will ever lay +him low." +</P> + +<P> +Before the professor could make any comment Ramon was heard issuing +commands in a sharp voice. He seemed to have the direction of the +attack. Of Madero there was no sign, unless a small figure on a shaggy +pony, far to the rear, was that of the insurrecto leader. +</P> + +<P> +The result of Ramon's command was soon evident. The attackers had not +been prepared for so sharp a defense, and, anxious to lose as few men +as possible, Ramon had ordered them to drop once more into the grass. +</P> + +<P> +This was good strategy, as it was apparently only a matter of time +before the mine defenders would have to surrender, and it was little +use to sacrifice lives in a mad rush against their rifles. +</P> + +<P> +The attack had splintered the stockade in a score of places, but, +thanks to the toughness of the seasoned wood, the bullets that had +penetrated had lost most of their strength. Beyond a few scratches +from flying splinters, none of the defenders were injured. +</P> + +<P> +"What can they be up to?" wondered Pete, as half an hour passed and no +further sign came from the besiegers. +</P> + +<P> +Ramon's figure had now vanished. Perhaps he realized that the fangs of +their enemies were by no means drawn, and deemed it more prudent not to +take chances on the strength of his "charmed life." +</P> + +<P> +And so the time passed. The sun was well on his march toward the +western horizon before there came a move on the part of the enemy, and +when it did come it was a startling one. Taking advantage of every bit +of cover, the astute mestizos had crept around the stockade till they +were in a position exactly behind the defenders. So that, in fact, for +the last half hour, the alert rifles of Coyote Pete and his companions +had been covering emptiness. +</P> + +<P> +A yell as the attackers charged from the direction into which they had +covertly worked themselves apprised the besieged of what had happened. +Bitterly blaming his stupidity in not foreseeing such a move, Pete, +followed by the others, darted across the stockade. As they were +halfway across, however, a dozen or more heads appeared upon the +undefended top. +</P> + +<P> +The insurrectos had determined on a bold rush, and unmolested they had +succeeded in scaling the walls on each other's shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Good Lord!" groaned Pete, as he saw. +</P> + +<P> +Despair was in the countenances of the others, but, even as they halted +in dismay at what seemed certain annihilation, a strange thing happened. +</P> + +<P> +With a screaming, earsplitting roar, a white cloud swept from the +direction of the boiler house at the clustering forms on the top of the +stockade. +</P> + +<P> +It was a column of live steam that swept them from their perches, like +dried leaves before a wind. +</P> + +<P> +Buck Bradley's plan had worked with terrible effectiveness. Before the +rush of white-vapor the insurrectos melted away in a screaming, scalded +flurry. In less than two minutes after Jack had turned the steam on, +not a sign of them was to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +"Hooray!" yelled the boys, carried away by the sudden relief of the +strain when it had seemed that all was over. "Hooray! We win!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be premature!" admonished Buck gravely, as the column of steam +was shut off. "We ain't out of ther woods yet by a long shot. How +about it, Pete?" +</P> + +<P> +The old plainsman tugged his sun-bleached moustache viciously. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, boys," he declared emphatically, "them reptiles ain't begun ter +fight yet." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LAST STAND.—CONCLUSION. +</H3> + + +<P> +As the cow-puncher spoke, there came a sound from the direction of the +gate which was filled with sinister significance. +</P> + +<P> +Thud! Thud! +</P> + +<P> +It echoed hollowly within the stockade. Buck Bradley was quick to read +its meaning. +</P> + +<P> +"They've got a big log or suthin, and are busting in the gate!" he +cried. +</P> + +<P> +A shout of dismay went up from them all. As it so happened, there had +been no time to bore any holes near the gate, and the only way to delay +the work of battering it down would be to clamber to the fence top and +fire down into the insurrectos handling the battering ram. +</P> + +<P> +But it needed no second thought to show that this would be madness. At +the first appearance of a head above the stockade, they knew that half +a hundred rifles from without would pour a volley at it. It would not +take more than ten minutes to wipe out the whole garrison in this way. +</P> + +<P> +"Nope. We'll have to think of some other plan," decided Buck. It is +worthy of remark here that not one of the defenders of the mine had +ever even hinted at a surrender. This was not due so much to the fact, +as they knew, that it would only mean exchanging one form of death for +another, as it was to their grim determination to defend the mine at +whatever cost to themselves. It was the dogged American spirit that +prevailed at the Alamo. +</P> + +<P> +"Aha! I haf idt!" burst out Geisler suddenly, after a few minutes of +deep thought. "Dere is no hope uv safing dot gate?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not the least," Buck assured him. "They'll have it through in a few +minutes now." +</P> + +<P> +He pointed to the timbers which were already showing jagged cracks up +and down their entire length. +</P> + +<P> +"Veil," said the German, "der office uv der mine is made strong—oh +very strong, for behindt idt is der specie room. Ve can gedt by der +inside in dere and fire through der vindows. And as a last resort vee +can——" +</P> + +<P> +He paused. +</P> + +<P> +"We can what?" demanded Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Nefer mindt. I dell you later. Now is dot agreed upon?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's about all we can do, I guess," grunted Pete, "unless we stay here +to be shot down." +</P> + +<P> +"Den come mit me." +</P> + +<P> +The German rapidly led the way across the yard to the office building. +As he closed and barred the door, they noted that it was lined inside +with steel, strongly riveted to the oak. The windows also had steel +shutters, cleverly concealed, in cases into which they slid, from +casual view. In the windows, as well as in the door, were small +apertures for firing through. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's a regular fort!" exclaimed Ralph, as the shutters clanged to +with a harsh, grating sound. +</P> + +<P> +"You bet my life idt's a fort," agreed Herr Geisler, "undt ledt me tell +you dot you needt a fort ven you have a specie room by dis country." +</P> + +<P> +"Then the specie room is near us?" +</P> + +<P> +"In there." +</P> + +<P> +The German pointed over his shoulder at a door in the rear of the +office. +</P> + +<P> +"Idt is steel walled, undt dere is a combination lock on der door. +Even if dey should kill us all, dey still have a tough nut to crack." +</P> + +<P> +The German spoke calmly, and his blond features were absolutely +unruffled. No emotion appeared either on the weathered countenances of +Coyote Pete or Buck Bradley. The professor's face, though, was ashen, +but he uttered never a word. As for the boys, who shall blame them if +it is said that their hearts were beating wildly, their mouths felt +dry, and their brains throbbed. +</P> + +<P> +It was the last stand, and they all realized it. +</P> + +<P> +Unless help should come from an unforeseen source, they were bound to +perish miserably at the hands of the insurrectos. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, there was a great crashing, rending sound from without. +Instantly a chorus of wild yells arose on the air, and shots were fired +as if in exultation. +</P> + +<P> +"They've busted the gate!" exclaimed Buck. +</P> + +<P> +Peering through the apertures in the door and windows, they could see +the hoard come pouring into the yard of the mine. At first they came +cautiously. They evidently recollected the steam, and feared another +ambush. In a few minutes, however, their confidence returned. The +watchers could see a little man dart out from among the crowd and point +toward the specie room and the office structure. +</P> + +<P> +"The gold is within, my brothers!" he shouted in Spanish. +</P> + +<P> +"Bodderation tage dot feller," sputtered Geisler, "a veek ago he vos +der best vorkman ve hadt by der mine, undt now look at him." +</P> + +<P> +With a howl, the insurrectos charged on the hut. The lust of gold was +in their veins, and they minded the volley poured into them by the +defenders no more than if it had been so much rain. Several of them +fell, but it seemed to make no difference to the others. They charged +right up to the very doors of the place. Some of them even tore at the +walls as if they imagined they could demolish them and get at the +gringo gold. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot is vot goldt does for mens," philosophically remarked the German, +as he gazed at the onrush, firing methodically at the same time. +</P> + +<P> +Jack, Ralph, and Walt were at one of the windows, while the professor +and Coyote Pete defended the other. During the mad rush for the +office, they all did considerable execution, without, of course, any +cost to themselves. The Mexicans, to be sure, returned the fire +furiously, but their bullets "pinged" harmlessly against the steel +shutters, or buried themselves in the thick, wooden walls. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there came an angry shout from some one evidently in authority +among the insurrectos. Instantly the attack melted away, the +retreating men dragging their wounded with them. It was Jack's first +sight of real warfare, and it made his blood, as well as that of the +others, run cold. +</P> + +<P> +"Now what are they up to?" wondered Buck, as this sudden cessation of +activities came. +</P> + +<P> +"Search me," rejoined Coyote Pete, "but it's some deviltry, you can bet +on that—that voice was Ramon's. He's got a plan in his head to get us +out of here." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he'll have a man's-sized job on his hands," rejoined Buck, +calmly reloading the magazine of his rifle and running a cleaning rod +through the foul barrel. +</P> + +<P> +The others employed their time in the same manner. Thus they waited +for what seemed an interminable age. Still there was no sign of the +Mexicans. The yard without was empty of life. +</P> + +<P> +"If they don't show up in a few minutes, what say if we open the door +and make a rush for it?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"As good an idea as any," rejoined Buck, "but what I would like to know +right now is what they can be doing." +</P> + +<P> +"Queer, ain't it?" said Pete. +</P> + +<P> +They all agreed that it was, but not one could hit upon an explanation +that seemed plausible. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, Buck, who had been sniffing suspiciously for a few seconds, +gave a sharp exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you fellows smell anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"No——" began Jack, and then: +</P> + +<P> +"Good heavens, yes! Something's on fire!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed Pete, without a quaver in his voice. "The +varmints hev set fire to the building from the rear." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what!" rejoined Buck, "and we can't get within a mile of them. +I don't suppose there are any rifle holes in the specie room are there, +Mr. Geisler?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nodt a vun," rejoined the German, in a peculiar voice, and then they +noticed, in the gloomy light of the closed-up place, that his face was +ashen white. +</P> + +<P> +It was clear that the German was badly frightened. His knees seemed to +be knocking together, in fact. Small wonder, too. The sharp, acrid +smell of blazing wood was in the air now. They could hear the crackle +of the flames as they devoured the wooden outer walls of the specie +room. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, cheer up, my man," Buck admonished the quaking German. "Why +you've stood it all through like a major, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Idt ain't dot. Idt ain't dose mis-er-able creasers dot I'm afraid +of," rejoined the German in a quavering voice. +</P> + +<P> +"What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dot room behindt us contains, besides der specie, almost a ton of +dynamite!" +</P> + +<P> +"Great jumping wildcats!" +</P> + +<P> +The exclamation dropped from Buck's lips. The others were too +thunderstruck to utter a word. +</P> + +<P> +"There's only one thing to do," spoke up Pete, his words fairly +tumbling out of his mouth in his haste. "We must open the door and, at +a signal, make a rush for it. We may never get through, but it's +better than being blown up as we shall be if we remain here. The +insurrectos must have left their horses somewhere near at hand. Maybe +we can find them and escape." +</P> + +<P> +"It's one chance in a thousand!" exclaimed Jack. "But perhaps this +will be the thousandth time." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us pray so!" exclaimed the professor fervently. +</P> + +<P> +Buck had sprung to the door. His hand was on the bar. He knew, as did +they all, that there was not an instant to lose. Their lives hung by a +hair. At any moment the flames might reach the dynamite and +then—annihilation, swift and terrible. +</P> + +<P> +"Now!" he cried, dropping the bar. A strange light, not of fear but of +determination, gleamed in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Clang! +</P> + +<P> +The bar fell to the ground, and the besieged party dashed forth, firing +as they emerged. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, from without, and just as the insurrectos espied the daring +sortie, there came the shrill notes of a bugle. At the same instant a +ringing cheer came over the top of the stockade. +</P> + +<P> +What could it all mean? As if in a dream, the boys saw the insurrectos +picking up their rifles and rushing toward the gate. But before they +could reach it, a glorious sight greeted them. +</P> + +<P> +A regiment of regular Mexican cavalry, the men with their carbines +unslung, pouring a disastrous hail into the swarming insurrectos, +suddenly swung through the shattered gateway. +</P> + +<P> +Shouts and cries responded everywhere within the stockade. The +terrified insurrectos dropped their rifles and ran hither and thither +in mad, frenzied panic. It was every one for himself. Over the +stockade they clambered, many paying toll with their lives before the +carbines of Diaz's troopers. +</P> + +<P> +But in the midst of the turmoil a clear, boyish voice arose. +</P> + +<P> +"Back! Get back, for heaven's sake!" +</P> + +<P> +The officer of the Mexican regulars heard, and wheeled his men. He +recognized the thrill of warning in Jack Merrill's tones. +</P> + +<P> +Stumbling forward, the suddenly relieved party of Americans darted +toward the gate for their lives. On down the hillside they fled, with +the cavalry surging behind and about them. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it? What is the matter?" gasped the officer in English, as +Jack stumbled along at his side. +</P> + +<P> +The lad gasped out one word: +</P> + +<P> +"Dynamite!" +</P> + +<P> +Hardly had it fallen from his lips before the ground shook as if +convulsed with an earthquake. A red flame shot skyward behind them, +and a mighty, reverberating roar went rumbling and echoing over the +countryside. +</P> + +<P> +The flames had reached the explosive. +</P> + +<P> +Almost at the same instant a shower of embers, debris, and odds and +ends of all descriptions came showering about the retreating force. +Several were cut and bruised by the shower, but none seriously. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately, also, beyond causing several of the cavalry horses to bolt +in mad terror, no damage was done to the troops or our friends. The +situation was rapidly explained to the wondering officer whose name was +Captain Dominguez, in command of the force detailed to guard the +railroad. +</P> + +<P> +"We learned at Rosario that you had come to the mine," he said, in +explanation of the troops' opportune arrival, "and, knowing that Madero +was in the habit of raiding mines and was in the neighborhood, we made +top speed to the rescue." +</P> + +<P> +"And we're all mighty happy to meet you, you kin bet, captain," chimed +in Buck, "but ef yer hadn't arrived when you did, we would not have had +the pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I can see that," rejoined the young officer, gazing off down the +hillside. +</P> + +<P> +In every direction could be seen Mexican troopers pursuing rebels, +shooting them down, without mercy when fight was shown, in other cases, +making prisoners. The rout of the insurrectos was complete and final. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a figure on horseback was seen coming at a hard gallop toward +the little group surrounding Captain Dominguez. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Harding!" gasped Jack, as the figure drew closer, and indeed it +was the former West Pointer. But he was in sad case. His shirt was +torn almost from his back, his features blackened and seared, and a red +stain showed upon his chest. +</P> + +<P> +"He was in that explosion, the precious scoundrel!" grated out Buck, as +his eye took in these details. "He was one of the fellers that set +that fire." +</P> + +<P> +Straight for the little party Harding rode. But before he reached them +two Mexican troopers interposed. They raised their carbines and the +next moment would have been Harding's last, but for Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't let them fire!" he begged. +</P> + +<P> +The captain shouted an order and the troopers lowered their weapons. +Straight on for the party rode Harding, toppling out of his saddle as +he reached them. The fellow was badly wounded. He had been struck by +a flying splinter in the explosion of the dynamite. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, a countryman of yours," remarked the captain, with a tinge of +sarcasm. "You should be proud of him, señors." +</P> + +<P> +But Jack was on his knees beside Harding. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is my father, Harding? Tell me quick!" +</P> + +<P> +"I will," gasped out the wounded man. "Madero had him tied in that +grove yonder. He wished him to see the destruction of his mine, he +said, and——" +</P> + +<P> +The man fainted. Rascal as they knew him to be, the boys were soon +applying such remedies as they could—all but Jack, that is. The boy, +on Harding's pony, was off at lightning speed for the grove Harding had +indicated. As he entered it, he spied Mr. Merrill tied, as Harding had +said, to a tree. Of the meeting between father and son we prefer to +let each reader draw his own mental picture. +</P> + +<P> +"Merrill, forgive me!" breathed Harding, who had recovered from his +swoon a few moments after as Jack and his father came up from the grove. +</P> + +<P> +"I may forgive you, Harding," rejoined Jack, "but I can never forget." +</P> + +<P> +And forgive Jack did, as he showed by interceding for the man and +having him removed to a hospital near Rosario. Harding ultimately +recovered and of his further movements we have no knowledge. He fared +better, however, than Hickey, Divver and Rafter, who were captured by +the government forces and sentenced to death by a summary court-martial. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merrill rapidly explained that he had ridden ten miles or more from +the mine with Harding before he became suspicious. He then asked +Harding point blank where his son was, and the fellow's reply had been +to give a peculiar whistle. Thereupon several insurrectos had leaped +from the bushes and made the mine owner captive. As Harding had told +Jack, Madero, with fiendish cruelty, had tied him in the grove to +witness the annihilation of his own mine. +</P> + +<P> +After a short pause, during which restoratives were administered to the +almost exhausted Americans from the Mexican officers' field kit, they +headed for the mine to ascertain what damage had been done by the +explosion. Almost the first object that met their eyes as they neared +the stockade was a jagged break in the structure caused by a large +object that had come crashing down upon it. On closer view this proved +to be the steel safe in which the gold had been placed. On opening the +receptacle, everything was found intact, a fact which the makers of the +safe are now using as a testimonial, as you may have noticed as you +passed their Broadway store. The testimonial is signed by Conrad +Geisler, who is now Mr. Merrill's partner. +</P> + +<P> +Well, there is not much more to tell of this part of the Border Boys' +adventures. As it may be of interest, however, to relate the further +history of the underground river and the Haunted Mesa, we shall set it +down here. Ramon escaped from the general disaster to the insurrectos +at the Esmeralda Mine, and apparently rode straight from there to the +mouth of the underground river he had long used to such good advantage. +At any rate, when the boys visited it later, they found that a +cunningly set explosion had completely blocked the passage for +navigation, and the secret route of the forgotten race was forever +closed to man. As for the Mesa, you can read all about it +scientifically described in Professor Wintergreen's monograph on the +subject. +</P> + +<P> +The ponies and the redoubtable One Spot, Two Spot, and Three Spot were +located at the Mesa, where they had been left in charge of Ramon's men. +All were fat and in good condition, and Firewater was very glad to see +his young master again. +</P> + +<P> +By the way, Bill Whiting is now stationed in charge at the important +railroad center of El Paso. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +"Wall," remarked Pete, as they rode toward the ranch one evening, "I +guess things 'ull be quiet now fer a while." +</P> + +<P> +"Hope so," rejoined Buck Bradley. "I wired Stow ter bring my show ter +Maguez and you can all have free passes." +</P> + +<P> +Jack thanked the genial showman on behalf of his companions, and then +reminded him that Ramon was still at large, although the insurrectos +were almost subjugated. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, consarn that pesky critter with the finest horse I ever set eyes +on,—and while he's alive ther'll be no peace along the border." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed Pete. "He's a natural born trouble-maker. But +I guess so far as we are concerned we are through with him." +</P> + +<P> +But Coyote Pete, accurate as were his usual judgments, was wrong in +this. Black Ramon and his horse will figure again in these stories, +and it will then be seen how the boys finally brought him to book for +his misdeeds. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +The shadows are falling over the plains and the foothills are purpling +in the clear twilight of the southwest. In the sunset sky the bright +lone star of evening glimmers. Let us now say good night and good luck +to the Border Boys till we meet them again in a new volume of their +adventures to be called: "THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 19083-h.txt or 19083-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/0/8/19083</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Deering + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Border Boys Across the Frontier + + +Author: Fremont B. Deering + + + +Release Date: August 19, 2006 [eBook #19083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE +FRONTIER*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 19083-h.htm or 19083-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083/19083-h/19083-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083/19083-h.zip) + + + + + +THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER + +by + +FREMONT B. DEERING + +Author of + "The Border Boys on the Trail," + "The Border Boys with the Mexican Rangers," + "The Border Boys with the Texan Rangers," + "The Border Boys in the Canadian Rockies," + "The Border Boys Along the St. Lawrence." + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher +pointed out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa.] + + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers ---------- New York +Copyright, 1911, by +Hurst & Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE TRAIL OF THE HAUNTED MESA + II. THE SAND STORM + III. A NIGHT ALARM + IV. SOME QUEER TRACKS + V. THE HOLLOW ALTAR + VI. THE LEGEND OF A FORGOTTEN RACE + VII. WHAT CAME ACROSS THE DESERT + VIII. THE DARK FACE OF DANGER + IX. IN THE MESA DWELLERS' BURIAL GROUND + X. A NEW MEXICAN STYX + XI. THE CAMP OF THE GUN-RUNNERS + XII. MADERO'S FLYING COLUMN + XIII. IN THE CAMP OF THE INSURRECTOS + XIV. "DEATH TO THE GRINGOES!" + XV. A RACE FOR LIFE + XVI. WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE + XVII. BOB HARDING DOES "THE DECENT THING" + XVIII. THE TABLES TURNED + XIX. BUCK BRADLEY'S AUTOMOBILE + XX. AT THE ESMERALDA MINE + XXI. AN ACT OF TREACHERY + XXII. AT ROSARIO STATION + XXIII. JACK MERRILL'S "SPECIAL" + XXIV. THE ATTACK ON THE MINE + XXV. THE LAST STAND.--CONCLUSION + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"Right off there! Look! Look!" The lanky cow puncher pointed out +beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +As it flared up, all three recoiled with expressions of dismay. At +their very feet was a deep chasm. + +A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. Almost before they +realized it, they had swung around the curve. + + + + +The Border Boys Across the Frontier. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE TRAIL OF THE HAUNTED MESA. + +"Can you make out any sign of the mesa yet, Pete?" + +The speaker, a sun-bronzed lad of about seventeen, mounted on a bright +bay pony with a white-starred forehead, drew rein as he spoke. Shoving +back his sombrero, he shielded his eyes from the shimmering desert +glare with one hand and gazed intently off into the southwest. + +"Nope; nary a speck, so fur. Queer, too; we ought to be seein' it by +now." + +Coyote Pete, as angular, rangy and sinewy as ever, gazed as intently in +the same direction as the lad, Jack Merrill, himself. The pause +allowed the remainder of the party to ride up. There was Ralph +Stetson, a good deal browner and sturdier-looking than when we +encountered him last in "The Border Boys on the Trail"; Walt Phelps, +the ranch boy, whose blazing hair outrivaled the glowing sun; and the +bony, grotesque form of Professor Wintergreen, preceptor of Latin and +the kindred tongues at Stonefell College, and amateur archaeologist. +Lest they might feel slighted, let us introduce also, One Spot, Two +Spot and Three Spot, the pack burros. + +"I always had an idea that the Haunted Mesa formed quite a prominent +object in the landscape," put in Professor Wintergreen, referring to a +small leather-bound book, which he had just taken from one of his +saddle-bags. + +"And I always had an idea," laughed Ralph Stetson, "that a landscape +meant something with brooks and green trees and cows and--and things, +in it." + +The young son of "King Pin" Stetson, the Eastern Railroad King, looked +about him at the gray desert, above which the sun blazed mercilessly +down with all the intensity of a burning glass. Here and there were +isolated clumps of rank-odored mesquite, the dreariest looking +gray-green bush imaginable. The scanty specimens of this variety of +the vegetable life of the desert were interspersed here and there by +groups of scraggly, prickly cacti. Across such country as this, the +party had been making its way for the past day and a half,--ever since, +in fact, they had left behind them the foothills of the Hachetas, +where, as we know, was located the ranch of Jack Merrill's father, and +had entered the dry, almost untravelled solitudes of the Playas. + +Jack Merrill consulted a compass that was strapped to his wrist. + +"Well, we're keeping steadily in the right direction," he said. +"Nothing for it but to keep on going; eh, Pete?" + +"When yer cain't turn back, 'keep on goin's' a good word," assented the +philosophical cow-puncher of the Agua Caliente, stroking his +sun-bleached yellow moustache and untangling a knot in his pony's mane. + +"It's up to us to get somewhere where there is water pretty quick," put +in Walt Phelps; "the last time I hit the little drinking canteen I +noticed that there wasn't an awful lot left in the others." + +"No, and the stock's feelin' it, too," grunted Pete, digging his big, +blunt-roweled spurs into his buckskin cayuse. + +Followed by Jack on his Firewater, the professor on his queer, bony +steed as angular as himself, Ralph on Petticoats--of exciting +memory,--and Walt Phelps on his big gray, they pushed on. + +The heat was blistering. In fact, to any one less accustomed to the +arduous intensity of the sun's rays in this part of the country, it +would have proved almost insupportable. But our party was pretty well +seasoned by this time. + +All of them wore the broad, leather-banded sombreros of the plainsmen +except Professor Wintergreen, who had invested himself in a gigantic +pith sun-helmet, from beneath which his spectacled countenance peered +out, as Ralph said, "Like a toad peeking out from a mushroom." For the +rest, the boys wore leather "chaps," blue shirts open at the neck, with +loosely knotted red handkerchiefs about their throats. The latter were +both to keep the sun off the back of their necks and to serve as +protection for their mouths and nostrils against the dust in case of +necessity,--as for example, when they struck a patch of burning, biting +alkali. Of this pungent stuff, they had already encountered one or two +stretches, and had been glad to muffle up the lower part of their faces +as they rode through it. + +As for Coyote Pete, those who have followed his earlier experiences are +pretty familiar with that redoubtable cow-puncher's appearance; suffice +it to say, therefore, that, as usual, he wore his battered leather +"chaps," faded blue shirt, and his big sombrero with the silver stars +affixed to the stamped leather band. In a holster he carried a rifle, +as did the rest of the party, as well as his well-worn revolver. The +others had provided themselves with similar weapons, although theirs +glittered in blatant newness beside Pete's battered, but well-cleaned +and oiled, "shootin' iron." + +While they are pressing onward, with the Hachetas lying like a dim, +blue cloud far behind them, let us tell the reader something about the +quest that brings our party into the midst of this inhospitable place. +As readers of "The Border Boys on the Trail" know, Professor +Wintergreen had accompanied Jack Merrill and Ralph Stetson from +Stonefell College, some weeks before, to spend a vacation on the Agua +Caliente Ranch, belonging to Jack's father. The professor, as well as +being on a vacation, was in a sense on a mission, for he bore with him +the commission of a well-known institute of science in the East to +investigate some of the mesas of this part of the world, and also to +procure relics and trophies of the vanished race that once inhabited +them, and accurate measurements of the strange formations. + +Since their arrival at the ranch, some weeks before, events had so +shaped themselves as to render the immediate undertaking of his mission +impossible. The descent of Black Ramon de Barros on the ranch, as we +have related, and the subsequent abduction of the boys to the old +Mission across the border, had so fully occupied their attention, that +all thought of the professor's errand had been lost sight of. + +With Black Ramon, thanks to the boys, forever banished from his +cattle-rustling raids, and the subsequent tranquility of routine life, +had come a recollection of the professor's quest. Coyote Pete, a few +days before this story opens, had volunteered to act as guide to the +professor and his party to a mesa seldom visited except by wandering +Indians and occasional cow-punchers. This was the Haunted Mesa, the +location of which was so difficult to reach that previous relic-hunting +expeditions had not included it in their travels. + +Mr. Merrill was the more willing to allow the boys to go along, as he +had been suddenly summoned into Chihuahua province, in Mexico, by +reports of trouble at a mine--The Esmeralda--he owned there. Rumors of +an insurrection had reached him--an insurrection which meant great +peril to American interests. He had, therefore, lost no time in +setting out to ascertain the true state of affairs at his mine, which, +while a small one, was still likely to develop in time into an +extremely valuable property. + +Leaving the ranch in charge of Bud Wilson, he had started for the +Mexican country without waiting for the departure of the professor's +expedition. A short time later, "Professor Wintergreen's Haunted +Mesans," as the boys insisted on calling themselves, had likewise +started on their quest. With them, at Jack Merrill's invitation, went +Walter Phelps, the son of a ranching neighbor of Mr. Merrill. Walt, it +will be recalled, had shared the perils and adventures of the boys +across the border, as related in the previous volume, and had been the +instrument of piloting them out of the mysterious valley in which Black +Ramon kept his plundered herds. + +Mr. Merrill's last words had been ones of caution. + +"Remember, boys, that if this trouble in Mexico attains real +proportions, life and property along the border may be in great danger. +In such a case, it will be your immediate duty to turn back." + +"But, Dad," Jack had said, "you don't expect that plundering +insurrectos would have the audacity to come northward into the Playas?" + +Mr. Merrill laughed. + +"I didn't say there was any danger even here, my boy. Least of all, +out in that barren country. If there is an insurrection, it will +doubtless be put down without any trouble, but it is always well to be +prepared." + +Like his brother ranchers along the border, Mr. Merrill at that time +had no idea of the seriousness or extent of the insurrection. Had he +had, he would, of course, have prohibited the party leaving the ranch. +As it was, he, in common with his neighbors, deemed the insurrection +simply one of those little outbreaks that occur every now and again in +Mexico, and which hitherto had been promptly squashed by Diaz's army. +And so, with no real misgivings, the party had bidden the bluff, +good-natured rancher good-by, little dreaming under what circumstances +they were to meet again. + +But all this time we have been allowing our party to travel on without +bestowing any attention upon them. As the afternoon wore on, Coyote +Pete began to feel real apprehension about reaching their destination +that evening. Walt Phelps' fear about the water had been verified. +The supply was getting low. Provided they could "pick up" the mesa +they were in search of before sundown, however, this was not so serious +a matter as might have been supposed. Coyote Peter knew that there was +a well at the mesa, the handiwork of the ancient desert-dwellers. + +The really serious thing was, that although they had apparently been +traveling in the right direction, they had not yet sighted it. The +cow-puncher knew, though he did not tell his young companions so, that +they should long since have spied its outlines. Of the real +seriousness which their position might shortly assume, the boys had as +yet, little idea. Coyote Pete was not the one to alarm them unless he +was convinced it was really necessary. + +Suddenly, Jack, who had been riding a little in advance of the rest, +gave an exclamation and pointed upward at the sun. + +"Say, what's the matter with the sun?" he exclaimed. + +"Sun spots, I suppose," put in Ralph Stetson jokingly. + +"I see what you mean," spoke up the professor; "it has turned quite +red, and there seems to be a haze overcasting the sky." + +"It's getting oppressive, too," put in Walt Phelps. "What's up, Pete?" + +The cow-puncher had, indeed, for some time been noticing the same +phenomenon which had just attracted their notice, but he had hesitated +to draw their attention to it. Now, however, he spoke, and his voice +sounded grave for one of Pete's usually lively temperament. + +"It means that ole Mar'm Desert is gettin' inter a tantrum," he +grunted, "and that we're in an almighty fix," he added to himself. + +"Is it going to rain?" inquired Ralph Stetson, as it grew rapidly +darker. + +"Rain?" grunted Pete. "Son, it don't rain here enough to cover the +back uv a dime, even if you collect all the water that fell in a year. +No, siree, what's comin' is a heap worse than rain." + +"An electric storm?" queried the professor. + +"No, sir--a sand storm," rejoined the cow-puncher bluntly. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE SAND STORM. + +As he spoke, a queer, moaning sort of sound, something like the low, +distant bellow of a steer in pain, could be heard. The air seemed +filled with it. Coming from no definite direction, it yet impregnated +the atmosphere. The air, too, began noticeably to thicken, until the +sun, from a pallid disc--a mere ghost of its former blazing self--was +blotted out altogether. A hot wind sprang up and swept witheringly +about the travelers. + +"Ouch!" exclaimed Ralph Stetson suddenly. "Something stung me!" + +"That's the sand, son," said Coyote Pete. "The wind's commencin' ter +drive it." + +"Is it going to get any worse?" inquired the professor anxiously. + +"A whole lot, afore it gits any better," was the disconcerting reply. + +"What'll we do, Pete?" asked Jack, turning to the cow-puncher. + +It had now grown so dark that he could hardly see Pete's face. It was +hot, too, with a heavy, suffocating sort of heat. The wind that drove +the myriads upon myriads of tiny sand grains now darkening the air, was +ardent as the blast from an opened oven-door. + +"Get your saddles off, quick! Lie down, and put your heads under 'em," +ordered the cow-puncher, briskly swinging himself out of his saddle as +he spoke. + +The others hastened to follow his example. It was not a minute too +soon. Already their mouths were full of gritty particles, and their +eyes smarted as if they had been seared with hot irons. The ponies +could hardly be induced to stand up while the process of unsaddling was +gone through. As for the burros, those intelligent beasts had thrown +themselves down as soon as the halt was made. With their heads laid as +low as possible, and their hind quarters turned to the direction of the +hot blast, they were as well prepared to weather the sand storm as they +could be. + +The instant the saddles were off the ponies, down they flopped, too, in +the same positions as their long-eared cousins. The bipeds of the +party made haste to follow their animals' example, only, in their case, +their heads were sheltered as snugly as if under a tent, by the big, +high-peaked, broad-flapped Mexican saddles. + +It was well they had made haste, for, as Pete had said, the sand storm +was evidently going to get "a whole lot worse before it got better." +The air grew almost as black as night, and the wind fairly screamed as +it swept over them. Jack could feel little piles of sand drifting up +about them, just as driven snow forms in drifts when it strikes an +obstruction. How hot it was under the saddles! The boys' mouths felt +as if they would crack, so dry and feverish had they become. + +"Oh, for a drink of water!" thought Jack, trying in vain to moisten his +mouth by moving his tongue about within it. + +All at once, above the screaming of the wind, the lad caught another +sound--the galloping of hoofs coming toward them at a rapid rate. For +an instant the thought flashed across him that it was their own stock +that had stampeded. He stuck his head out to see, braving the furious +sweep of the stinging sand. + +He withdrew it like a tortoise beneath its cover, with a cry that was +only half of pain. Through the driving sand he had distinctly seen +three enormous forms sweep by, seen like dim shadows in the gloom +around. What could they have been? In vain Jack cudgeled his brains +for a solution to the mystery. + +The forms he had seen drift by had been larger than any horse. So +vague had their outlines been in the semi-darkness, however, that +beyond an impression of their great size, he had no more definite idea +of the apparitions. That they were travelling at a tremendous pace was +doubtless, for hardly had he sighted them before they vanished, and he +could not have had his head out of its shelter for more than a second +or so. + +While the lad lay in the semi-suffocation of the saddle, his mind +revolved the problem, but no explanation that he could think of would +fit the case. "Might they not have been wild horses?" he thought. + +But no,--these were three times the size of any horse he had ever seen. +Besides, their blotty-looking outlines bore no semblance to the form of +a horse. + +But presently something happened which put the thought of the +mysterious shadows out of his mind. The wind began to abate. To be +sure, at first it hardly seemed to have diminished its force, but in +the course of half an hour or so the party could once more emerge, like +so many ostriches, from their sand-piles, and gaze about them. + +Very little sand was in the air now, but it was everywhere else. In +their eyes, mouths, ears, while, if they shook their heads, a perfect +little shower of it fell all about them. The animals, too, struggling +to their feet out of the little mounds that had formed around them, +were covered with a thick coat of grayish dust. It was a sorry-looking +party. With red-rimmed eyes, cracked, parched lips and swollen +tongues, they looked as if they had been dragged through a blast +furnace. + +The sky above them now shone with its brilliant, metallic blue once +more, while ahead, the sun was sinking lower. In a short time it would +have set, and, as Ralph Stetson, in a choked voice, called for "Water," +the same thought flashed across the minds of all of them simultaneously. + +If they didn't get water pretty soon, their predicament promised to be +a serious one. + +An examination of the canteens showed that not much more than a gallon +remained. If only they could yet "pick up" the mesa before dark, this +would not be so serious a matter, but, situated as they were, it was +about as bad as bad could be. + +"Waal," said Pete, at length, stroking the last grains of sand out of +his bleached moustache, "waal, I reckon we might as well hang fer a +sheep as er lamb, anyhow. Ef we don't hit water purty soon, we'll be +thirstier yet, so we might as well fill up now." + +"Illogical, but sensible," pronounced the professor, leading an eager +rush for the water canteens, which were carried on the pack burros. + +"Here, hold on; that's enough!" cried Jack, as Ralph Stetson bent over +backward with the canteen still at his lips. + +"Why, I haven't begun to drink yet," protested Ralph. + +"Chaw on a bullet, son," advised Pete. "Thet's highly recommended for +the thirst." + +"Water suits me better," grumbled Ralph, nevertheless yielding the +canteen to Jack. The lad drank sparingly, as did Pete and the others. +Ralph, alone, of all the party, appeared not to realize how very +precious even the little water that remained might become before long. + +Refreshed even by the small quantity they had swallowed of the tepid +stuff, they remounted, and Pete clambered up upon his saddle. While +his pony stood motionless beneath him, he stood erect upon the leather +seat. From this elevation, he scanned the horizon on every side. Far +off to the southwest was sweeping a dun-colored curtain--the departing +sand-storm, but that was all. Otherwise, the desert was unchanged from +its previous aspect. + +"Let me hev a look at thet thar compass," said Pete, resuming a sitting +posture once more. + +Jack extended his wrist. + +"The compass is all right, I know," he said confidently. + +"And I know that we've bin hitting the right trail," declared Pete. +"Last time I come this way was with an old prospector who knew this +part of the country well enough to 'pick up' a clump of cactus. If +that compass is right, we're headed straight." + +"Yes--if," put in the professor. "But are you quite sure it is?" + +This was putting the matter in a new light. Not one of the party was +so ignorant as not to know that, in the many miles they had traveled, +the deflection of the needle, by even the smallest degree, might have +meant a disastrous error. + +"Why, I--I--how can it help being right?" asked Jack, a little +uncertainly. + +"Which side have you been carrying your revolver on?" asked the +professor. + +"Why, you know--on the left side," rejoined Jack, with some surprise. + +"And the compass on the left wrist?" + +"Yes. Why? Isn't it----" + +"No, it ain't!" roared Pete. "I see it all now, perfusser; that thar +shootin' iron has bin deflectin' ther needle." + +"I fear so," rejoined the professor. + +Under his direction, Jack moved the compass into various positions, and +at the end of a quarter of an hour they arrived at the startling +conclusion that they had travelled perhaps many miles out of their way. +The metal of the weapons Jack carried having, as they saw only too +clearly now, deflected the needle. + +"What an idiot I was not to think of such a possibility!" exclaimed +Jack bitterly. + +"Not at all, my boy," comforted the professor. "The same thing has +happened to experienced sea-captains, and they have navigated many +miles off their course before they discovered their error." + +"All of which, not bein' at' sea, don't help us any," grunted Pete. +"Suppose now, perfusser, that you jes' figger out as well as you kin, +how far wrong we hev gone." + +"It will be a difficult task, I fear," said the professor. + +"It'll be a heap difficulter task, ef we don't hit water purty soon," +retorted the cow-puncher. + +Thus admonished, Professor Wintergreen divested himself of his weapons, +and, taking out a small notebook, began, with the compass before him, +to make some calculations. At the end of ten minutes or so, he raised +his head. + +"Well?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"Well," rejoined the professor, "it's not as bad as it might be. We +are, according to my reckoning, about twenty-five miles farther to the +south than we should be." + +He consulted his notebook once more. + +"The bearings of the mesa require us to travel in that direction." He +indicated a point to the northward of where they were halted. + +"And it's twenty-five miles, you say?" asked Pete. + +"About that. It may be more, and again it may be less." + +"Waal, the less it is, ther better it'll suit yours truly. This stock +is jes' about tuckered." + +With the professor now bearing the compass, they set out once more, +this time taking the direction indicated by the man of science. + +"Suppose the professor is wrong?" Ralph whispered to Jack, as they +urged their almost exhausted cayuses onward. + +Jack shrugged his shoulders. + +"What's the use of supposing?" he said. + +It was sun-down, and a welcome coolness had begun to be noticeable in +the air, when Jack gave a shout and pointed directly ahead of them. + +"Look, look!" he cried. "What's that?" + +"That" was only a small purplish speck on the far horizon, but it broke +the monotony of the sky-line sharply. Coyote Pete scrutinized it with +keen eyes for a moment, narrowing his optics till they were mere slits. +Then-- + +"Give me the glasses, perfusser," he requested. Every one in the party +knew that their lives, or deaths probably, hung on the verdict of the +next few seconds, but Pete's slow drawl was more pronounced and +unperturbed than ever. He put the glasses to his eyes as unconcernedly +as if he were searching for a bunch of estrays. Presently he lowered +them. + +"Is--is it----?" began Jack, while the others all bent forward in their +saddles, hanging on the rejoinder. + +"It is," declared Pete, and he might have said more, but the rest of +his words were drowned in a ringing cheer. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A NIGHT ALARM. + +"How far distant do you imagine it is?" inquired the professor, as they +rode forward with their drooping spirits considerably revived. + +"Not more than fifteen miles--if it is that, 'cording ter my +calcerlations," decided Pete. + +"Then we should arrive there by ten o'clock to-night." + +"About that time--yep. That is, if none of ther stock give out +beforehand." + +"Why do they call it the Haunted Mesa?" inquired Jack. + +"Some fool old Injun notion 'bout ghosts er spirits hauntin' it," +rejoined Pete. + +"Just as well for us they have that idea," said Walt. "They'll give it +a wide berth." + +It flashed across Jack's mind at that moment to tell about the vague, +gigantic shapes he had seen flit by in the gloom of the sand-storm. +But, viewed in the present light, it seemed so absurd that the boy +hesitated to do so. + +"Maybe I was mistaken after all," he thought to himself. "There was so +much sand blowing at the time that I might very well have had a blurred +vision." + +The next minute he was doubly glad that he had refrained from telling +of his weird experience, for the professor, in a scornful voice, spoke +up. + +"Such foolish superstitions did exist in the ancient days, when every +bush held a spirit and every rock was supposed to be endowed with +sentient life. Happily, nowadays, none but the very ignorant credit +such things. By educated people they are laughed at." + +Pete, who was jogging steadily on ahead of the rest of them, made no +rejoinder. Ralph, however, spoke up. + +"What would you do, if you were to see a spirit, professor?" he +inquired, with an expression of great innocence in his round, plump +face. + +"I'd take after it with a good thick stick," was the ready reply. +"That is, always supposing that one _could_ see such a thing." + +Darkness fell rapidly. Night, in fact, rushed down on them as soon +almost as the sun sank behind the western rim of the desert. To the +south some jagged sierras grew purple and then black in the fading +light. Fortunately there was a moon, though the luminary of night was +in her last quarter. However, the silvery light added to the +brilliance of the desert stars, gave them all the radiance they needed +to pursue their way. + +The travelers could now perceive the outlines of the Haunted Mesa more +clearly. It reared itself strangely out of the surrounding solitudes, +almost as if it were the work of human hands, instead of the result of +long-spent geological forces. + +"Wish we were there now," breathed Ralph, patting his pony's sweating +forequarters, "poor old Petticoats is about 'all in.'" + +"It's purty hard to kill a cayuse," rejoined Pete. "I've seen 'em +flourish on cottonwood leaves and alkali water--yep, and git fat on it, +too. Be like a cayuse, my son, and adapt yourself to carcumstances." + +"Very good advice," said the professor approvingly, as the desert +philosopher concluded. + +As Pete had conjectured, the ponies were far from being as tuckered out +as they appeared, despite their sunken flanks and distended nostrils. +As the cool night drew on, and they approached more nearly to the +upraised form of the mesa, the little animals even began to prick their +ears and whinny softly. The pack animals, too, seemed to pluck up +spirits amazingly. + +"They smell grass and water," commented Pete, as he observed these +signs. + +Shortly after ten, as had been surmised, they were among the +bunch-grass surrounding the mesa. Striking such a spot after their +long wanderings on the hot desert, was delightful, indeed. Presently, +too, came to their ears the tinkling sound of flowing water. + +"It's the overflow from them old-timers' well at the base of the mesa," +pronounced Pete, listening. + +"Yes, and here it is," cried Jack, who had been riding a short distance +in advance, and had suddenly come across a small stream. + +The water was but a tiny thread, but it looked as welcome just then as +a whole lake. Cautioning the boys to keep their ponies back, Pete took +a long-handled shovel from one of the packs, and soon excavated quite a +little basin. While he had been doing this, the boys had had to +restrain their thirst, for the ponies were almost crazy with impatience +to get at the water. It required all the boys' management, in fact, to +keep them from breaking away and getting at the water. In the heated +condition of the little animals, this might have meant a case of +foundering. At last Pete let the thirsty creatures take a little +water, and afterward they were tethered to a clump of brush, while the +boys themselves assuaged their pangs. After their first ravenous +thirst was quenched--which was not soon--they took turns in dashing +water over each other's heads, removing the last traces of the +sand-storm. This done, they all declared that they felt like new +men,--or boys,--and a unanimous cry for supper arose. + +"Let me see, now," mused Pete, gazing up at the purplish, black heights +of the mesa above them, "as I recollect it, there's only one path up +thar. The good book says, foller the strait and narrer path, but it +don't say nothing about doing it in the dark, so I reckon that the best +thing we can do will be to camp right under that bluff thar, whar the +water comes out, till it gets to be daylight." + +This was agreed to be an excellent plan, and, accordingly, the stock +having been tethered out amidst the bunch-grass, the packs were +unloaded, and the work of getting a camp in shape proceeded apace. In +that part of New Mexico, although it is warm enough by day, nightfall +brings with it a sharp chill. It was decided, therefore, to rig up the +tents and sleep under their protection. The three canvas shelters of +the bell type were soon erected, and then, with mesquite roots, Coyote +Pete kindled a fire and put the kettle on. Supper consisted of corned +beef, canned corn and canned tomatoes, with coffee, hard biscuit and +cheese. + +"I'll bet we're the first folks that have eaten a meal here for many a +long day," said Jack, looking about him, after his hunger had been +satisfied. + +"It is, in all probability, fifteen hundred years or more since the +first inhabitants of this mesa dwelt here," announced the professor. + +"My! My! You could boil an egg in that time," commented Pete, drawing +out his old black briar and lighting it. He lay on one elbow and began +to smoke contemplatively. + +The others did not speak for a few moments, so engrossed were they with +the ideas that the professor had summoned up. Once, perhaps, this +dead, black, empty mesa above them had held busy, bustling life. Now +it stood silently brooding amid the desolation stretched about it, as +solitary as the Sphinx itself. + +The spot at which they were camped was the sheer, or cliff side of the +mesa. At the other side they knew, from Coyote Pete's description, +were numerous openings and a zig-zag pathway leading up to the very +summit. It was on this summit, which according to the most accurate +information obtainable had once been used for the sacrificial rites of +sun worship, that the professor expected to find the relics for which +he was searching. + +For an hour or two the lads discussed the dead-and-gone mesa dwellers, +with an occasional word from the professor, who was deeply read on the +subject. This was all so much Greek to Pete, who solemnly smoked away, +every now and then putting in a word or two, but for the most part +lying in silence, looking out beyond the black shadow of the mesa +across the moonlit desert toward the rocky hills to the south. + +Suddenly, the lanky cowboy leaped to his feet with a yell that +punctured the silence like a pistol-shot. In two flying leaps, he had +bounded clear over the professor's head, and was in among the tents, +searching for his pistol. Before one of the amazed group about the +fire could collect his senses at the sudden galvanizing of Coyote Pete, +he was back among them again. + +"Wow!" he yelled into the night, "come on, there, you, whoever you are! +Come on, I say! I'll give you a fight! Yep, big as you are, I ain't +skeered of you." + +"Pete! Pete! Whatever is the matter?" gasped Jack, who, with the +others, was by this time on his feet. + +"Matter?" howled Pete. "Matter enough. I do begin to think this place +shore is haunted, or suthin'. As I lay there, I felt suthin' tiptoeing +about behind me, and when I whipped suddenly round ter see if one of +the critters hadn't broken loose, what did I see but a great, big, +enormous thing, as big as a house, looking down at me. Afore I could +say a word, it was gone." + +"Gone!" echoed the others. "What was it?" + +"Wish you'd tell me," sputtered the cow-puncher, looking about him, and +still gripping his gun, "I never saw the like in all my born days." + +"Well, what did it look like?" + +"Hard to tell you," rejoined Pete. "It was as big as that." He pointed +right up at the moon. + +"As tall as the moon? Oh, come, Pete, you had dropped off and were +dreaming," laughed Ralph. + +"Who said it was as tall as the moon?" demanded the excited cow-puncher +angrily. "I only meant to convey to your benighted senses some idee uv +what it luked like." + +"Well, how high was it?" asked Jack, in whose tones was a curious note +of interest, for a reason we can guess. + +"About twenty feet, as near's I could judge. It had red eyes, that +glared like the tail-lamps of a train, and it spat fire, and it----" + +"Whoa! Whoa!" laughed Walt Phelps. "Now we know it was a nightmare, +Pete. The dream of a rarebit fiend. You ate too much crackers and +cheese at supper." + +"How was it we didn't see it?" asked Ralph, who had not spoken up till +now. + +"Why, you were lying with your back toward the direction it came from," +explained Pete. + +"An interesting optical delusion," declared the professor. "I must +make a note of it, and----" + +"Wow! There it goes ag'in." + +"Where? Where?" chorused the boys. + +"Right off there! Look! Look!" + +The lanky cow-puncher, fairly dancing about with excitement, pointed +out beyond the shadow of the solitary mesa. Sure enough, there were +three or four enormous, black, shadowy shapes, traveling across the +sands at a seemingly great speed. + +"Get your rifles, boys!" yelled Jack. + +The weapons lay handy, and in a jiffy four beads had been drawn on the +immense, vague shapes. + +But even as their fingers pressed the triggers, and the four reports +rang out as one, the indefinite forms vanished as mysteriously as they +had appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SOME QUEER TRACKS. + +The hour, the surroundings, and the utter mystery of the whole affair +combined to make the sudden appearance and vanishment of the great +shadowy shapes the more inexplicable, not to say alarming. Small +wonder was it that the inquiring faces that turned toward each other +were a trifle whiter than usual. + +"What do you make of it, Pete?" asked Jack. + +"Stumped, by the big horn spoon!" was the expressive response. + +"No doubt, some natural phenomena, with a simple explanation," came +from the professor. It was noted, though, that his angular form seemed +to be somewhat shivery as he spoke, and that his teeth chattered like +dice rattling in a box. + +"Natural phe-nothings!" burst out Pete. "The things, whatever they +was, were as solid as you or me." + +"How was it they didn't make any noise, then?" inquired Ralph, +practically. + +"Waal, son, you jes' take a run on the bunchgrass, and you'll see that +you won't make no racket, nuther." + +Ralph did as he was directed, and it was really wonderful how silently +he sped over the springy vegetation. + +"Maybe it was somebody putting up a scare on us," suggested Walt, +rather lamely. + +"They couldn't rig up anything as big as that," said Jack decisively, +"besides, there's another thing--I didn't tell you because I thought I +might have been mistaken, but I saw those same things this afternoon." + +"What?" went up in a perfect roar of incredulity. + +"Say, is this some kind of a josh?" asked Coyote Pete suspiciously. + +"Never more serious in my life," Jack assured him, and then went on to +relate the strange experience that had befallen him when he had poked +his head out from under the saddle in the sand-storm. + +"If they weren't so enormous, I should say they was horses," said Pete; +"but the biggest horses that ever growed never even approached them +critters--spooks, er whatever they are." + +"There are giants among men," suggested Walt, "why shouldn't there be +giants among spooks, too?" + +"You get to Halifax with that spook talk," said Coyote Pete scornfully. +"I'll bet my Sunday sombrero that whatever them things is, there's some +sore of human mischief back uv it. But what is it? Who put it up?" + +"Yes, and what for, and why?" laughed Jack. "I tell you, fellows," he +went on, "it's no use of our racking our brains to-night over this. +The best thing we can do is to set a watch. Then, if they come again, +we can try a shot at them. If not, why then in the morning we'll make +an investigation; eh?" + +"Durn good advice," grunted Coyote Pete. "Now, I'd suggest that ther +perfusser takes ther fust watch, and----" + +"No, no, my dear sir; really, I--I have a cold already. A-hem--ach-oo!" + +The man of science, it seemed, had really developed serious bronchial +trouble in record time. + +"Why, professor," said Jack mischievously, "haven't I heard you say +that you'd like a chance to investigate such a phenomenon as this?" + +"Hum, yes--yes, my young friend. I may have said so, yes. And any +other time I should be only too pleased to--Good Land! what's that?" + +With the agility of a grasshopper, the professor had jumped fully three +feet, as one of the pack-burros, nosing about behind him, accidentally +butted him in the small of his back. The others burst into a roar of +laughter, which they could not check. The professor, however, adjusted +his spectacles solemnly and looked about him with much dignity. + +"I thought I saw a book I had dropped, almost in the fire," he +explained glibly, "so I jumped to get it before a hot ember fell on it." + +"I had no idea you could jump like that, professor," laughed Jack. +"You should have gone in for athletics at Stonefell." + +It was finally decided that Walt and Ralph should stand the first +watch, and Coyote Pete and Jack the last part of the night. The +professor, after carefully drawing tight the curtain of his tent, "to +keep the cold out," as he explained, retired. Soon after, Jack and the +cow-puncher also went to bed till the watch should summon them to go on +duty in their turn. + +But the night passed without any reappearance of the strange shapes +which had so upset the tranquility of the little camp, and, viewed in +the fresh light of a new and glorious day, somehow the affair did not +seem nearly so ominous and awe-inspiring as it had the night before. +Breakfast, as you may imagine, was speedily disposed of, and, having +seen to the stock, the party started out to explore the mesa itself. + +As has been said, the side upon which they had camped the night before +was nothing but a sheer cliff. Under the guidance of Coyote Pete, they +now set out to encircle the strange precipitous formation. Their +hearts beat high, and their eyes shone with an aroused sense of +adventure as they strode along. + +The professor carried with him a small volume containing a partial +translation of the symbols and sign language of the ancient tribe whose +domains they were about to invade. Jack had a coil of stout, half-inch +manila rope, about two hundred feet in length. Walt Phelps' burden was +a shovel, while Ralph Stetson carried an axe. All bore with them their +revolvers, and Coyote Pete carried, in addition, a rifle. + +"Are you afraid of anything?" the professor had asked him, as he +noticed the sun-bronzed plainsman pick up this latter weapon. + +"Waal," Pete had rejoined, with a portentous wink at the boys, "you +never kin tell in this wale of tears what you're a-goin' up +aginst--queer shapes, fer instance." + +As they strode along, naturally the subject of the shadowy forms which +had alarmed them the night before arose. Jack would have liked to +investigate them right then and there, but, after all, he decided with +the rest of the party, that an exploration of the mesa was the first +thing of importance to be accomplished. And an interesting sight the +great abandoned aboriginal beehive, was, as they rounded the +inaccessible side and emerged upon the portion which faced toward the +northwest. + +Pete's recollection had not played him false. There was a rough +pathway constructed up its face upon this side, and at the top were +three tiers of holes bored in the rock face. These were evidently +intended for windows, as a larger aperture was just as evidently meant +for a door. The path, which zig-zagged up the face of the mesa was +about eight inches in width, not more, at its base, and varied--so far +as they could see from below--from that breadth to a foot, as it grew +higher. + +From the base to the summit the mesa was probably about one hundred and +fifty feet in height, the windows not commencing till within twenty +feet of the top. Its length at the base was, roughly, three hundred +feet, and its thickness varied from three hundred feet or more at the +center, to a few feet at each end. Roughly, then, its basic outline +was that of an irregular parallelogram, while its profile was that of a +flat-topped cone. For some moments the little group stood in silence +as they gazed up at the yellowish-gray walls of the once-active mound. + +Finally, recovering from their reverie, they set out after Coyote Pete +to scale the narrow pathway leading to the summit. But, as the +cow-puncher set his feet on the lowermost part of the path, he gave an +exclamation of astonishment and pointed downward. + +There in the dust was a footprint,--several of them, in fact. + +It was a startling discovery in that isolated part of the desert to +come upon the traces of human occupancy. Robinson Crusoe on his desert +island could not have looked any more astonished at the imprint of the +savage's sole, than did Coyote Pete. He stood looking down +speechlessly at his discovery, while the others crowded about him, +asking a dozen questions at once. + +"If the sand-storm had hit this section, we'd been able to form some +idee of how long ago them hoofs was planted there," said Pete; "but as +it is, ther feller who wondered how ther apple got in ther dumpling +didn't hev a harder problem than the nut we've got to crack." + +"There must have been several of them," said Jack, who had been gazing +in the dust, which lay thick on the pathway to the summit of the mesa. + +"A dozen at least," nodded Pete. He tipped back his sombrero and +scratched his ruffled hair, fairly at a standstill to account for what +they had encountered. + +"Mightn't it have been prospectors?" asked Ralph. + +"Might hev bin, yes," agreed Pete; "but, fer one thing, my son, +prospectors don't usually travel in dozens." + +"Hum--that's so," assented Jack, who at first had greeted Ralph's +suggestion eagerly. + +"Look here!" cried Ralph suddenly, holding up a glittering object which +he had just discerned in the bunch-grass at the base of the mesa. + +"What is it, my boy?" inquired the professor. + +Ralph extended the object for their inspection. + +"A strange coin," cried Walt. + +"Not so blamed strange, either," said Pete, picking it off the boy's +palm and examining it. "It's a Mexican peso." + +"Then the men who were here were Mexicans?" cried Jack. + +"Not so fast, my boy," admonished Pete. "Might as well say that every +feller who finds a Canadian dime in his pocket is a Kanuck. Say," he +suggested suddenly, "suppose you boys jes' see if you can find any +tracks around the base of the mesa." + +They scattered and looked carefully about them, but the bunch-grass +grew in quite a broad belt all about, and no footmarks could be +discerned. Nor did a careful examination of the grass show any broken +or trampled blades, as would have been the case had ponies been there +recently. + +"That decides it," announced Pete, after this last fact had been +ascertained, "whoever made those foot-marks wasn't here recent, that's +a fact. But who could they have been, and what brought them here?" + +"Maybe Indians," suggested Ralph sagely. + +"Yep, if Indians wore boots, which they don't," grinned Pete, while +poor Ralph colored to the roots of his hair over the general laugh that +arose at his expense. + +"I think," announced the professor finally, "that it would be our best +plan to go ahead exploring the mesa. After all, there is nothing here +that can hurt us. Those ruffians of Black Ramon's have been driven out +of the country, and, anyway, they would not be likely to come here. As +for Indians, their reservation is many miles to the north-east. +Whoever was here, was either on a scientific quest, like ourselves, or +else unfortunately lost in the desert." + +"Jes' ther same," grunted Pete, in a low voice that nobody overheard, +"I'd like ter know what all this means: Big, shadowy shapes flitting +around in ther night, and footsteps here in ther mornin'. It don't +look right." + +He took a swift glance all about him. In every direction lay the +desert--glittering, far-reaching, lonely as the open sea. The only +break in the monotony came to the south--on the border--where stretched +the rocky, desolate ridge. + +"No one wouldn't come here without an object," reasoned Pete to +himself, as they began the ascent of the narrow, tortuous trail, "now, +what in thunder could that objec' hev bin?" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE HOLLOW ALTAR. + +"Magnificent indeed!" + +The words, falling from the professor's lips, echoed hollowly against +the walls of the lofty, vaulted chamber in which the adventurers found +themselves, after traversing a narrow passage leading inward from the +causeway. + +The walls of this chamber, which must have been fully thirty feet in +height at its greatest altitude, were formed of the soft rock, out of +which it had been excavated apparently uncounted ages before. They +were daubed with grotesque figures in faded, but still discernible, +colors. Most of these figures had to do with scenes of violence, and +in almost all of them the figure of what appeared to be an enormous +rattlesnake, with human head and arms, predominated. + +Among the mural decorations were some that puzzled the professor +considerably. They were crude drawings of men in what appeared to be +intended for boats. The professor found these inexplicable. The very +idea of boats in that arid spot seemed absurdly out of place. Why, +then, should the mesa-dwellers have depicted them? + +Light was furnished to the chamber by an irregularly shaped hole in the +roof above. Although there was plenty of illumination, it had yet been +some moments before the adventurers, coming out of the brilliant +sunlight outside, grew used enough to the gloom to make out their +surroundings. When they did so, the first words uttered were those of +the professor recorded above. + +Like some queer, long-legged bird, the man of science, with a giant +magnifying glass held up to his eye, sped hither and thither on his +long, angular limbs, inspecting minutely the drawings and crude +attempts at decoration. Already he had out his tape-measure and +sketch-book, making observations and recording measurements. +Presently, however, he recalled himself from the first heat of his +enthusiasm. + +"After all," he said, "we shall have plenty of time in which to explore +this chamber, which seems to have been used as a council hall. Let us +examine the remainder of this remarkable place." + +"You may well call it that, perfusser," grunted Pete. "It's remarkable +fer the dust thet's in it, if nothing else. But what I'd like to +know," he added to himself, "is jes' whar the owners of them footsteps +vanished themselves to." + +Which brings us to a remarkable discovery, made a few moments before +our party had entered the "Council Hall," as the professor called it. + +As you may imagine, they had traced the footsteps with some care, +hoping to come upon a solution of the mystery of their origin. Picture +their astonishment, then, when you are told that the footsteps abruptly +vanished at the summit of the zig-zag trail. Although dust lay thick +on the chambers within the mesa, not a solitary foot-mark marred its +soft gray surface. With the exception of the numerous footsteps on the +trail to the summit, there was no other sign of human visitors. + +Like most old plainsmen and all wild animals, Pete was suspicious of +anything he couldn't understand, and it certainly did seem inexplicable +that a party of men should have visited the mesa and contented +themselves with running or walking up and down the causeway outside, or +promenading the summit. Such, however, appeared to be the only +explanation, and as such they were forced to accept it. + +But such speculations as these were far from monopolizing the minds of +the professor and the boys. They eagerly traversed chamber after +chamber, finding these latter to be small "apartments," so to speak, +giving upon a common passage just beyond the "Council Hall." The +professor told them that each of these small chambers was formerly the +home of an aboriginal family. In the floor of the passage he pointed +to numerous bowl-like holes, which, according to him, had been used for +the sharpening of spears and arrow heads. + +In some of the small chambers specimens of rude pottery were found, all +ornamented with the same figure of the human-headed rattlesnake. +Evidently the form represented must have been a deity of the tribe. +Each of the small chambers was lighted by one of the holes cut in the +face of the cliff, which they had noticed from below. The boys darted +in and out of the various rock chambers, like ferrets in a rabbit +warren, followed at a more leisurely pace by the professor and Coyote +Pete. + +"Maybe we'll find some treasure," suggested Ralph Stetson, as, with +flushed faces, plentifully begrimed with dust, they paused in the last +of the rocky chambers. + +"Say, you've got treasure on the brain, ever since we found that chest +of Jim Hicks' in the passage-way under the old mission, and started our +bank accounts," laughed Jack. "You must be forgetting that this mesa +has been visited frequently by cattlemen and wandering prospectors." + +"Well, I should hardly call it frequently, Jack," put in Professor +Wintergreen, who was now standing with Coyote Pete at his elbow, in the +narrow entrance to the rocky chamber. + +"Nope," added Coyote Pete; "you can bet your boots we didn't come here +except when we had to. In the past, though, it made a mighty good +watering-place for the cattlemen driving from one section of this +country to another. Sence they cut up that land over to the westward +inter farms, though, the big cattle drives have stopped, and I don't +suppose any one's bin around here for a long time, 'cepting those +varmints whose feet-marks we seen." + +"How do you know they are varmints?" laughed Walt Phelps. + +"Don't see what business they'd hev here otherwise, and----" began +Pete, but a perfect tempest of laughter at his expense drowned the rest +of his speech. + +"Well, now that we seem to have pretty well explored the habitation +part of the mesa, let us make our way to the summit," suggested the +professor. + +With a whoop and yell, the excited boys followed the suggestion at +once, and a dash up the narrow causeway followed at imminent risk of +one of another losing his footing. + +"Hey, hold on thar!" yelled Pete, as they dashed upward, "we don't want +no funerals here, an' it's er drop of more'n a hundred feet to ther +ground." + +This rather checked the boys' enthusiasm, and they went more slowly +thereafter. + +The summit of the mesa was found to consist of a small plateau, about a +quarter of an acre in extent, perfectly bare, and shaped like a saucer. +Near the center was the hole which gave illumination to the council +hall below them, while in a spot almost exactly in the middle of the +queer elevation, was a rough, square erection of sun-baked brick. This +was about twelve feet in length, five feet in height, and six feet or +so through. Apparently it had once been a kind of an altar. The +professor thought this assumption tenable, as it was known that the +aborigines who had once inhabited the mesa had been sun-worshipers. + +"Ugh!" shuddered Jack, as he gazed at the altar. "And they used to +offer human sacrifices here." + +"I think it altogether likely," said the professor calmly; "probably +that altar has witnessed the immolation of more than a hundred victims +at a single tribal ceremony." + +Ralph Stetson was clambering up on the altar as the professor spoke, +but at hearing these words he hastily descended again. + +"I guess I'll defer examining it till some other time," he said +decidedly. + +From the summit of the mesa a wonderful view could be obtained. At +that altitude the rocky, desolate range of sierras to the south could +be seen clearly, although a mile or so distant. + +"Thar's the border yonder," said Pete, pointing. + +"And over across there is father, I guess," said Jack. "I hope he +found everything at the Esmeralda all right." + +"Sure he did," said Pete confidently. "I tell you, these greaser +uprisings don't amount to a busted gourd. Mister Diaz's tin soldiers +come along, and 'pop-bang! Adios!' It's all over." + +"But I have heard that in this case the insurrectionists of Northern +Chihuahua are exceptionally well provided with arms and ammunition," +objected the professor. "The American government can't make out from +whence they are supplied with guns and munitions of war." + +"Huh, where'd they git 'em from, I'd like to know?" snorted Pete. "The +border is well guarded at any point where they would be likely to ship +'em across, and----" + +"How about the _unlikely_ points?" inquired the professor amiably. + +"Um--ah--well," began Pete, somewhat stumped by this last, "I don't see +what that's got to do with it." + +"But I do. Mexicans, my friend, are, as you should know, a cunning +race. Moreover, those of them who dwell along it know the border far +better than any white could ever hope to. By the admission of our own +secret agents, it has hitherto been impossible to find how the arms, +which the Chihuahua rebels are receiving, can reach them. It is +obvious, however, that there must be some way in which they do, +hence----" + +"Waal, perfusser, hev it your own way," grunted Pete, rather red and +angry. The professor's logic did indeed seem unassailable. The rebels +of Northern Chihuahua were getting arms--but how? The cow-puncher and +the boys recalled now a visit made to Mr. Merrill's ranch some weeks +before by a party of United States secret agents. + +The men were puzzled and angry over their failure to locate the "leak." +Somehow arms were being shipped across the border into Chihuahua from +American soil, but just how had hitherto baffled all the efforts of +their ingenuity to discover. + +"There, there, don't be so easily offended," counseled the professor, +perceiving Pete's palpable irritation. "After all, the matter has +nothing to do with us. We are here to measure the mesa for scientific +purposes, not to get into arguments over how a band of insurrectos are +getting their arms. Come, boys, to work. Let us begin at the top, by +measuring the altar. Suppose, Jack, you lay the tape on it, while I +make a rough field sketch of the structure." + +The boys, now over their first repulsion to having anything to do with +the altar, about which such grisly memories clustered, eagerly began to +carry out these orders, while Coyote Pete seated himself on the side of +the summit overlooking the travelers' camp below, and amused himself by +throwing small bits of detached rock down at the unoffending One Spot, +Two Spot and Three Spot. + +The base of the altar being duly measured and recorded, Jack, tape in +hand, followed by the others, clambered up its rough sides, which +afforded an easy foothold, for the purpose of ascertaining the +dimensions of the top. To the lad's astonishment, however, there was +no summit. That is to say, the altar was hollow. + +The professor exhibited considerable scientific excitement on hearing +this. The man of science had been greatly puzzled over the total +absence of any traces of the human sacrifices he knew must have taken +place there. He now hailed Jack eagerly. + +"Are there not some bones or traces of sacrifices inside it, my boy?" +he inquired excitedly. + +"Nary a bone," shouted Walter cheerfully. + +"Hold on, though," cried Jack. "There are some queer-looking things +down in one corner." + +Lowering himself inside the altar, he made for one corner of the +erection, in which he had spied a heap of fragile-looking bones of some +kind. + +"Skeletons of snakes!" he cried, holding up one of these for the +inspection of the professor, who had by this time hoisted his bony +frame over the top of the altar and now stood beside them. + +"That's right, my boy; they are serpents' skeletons. Doubtless in +their sacrificial ceremonies these people also offered up rattlesnakes, +which seem to have been a sort of sacred reptile among them; much as, +in a sense, the cat was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, and the python +is worshiped in certain parts of India." + +"But, professor," protested Jack, "if, as you say, numerous human +sacrifices were offered here in the past, why do we not find any human +remains here?" + +"Who can say, my boy? Many of the habits of these pre-historic peoples +are veiled in mystery. We can only surmise and reconstruct. They may +have burned them or disposed of them in some other way." + +"Say!" exclaimed Ralph suddenly. "This floor sounds to me as if it was +hollow; maybe there's a chamber or something underneath." + +The boy, who had been stamping about with a vague sense of making some +such discovery, hailed them with excited looks. + +"Hollow, you say?" asked the professor, with every appearance of deep +interest. + +"Yes, listen!" + +Again Ralph stamped about. There was no question about it--the +stone-paving, of which the floor of the altar was formed, gave out an +unmistakably hollow sound. + +The professor was down on his hands and knees instantly, searching +about, like a hound on the scent. In the meantime the others stamped +about in other parts of the interior, but only where Ralph's feet had +given out the hollow sound did the floor appear anything but solid. + +"Queer!" exclaimed the professor, as, after a considerable search, he +rose to his feet covered with dust and streaming with perspiration, +"there should be some sort of trap-door here, to judge by the sounds, +but so far as I can see, the joints between the pavement are perfectly +tight, and I can find no ring or lever which might open such an +aperture." + +"Perhaps----" began Ralph, but he was interrupted by a sudden wild yell +from Pete. + +"Wow! Yee-ow! Come here quick, everybody!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE LEGEND OF A FORGOTTEN RACE. + +Leaping and scrambling over the top of the hollow altar to the best of +their abilities, the four explorers found their cow-puncher friend +dancing wildly about on the edge of the mesa, in imminent peril of +tumbling over altogether. He was wildly excited, and, as they emerged, +he pointed down over the cliff edge. + +"Whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Jack, regarding the antics of the +usually staid cow-puncher with amazement. + +"The stock! Look at the stock!" yelled Pete. + +Peering over the edge at the bunch-grass belt in which their ponies +were tethered, the adventurers saw a spectacle which might well have +been calculated to excite the cow-puncher. One Spot, Two Spot and +Three Spot were tearing round and round at the end of their tethers, in +the wildest alarm, evidently, while the cayuses were stamping and +snorting, with distended nostrils and wild, frightened eyes. + +"What's the matter with them?" gasped Walt, astonished at the sight, as +well he might be. The desert was as empty as ever, and there was no +sign of anything in the rocky hills to the south that might have +excited their alarms. + +"Thet's jes' it," said Pete. "What is the matter with 'em? They ain't +actin' up thet er way fer nuthin', you kin bet." + +"Something must have scared them," said Jack. "Maybe it was those +rocks you were throwing down." + +"No, it warn't that, son. Ole One Spot he looked up here a minute ago, +and giv' his eye a knowin' wink, as much as ter say: 'Go ahead; I know +you won't hurt us.' No, siree; it's suthin' they've smelled out, er +seen, that's given 'em the scare of their young lives." + +"Maybe it was something on the other side of the mesa. Let's go and +look," cried Jack. + +Followed by the others, he ran across the flat summit, but an earnest +inspection of the surroundings on that side failed to reveal any +explanation for the animals' sudden terror. For all the strange +objects that lay about them, they might have been in the middle of a +desolate ocean. + +"No wonder they call this the Haunted Mesa," snorted Pete. "I tell +you, perfusser, ther sooner you git them thar measurements a-measured, +and we're hiking out of this neck of the woods, the better I'll be +pleased. 'Tain't natural, all these queer goings on." + +"Maybe a coyote or something scared them," suggested Ralph. + +"And them used ter seeing 'em every day," scoffed Pete. "Guess again, +son. It takes something with hoofs, horns and red fire about it to +scare a burro, and you kin bet your Sunday sombrero on that." + +"Well, I propose that we adjourn the meeting till after dinner," +laughed Jack; "all in favor, will signify by saying 'aye.'" + +The chorus that answered him left no doubt of "the sense of the +meeting," and a rapid descent of the mysterious mesa was begun. A good +meal was not long in being prepared, thanks to Coyote Pete's skill as a +camp cook. Seated over their dinner, the main topic of conversation +was naturally the unaccountable occurrence of the morning. But +although a score of explanations were advanced, nobody could hit on one +that seemed to fit the case. + +"This water is singularly pure and sparkling,"' said the professor +finally, by way of changing the subject, and holding up his full tin +cup. + +"Yep; I remember hearing old cowmen say that there's no water in New +Mexico any better than this from the Haunted Mesa," said Pete, +stretching himself out, and lighting his inevitable after-meal-time +pipe. "Though that ain't sayin' a heap," he admitted. + +"Wonder how those old what-you-may-call-ums ever managed to dig such a +well?" questioned Ralph. + +"Comes to my mind now," said Pete, "that it ain't exactly a well. An +old Injun that used ter hang around with the Flying Z outfit tole us +oncet that thar was a subterranean river flowed under here, and that +once upon a time afore all the country dried up, considerable more +water came to the surface here than there does now." + +"A subterranean river?" asked the professor, at once interested. + +"Yes, sir," rejoined Pete, "and not the only one in the West, either. +There's one in Californy that flows underground fer purty near fifty +miles, as I've heard tell." + +"This is most remarkable," said the professor. "I, too, have heard of +subterranean rivers in this part of the world, but I have never had the +opportunity to explore one. Did this Indian you speak of ever tell you +where this river emerges?" + +"He said it come out some place across the frontier in Chihuahua; I +don't jest rightly recollect where," said Pete carelessly, as if the +subject did not interest him much, as indeed it did not. + +"I don't see what use a subterranean river is to anybody, anyhow," he +went on. "If it was on top, now, it might be some use." + +"But this is most interesting," protested the professor, while the boys +lay about with their chins propped in their hands in intent attitudes. +"Then, too, if this river exists, perhaps it is even navigable." + +"Why, professor!" exclaimed Jack. "Is it not possible that it was to +this river that those drawings of boats that interested and puzzled you +so much had reference?" + +"Quite possible, my boy," agreed the man of science. + +"I wish we could find some way of getting down into it," said Ralph +wistfully, poking at the ground, as if he thought he might force an +entrance that way. + +"Thar you go," laughed Pete. "Giv' you boys a cayuse, an' you'll ride +him to death. I jes' mentioned that a lying, whisky-drinking old Injun +had sprung a pipe-dream about a lost river, and thar you go navagatin' +it in a Coney Island steamboat." + +The boys could not help bursting into a laugh at the cow-puncher's +whimsical way of talking. The professor joined in, too, for none +realized better than he did that for a moment he, too, had been quite +carried away by the idea. + +"I expect that it is as you say, Pete," he agreed. "These Indians are +most unreliable people. If anybody was to believe all the weird +legends an Indian tells him, he would spend the best part of his life +on wild-goose chases. Why, the Indians of the Mojave desert in +California can even tell a circumstantial story about a buried city of +Mojave. According to their contention, a great flood, occurring long +ago, wiped it out and buried it in the sands of the desert." + +"Has any one ever tried to find it?" asked Jack. + +"Many expeditions have been fitted out for the purpose, my boy," was +the rejoinder, "but so far no trace has ever been found of it, and it +is, no doubt, like the lost river of which Pete was telling us, a mere +myth." + +"I didn't say it was a miff," protested Pete. "I jes' said I didn't +believe it." + +The remainder of that afternoon was spent in making more measurements +and sketches of the interesting mesa, and the boys, on their own +account, conducted a search for a possible entrance to the lost river. +But, as may be supposed, they found none. + +"I guess as romance-seekers we are not a success," said Jack, as at +sun-down they prepared to quit. "Just think, what a proud bunch we'd +have been if we could say we--The Border Boys--discovered the lost +river of the mesa dwellers." + +"We might be a sorry bunch, too," amended the practical Walt. "I tell +you, Jack, I don't want anything to do with lost rivers, especially +when they are underground." + +"Walt, the spirit of adventure is lacking in you," laughed Jack. +"You'd never make a Don Quixote----" + +"A donkey who?" asked Walt innocently. + +"Oh, you're the limit," chuckled Ralph, going off into a roar of +laughter at the ranch boy's expense. + +That evening the animals' pasture was changed to the opposite side of +the mesa, where they could find fresh grass. The camp, however, was +left as it was. After supper watches were assigned, as usual, the +latter part of the night guardianship falling to Coyote Pete and Jack +once more. When, soon after midnight, Walt and Ralph Stetson aroused +them, there was nothing much to report except that One Spot had engaged +in a spirited kicking match with his brethren. Outside of that, all +had been, to quote Walt: + +"Quiet along the Mesomac." + +"We'll patrol round the whole mesa," said Coyote Pete, as he and Jack +shouldered their rifles, "meeting by the stock on the other side." + +After a few words more, the two sentries strode off into the darkness +in different directions, meeting, as arranged, by the stock. Neither +had anything to report, and in this way they kept up the night watch +for an hour or more. They had met for the sixth time by the tents +containing their sleeping comrades, when from the opposite side of the +mesa came a shrill neigh of terror, followed by sounds of wild +galloping and snorting. + +"Something's up!" shouted Pete, as, with his rifle in readiness and +followed closely by Jack, he tore around the mesa to ascertain the +cause of the trouble. + +As the two sentries emerged into view of the spot in which the stock +had been tethered, they came upon a spectacle which, for a moment, +caused them to recoil as abruptly as if a deep canyon had suddenly +opened up before them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WHAT CAME ACROSS THE DESERT. + +That which brought the two--the plainsman and the lad--to such an +amazed halt was nothing more nor less than the sight of the huge forms +which had appeared to Jack in the sand-storm and which had given them +such an alarm the night before, and which doubtless, as they now viewed +it in a flash of intuition, had almost stampeded the stock while their +owners were exploring the top of the mesa. But Coyote Pete was not the +man to remain long rooted in astonishment. + +With one quick jerk, he raised his rifle, and a vivid spatter of fire +followed. As the report died out, one of the great forms sank to the +ground with a scream that sounded almost human. The others glided off +in the same direction as they had the night before, and vanished in the +same mysterious way, before the thunderstruck Jack could get a shot at +them. + +"They're real, at any rate," exclaimed Coyote Pete, showing in his tone +of relief, that until the great shadowy mass had sunk before his +bullet, he had had some doubts of that fact. + +"W-w-w-w-what is it?" came a frightened voice at their elbows, and, +looking around, they saw the professor, in pajamas striped like a +barber's pole, gazing apprehensively about him. Close behind him came +Ralph Stetson and Walt, their weapons clasped determinedly, and +evidently ready to face whatever emergency the sudden shot had +betokened. + +"Yes, what is it--Indians or bears?" demanded Ralph, entirely forgetful +of the fact that bears are not wont, as a rule, to roam the barren +desert. + +"Dunno, but we'll see in a minute," said the cow-puncher, in answer to +the excited questions. Followed by the rest, he made his way forward +to where the great bulk that he had shot lay still and motionless on +the ground. Even Jack owned to a slight feeling of apprehension as +they neared the great form,--harmless as, whatever it might be, it had +now become. + +As for the stock, they were still plunging wildly about and snorting in +a terrified fashion, and, had it not been for their stout raw-hide +tethers, they would undoubtedly have stampeded. + +Drawing a match, Pete held it high as he neared the stricken bulk +outstretched before them. The next minute he gave an astonished cry: + +"A camel!" + +"A _what_!" gasped the entire group in unison. + +"Jes' what I said, a backterian camel," reiterated Pete, striking +another match. + +They could all see then that he spoke the truth, astounding as it +seemed. The creature that lay still before them, a bullet through its +brain, was a veritable, undoubted specimen of the Bactrian species. + +"But--but--great heavens!" cried Jack, hardly able to believe his eyes, +"how,--what----" + +"What on earth is a camel doing out here on the New Mexican desert?" +the professor finished for him. + +"Going eight days without a drink," suggested Ralph in an undertone; +but none of the party was in a mood for humor just then. + +It was Pete who solved the mystery. + +"I've got it," he exclaimed, "and I'm a plum-busted idjut not to have +thought uv it afore; I've hearn about 'em often enough. This here +backterian camel must be one of that bunch of Circus Jesse's." + +"Circus Jesse! Who was he, or she?" asked Jack. + +"Why, he was a feller what owned a big eastern circus, but owned a +ranch out here as well. It struck him one time that if camels was good +for transportation purposes over the Sahara desert they ought ter be +just as good here. So, what does he do but start a camel express from +Maguez ter Amadillo over the border, with some of the backterians frum +his circus." + +"And didn't it work?" asked Ralph. + +"No. That is, it did fer a while, till ther novelty wore off, and then +folks went back ter ther old reliable mule or burro. Circus Jesse, he +got so blamed sore, that one fine day he turned the whole shootin' +match of his backterians loose, and packin' his trunk, let the country, +and resolved in futur' ter stick ter his circus." + +"Was that long ago?" asked Jack. "I shouldn't have thought the +creatures would have lived long without being recaptured." + +"It's about five years since Jesse got out, I reckon," rejoined Pete, +"an' fer a while camel-hunting was a popular sport. By an' by, +however, they got so wary no one could get near 'em, and, except fer a +scare they'd throw inter a prospector now and ag'in, we never heard no +more of 'em. I'd clean fergotten all about 'em, till I made this one +inter cold backterian meat." + +"I suppose they found food and water here and regarded the Mesa as +their own property," declared Jack. + +"That's about it. This is a place that's seldom visited, and I guess +they just figgered out that they'd found a happy home." + +"But what became of the rest of them?" asked Ralph, who had been +apprised by Jack of the strange vanishment of the dead creature's mates. + +"Must uv gone down that draw I noticed frum ther top uv ther mesa +to-day," explained Pete. "Yer see, frum here, it would look as if they +vanished inter the solid earth when they entered it, bein' as how you +can't see there's any kind of a gully there till you get up high." + +The next morning this was found to be the true explanation. Tracks on +the bottom of the gully showed plainly how the strange desert wanderers +had effected their disappearance in such a startling manner. But it +was some time before Pete could sit down to a meal without being +reminded of his "fire-spouting spook," which had cast such alarm into +the camp the first night. The boys spent a week more at the mesa, +during which time Professor Wintergreen obtained voluminous notes on +one of the most interesting specimens of its kind in the south-west. + +The days passed tranquilly, and, with the exception of the duty of +removing the carcass of the dead camel, nothing to interrupt the +routine of survey work occurred. The mates of the dead beast had +evidently decided not to revisit their pasture grounds, for they did +not put in a reappearance. + +"Well, boys," said the professor one morning when they were all +gathered at the summit of the mesa, "I guess that to-morrow morning we +can say good-by to the scene of our rather tame adventures. My work is +complete." + +"How about the subterranean river?" asked Ralph, but a howl of derision +from the others silenced him. + +"Subterranean fiddlestick," burst out Jack, but the professor silenced +him. + +"The existence of such a stream is not so improbable as you seem to +think," he said, "and Master Ralph is to be commended for his +enterprising desire to locate it, but I think that our investigations +have shown that if such a river ever did exist and the mesa dwellers +had access to it, that the entrance, wherever it might have been, has +vanished long ages ago." + +Pete had taken no part in this conversation, but had wandered about the +top of the mesa rather aimlessly, from time to time looking sharply at +the surroundings beneath him in the alert manner of one whose life has +been passed in the open places. + +Suddenly he gave a quick exclamation and pointed off into the +north-west. + +"Look! Look there!" he exclaimed, riveting his eyes on something his +keen vision had sighted, but which remained as yet invisible to the +boys. + +"What's coming--another storm?" asked Ralph. + +"I don't know what it is yet," rejoined the other in a strangely uneasy +tone, "it looks like--like----" + +"A pillar of dust," exclaimed Jack, who had by this time sighted it, +too, and had come to the aid of the unimaginative plainsman. + +"So it does," cried the others, who now, with the exception of the +short-sighted professor, could also see the approaching dust-cloud. + +"What can it be?" wondered Walt, peering eagerly in its direction. + +"Somebody riding. Several of 'em, I should say, by the dust they're +raising," rejoined Pete bluntly. + +The boys exchanged quick glances. Somebody riding across that arid +waste? Their destination could only be the mesa, then, but who could +it possibly be? + +Had they been able to solve the riddle at that instant, they would have +scattered pell-mell for their ponies, and made the best of their way +from the Haunted Mesa, but, not being endowed with anything more than +ordinary sensibilities, it was, of course, impossible for them to +realize the deadly peril that was bearing down upon them in that +dust-cloud. + +"I can see things more clearly now," cried Jack, as for an instant a +vagrant desert air blew aside the dust-cloud and revealed several +riders, surrounding some cumbersome, moving object in their midst. + +"There's a wagon!" he cried, "a big one, too, and surrounded by +horsemen. What can it mean?" + +"That we'd better be skedaddling as quick as possible," shot out Pete, +brusquely. + +The professor, who had wandered away from the group and was down inside +the hollow altar, was hastily summoned and apprised of the strange +approach of the mysterious cavalcade. + +"Why, bless me, boys, what can it mean?" he cried, nimbly attempting a +flying leap over the edge of the altar in his haste to ascertain for +himself the nature of the approaching party. + +Suddenly, however, as his feet touched the top, and he was scrambling +over, he gave a sharp cry and fell back within the altar with a gasp of +pain. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Jack, running to the side of the ancient place of +sacrifice. + +The professor lay prostrate within. His face was white and set and +beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. + +"My--my ankle," he groaned. "I broke it some time ago, and in hurrying +to clamber over the top of the altar I fear I have snapped it again. +Oh!" + +He gave a heartrending groan of pain. The boys stood stricken with +consternation. It was going to be a long and difficult task to get the +professor out of his present predicament, and there seemed need for +haste. + +"Here, put this under your head," said Jack, stripping off his jacket +hastily, and throwing it within, "I'll tell Coyote Pete about your +accident, and we can get remedies from the packs." + +But when Jack turned, only Ralph and Walt stood beside him. The sturdy +cow-puncher had vanished. + +"He's gone to get the glasses," explained Walt. + +Presently Coyote Pete, very much out of breath from his dash down the +path and up again, stood beside them. He had the glasses in his hand, +and lost no time in applying them to his eyes. He had not had them +there two minutes when he gave a quick exclamation and turned hastily +to the boys. + +"Lie down; lie down, every one of you," he ordered sharply. + +They lost no time in obeying, as they knew that the old plainsman must +have an excellent reason for such a command. The next instant Pete +himself followed their example. Crouching low, he once more peered +through the glasses above the edge of the cup-like depression. + +"Who are they?" asked Jack in a low voice, wriggling his way to Pete's +side. + +"I'm not sure yet, but they are all armed. I caught the flash of +sunlight on their rifles. If they are Mexican insurrectos, we are in a +bad fix." + +"Mexicans! What would they be doing this side of the border?" + +"That remains to be seen. But I don't like the looks of it." + +"Suppose they are Mexicans, Pete, would they do us any harm?" + +"That depends a whole lot on whether they are on lawful business or +not." + +"You mean----" + +"That I don't like the looks of it. If there's an insurrection in +Mexico, those fellows are after no good on this side of the border. +They may be some band of cut-throats, who are taking advantage of the +disturbances to raise Cain." + +"Good gracious," exclaimed Jack, "and the professor's just injured +himself so that we can't move him for some time anyhow." + +Coyote Pete turned sharply on the boy. + +"What's he done?" + +"Broken his ankle, or, at any rate, seriously sprained it." + +Pete's rejoinder to this was a long whistle of dismay. He said +nothing, however, but once more applied the glasses to his eyes. Jack +saw him gnaw his moustache, as he gazed out over the desert. The +dust-cloud was quite close now--not more than a mile away. The boys, +with their naked eyes, could easily catch the moving glint of metal. + +"Well, Pete, what do you think?" inquired Jack eagerly, as the +cowpuncher at length set down the glasses. + +"That we're in Dutch," was the expressive rejoinder. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE DARK FACE OF DANGER. + +"Are we in actual danger?" + +It was Ralph who put the question. The Eastern lad looked rather white +under his tan. Walt, however, seemed as imperturbable as ever, and +gazed out at the approaching horsemen with no more sign of emotion than +a tightening of the lips. + +Coyote Pete's reply was a curious one. He handed the boy the glasses, +and said curtly: + +"Take a squint fer yourself." + +Ralph gazed long and earnestly. Pete talked the while in low undertone. + +"Do you recognize him--that fellow on the big black horse? I'd know +that horse ten miles away, even if I didn't know the man. He's----" + +"Black Ramon de Barros!" burst from the Eastern lad's astounded lips, +while the others gave a sharp gasp of surprise. + +"That's the rooster. Here, Jack; take a look." + +The boy, as you may suppose, lost no time in applying the glasses to +his own eyes. Viewed through the magnifying medium, a startling +moving-picture swung into focus. + +Surrounding a big, covered wagon, of the prairie-schooner type, were +from ten to a dozen wild-looking Mexicans, their straggling elf-locks +crowned by high-peaked sombreros, and their serapes streaming out +wildly about them, whipped into loose folds by the pace at which they +rode. As Coyote Pete had said, there was little difficulty for any one +who had seen him once, in recognizing Black Ramon de Barros. His +magnificent black horse--the same on which he had escaped from the old +mission--made him a marked man among a thousand. The wagon was drawn +by six mules, and driven by a short, stocky, little Mexican. The +horsemen seemed to act as escort for it. Evidently they had no fear of +being observed by hostile eyes, for, as they advanced, they waved their +rifles about their heads and yelled exultingly. + +Fortunately for the party on the summit of the mesa, their stock was +tethered on the opposite side of the formation to that on which the +cavalcade was approaching. Thus, Black Ramon and his men could not see +that the mesa was occupied. Jack caught himself wondering, though, how +long it would be before, and what would happen when, they did. + +"Have you got any plan in your head?" he asked, turning to Pete, as he +laid the glasses down. But for once, to his dismay, the old plainsman +seemed fairly stumped. The danger had come upon them so suddenly, so +utterly unexpectedly, that it had caught them absolutely unprepared. +They had not even a rifle with them on the mesa summit, and it was now +too late to risk exposing themselves by descending for weapons. There +was nothing to do, it seemed, but powerlessly to await what destiny +would bring forth. + +"You boys get back to the altar. You can act as company fer the +profusser, and it will be a snug hiding-place in case of trouble," +whispered Pete. "I wish to goodness we'd brought the stock up inside +the mesa, and then those fellows might never have discovered we were +here. I don't see how they can help it, as things are, though." + +"They'll be bound to see our footmarks in the assembly hall," said Jack. + +"Not bound to, lad," rejoined Pete. "You see, they may be only going +to make this a watering-place fer their stock, and then press right on." + +"Press right on across that rocky range yonder?" + +"Hum," resumed Pete, "that's so. They couldn't very well get that +wagin across that, could they?" + +"Whatever do you suppose they've got a wagon for, at all?" asked Jack. + +"I've got my own ideas, lad, and I'll find out afore long if I'm right. +Now, you and the other boys get back in that altar. If it gets too hot +here, I'll jump in and join you. If the worst comes to the worst, we +ought to be able to lay hid in there fer a while." + +"In the meantime what are you going to do?" + +"Keep my eyes and ears open. There's something mighty strange about +this whole thing." + +The boys knew that obedience to Pete's commands was about the best +thing they could do at the moment, so they hastened to conceal +themselves within the altar, which afforded a comfortable hiding-place, +even if it was a trifle hot. The poor professor was in great pain from +his ankle, but Jack, after as able an examination as he could give the +injured member, was unable to find that it was anything more than a +severe sprain. + +It did not take the professor long to become acquainted with what had +happened within the last fifteen minutes, and, in his anxiety over the +outcome of their situation, his pain was almost forgotten. + +"If we only had the rifles," he breathed in such a savage voice that +had the circumstances been different the boys could have smiled at the +odd contrast between his mild, spectacled countenance and his +bloodthirsty words. + +It seemed hours, although in reality not more than half an hour +elapsed, before Coyote Pete returned. His reappearance was not an +orderly one. Instead, he landed in the interior of the altar in one +bound. His face was streaming with sweat, and he looked anxious and +worried. + +"What news?" asked Jack. + +"The worst," was the rejoinder. + +"Have they found our camp?" + +"Not yet, but that's only a question of a few minutes now. At present +they are unhitching and cooking a meal. Luckily the shade at this time +of day lies to the north-west of the mesa, so that they may not explore +the other side for some time." + +"Let us hope not. But what have you found out about them? What are +they doing here?" + +"Just what I suspicioned. They are a part of a gang of gun-runners." + +"Gun-runners?" + +"Yes. From listening to their conversation, I have found out that this +insurrection's a heap worse than we ever supposed. Half of Chihuahua +is up in arms ag'in the government, and they are plotting to blow up +railroad bridges, cut wires, and paralyze the country generally. Then +they are goin' ter raid all the American mines and get the gold." + +"Why, dad's mine's in Chihuahua, close to the border," gasped Jack. + +"I know it. I heard that greaser ragamuffin, Black Ramon, mention his +name. Your dad's the first one they're goin' after----" + +"The scoundrels." + +"They owe him a grudge, you know, and now's their chance to get even." + +"Do they know that dad is in Mexico now?" + +"I didn't hear that. All I found out was what I told you, and that, as +I said, they are running guns across the border. That wagon's loaded +up with machine-guns in heavy cases. They are labeled as agricultural +machinery, and were taken off the train by white accomplices seventy +miles or more from here. They chose this part of the border, I guess, +as even Uncle Sam would never suspect any one of trying ter get guns +over them hills yonder." + +"Well, they can't take a wagon over those rocky, desolate places. How +are they going to get them across, do you suppose?" asked the +professor, his pain almost forgotten in the tense interest of the +moment. + +"That's just the funny part uv it," said Pete; "they never mentioned +the mountains. You don't suppose there's any other way they could get +'em over the border, do you?" + +"Maybe they have an airship," suggested Walt Phelps. + +"Maybe," said Pete quite gravely, "I wouldn't put nothin' past a +greaser." + +"Hush!" exclaimed Ralph suddenly, "somebody's coming." + +With beating hearts they sank into absolute silence. The three boys +crouched at one end of the hollow altar, the professor and Coyote Pete +bundled together into as small a space as possible at the other. + +Voices, conversing in Spanish, could now be heard, and, from the +inflection, the boys judged that whoever was talking was very much +astonished over something. + +"I recognize that voice," said Jack suddenly, in a low whisper, "it's +Ramon de Barros." + +The other two boys nodded. Ralph Stetson's heart beat so hard and fast +that it fairly shook his frame. Truly the predicament of the party was +a terrible one. Discovery by as wolf-hearted a band of ruffians--if +they were all like their leader--as ever infested the border, was +inevitable within the next few minutes. Taking into consideration +their connection with Black Ramon in the past, it was unlikely in the +extreme that any mercy would be shown them. Never had any of them +looked so closely into the dark face of danger. + +Suddenly the listeners, crouching in their hiding-place, heard a shout +of astonishment from the Mexicans. + +"They've seen our camp over the edge of the mesa!" exclaimed Pete in a +low, tense voice; "in another minute they'll start looking for us." + +As he spoke, the voice which Jack had recognized as Black Ramon's, +uttered a crisp, curt command of some sort. The lads could hear +footsteps hurrying hither and thither. Without doubt, the order that +meant their probable doom had just been given. + +"I can't stand this a minute longer," cried Ralph suddenly. The boy's +eyes were blazing wildly. Clenching his fist, he sprang to his feet. + +"Come back here, you blockhead," snapped Jack, tugging his friend down. +Ralph came backward sprawling, and landed in a heap in Jack's lap, +knocking Walt Phelps with him. Together the three boys were tangled in +a struggling heap. + +"Get up," whispered Jack. "They'll hear us. You----" + +He stopped short. All at once an astonishing--an incredible thing--had +happened. The floor beneath them,--the solid floor, as it had +seemed,--began to tremble. + +Before any of the amazed lads could utter a word, the foundation upon +which they rested tipped, and, with a loud, ringing cry of terror from +Ralph, they were plunged out of the sunlight into blackness as +impenetrable as the pocket of Erebus. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +IN THE MESA DWELLERS' BURIAL GROUND. + +Down, down, they plunged, bumping and scraping painfully in the +darkness. Terror had deprived them of speech or the power of uttering +a sound, or they would have shouted. As it was, however, when they +finally landed in a heap on some hard surface at the foot of the steep +declivity down which they had fallen, it was some seconds before any of +them breathed a word. Then it was Jack who spoke. + +"Fellows!" + +"Yes, Jack." The rejoinder came out of the darkness in Walt Phelps' +voice. + +"Ralph, are you there?" + +"No; I'm dead. That is, I feel as if every bone in my body had been +broken. What in the name of Old Nick has happened?" + +"Thank goodness there are no bones broken," breathed Jack thankfully, +as Ralph spoke, "as to what happened, you can take your own guess on +it. My idea is that there was some sort of hinged trap-door at the +bottom of that altar, and that when our combined weight came upon it at +the time I pulled Ralph down, the blamed old thing tipped and dumped us +down in here." + +"That's my idea, too," chimed in Walt. "Can't account for it in any +other way. But what is 'here'? Where are we?" + +"You can answer that as well as I can," was the rejoinder. "Anybody +got a match? Oh, here; all right, I've got some, plenty in fact--a +whole pocketful." + +Jack struck a lucifer, and as its yellow glare lit up their +surroundings, they could not repress a cry of astonishment. They had +landed at the foot of a steep flight of stairs, at the summit of which +they correctly surmised was the trap-door through which they had been +so startlingly dumped. + +"Good gracious, did we fall down all those?" murmured Ralph, rubbing +his elbow painfully. + +"Guess so. I know I feel as if I'd been monkeying with a buzz-saw," +same [Transcriber's note: came?] from Walt Phelps. + +"Well, fellows," said Jack, as the light died out, "the question now +before us is, what are we going to do?" + +"Try to get out again," said the practical Walt Phelps. + +"All right, Walt. Then we'd better remount those steps--slower than we +came down them--and try to reopen that trap-door. We can't leave Pete +and the injured professor like this." + +The boys clambered up the steps without difficulty. They were deep and +shallow, and were cut out of the living rock. At the head of the +stairs, however, a disappointment awaited them. Try as they would, +they could not discover any means of reopening the stone trap-door in +the floor of the hollow altar. Apparently, after dumping them through, +it had closed as hermetically as before. + +The flickering light of the matches from Jack's store illuminated looks +of despair on their faces as they realized that they were trapped. + +"Try pounding on it and shouting," suggested Ralph. + +Although Jack deemed it of little use, he and Walt followed this +suggestion, and together the three boys beat and hammered on the +massive stone above them till their hands were raw. There was no +response, however. Apparently the stone was too thick for a sound to +penetrate to the outer air. Terror, that was almost panic, seized Walt +and Ralph, as they realized that they were prisoners in this +hermetically sealed dungeon. Worse than prisoners, in fact. Prisoners +had food and at least hope. They, unless they could find a way out, +were buried alive. Even Jack's stout heart experienced a deadly +feeling of depression, as he realized this. He concealed his despair +from his companions, however, and, with all the cheerfulness he could +muster, addressed them in the darkness. Matches had now grown too +precious to squander. + +"Well, fellows, we've got to find another way out." + +"Oh, it's no good," moaned Ralph despairingly, "we're doomed to die +here. We might as well sit down and wait for death to come." + +"Say," cut in Jack briskly, "if it was light enough to see, I'd give +you a good licking. Doomed to die, indeed! Not much. It's a cinch, +isn't it, that if there is an entrance to this place there must be an +outlet, too? Very well, then," he hurried on, without waiting for an +answer, "let's find that outlet." + +The logic of this speech might be questioned, but of its good sense, +under the circumstances, there was no doubt. + +"You're right, Jack," said Ralph. "I'm ashamed of myself for doing +the baby act. Come on, let's set out at once." + +"That's the talk," said Walt heartily; "if there's a way out, we'll +find it." + +"And if not?" asked Ralph, his spirits flagging again. + +"We'll discuss that later," declared Jack briskly. + +Returning again to the landing--if such it might be called--upon which +they had terminated their abrupt descent into the interior of the mesa, +some more of the precious matches were lit. As the last flickered out, +the boys fancied that some feet from them they could see a black mouth, +like the entrance of a tunnel, or rather a continuation of the one into +which they had been thrown. + +"Come on, boys," exclaimed Jack. "It's the only thing to do. We can't +turn back, and, as Pete says, 'there ain't nothing to do but go ahead.'" + +Not without some misgivings did the three lads plunge forward in the +darkness, feeling their way with outstretched hands as they entered the +tunnel. A close, musty smell, as of things long mildewed and moulded, +filled the air, and an oppressive silence lay on everything. +Unconsciously, since entering this place, their conversation had been +all in whispers. + +The tunnel they were now traversing was bored on a pretty steep down +grade. So steep, in fact, that Jack concluded, after about a quarter +of an hour of slow and cautious traveling, that they must be below the +level of the desert. For the last few minutes they had been conscious +of a peculiar thing. This was that the silence of the tunnel had given +place to a deep-throated roaring, not unlike the voice of a blast +furnace. Where it came from, or what it was, they had no idea. It was +a most peculiar sound, though, steady as a trade-wind, and seeming to +fill the whole place with its deep vibrations. + +"What can it be?" gasped Walt, as they paused by common consent to +listen. + +"Maybe the wind roaring by the entrance to this place," suggested Jack +hopefully. + +This thought gave them new courage, and, on Ralph's suggestion, Jack +struck another match from his store. As it flared up, they all three +recoiled with expressions of dismay. + +At their very feet--so close that the tips of their boots almost +projected over it--was a deep chasm. The black profundity of it loomed +in front of them gapingly. A few paces more, and they would have been +precipitated into the abyss. Jack, suppressing a shudder, leaned +forward and held the match as far over the edge as he dared. As the +depths of the great crevasse were illuminated by a feeble flame, he +shrank back with a sharp intake of his breath. + +[Illustration: As it flared up, they all three recoiled with +expressions of dismay. At their very feet was a deep chasm.] + +The place was a charnel house! + +No mystery now as to what had become of the human remains of the grisly +sacrifices of the ancient mesa dwellers. There, piled in that dark +chasm beneath them, were great piles of decaying bones and gleaming +skulls. Hundreds of them extended toward the surface in a ghastly +pyramid. No wonder the underground place into which they had +penetrated smelled musty and unpleasant. + +"It is the mesa dwellers' burial ground!" exclaimed Ralph in a +quavering voice, as, clinging to Jack's arm, he bent forward. + +"Yes," rejoined Walt with a shudder, "and but for Providence, we should +have plunged downward into it ourselves." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Jack, in a voice filled with repulsion. "Don't let's +think of it. See, the path takes a turn here. Come on, let's go +ahead, but follow me closely and keep in to the wall." + +"Not likely to take any chances of missing the road, after seeing +that," spoke up Walt, as once more the three youths, who had been so +strangely plunged into this predicament, began to tread the +subterranean regions once more. + +As you may imagine, they went with due caution. But no more dangers +menaced them, and as they progressed the path began to widen. All the +time, however, the strange roaring sound had been growing louder, until +now it had attained almost deafening proportions. Still they had come +upon no explanation of what it could be. Jack had privately concluded +it to be the sound of the wind, forcing its way into some crevice. +This theory seemed to be the more tenable as the last match which he +had struck had only been kept alight with difficulty, so strong had +been the draught that now puffed up toward them. + +Far from alarming them, however, this gave them renewed hope. It meant +that, in all probability, they were nearing an outlet of the strange +underground place. Had it not been for the predicament in which they +had left the professor and Coyote Pete, the three lads would have felt +a real interest in exploring the cavern, now that they had grown +accustomed to their surroundings. So far as they had been able to make +out, the tunnel they had been treading was partially the work of human +hands and partially the work of Nature. The great rift in which lay +the accumulation of human remains was evidently the result of some +volcanic upheaval. The path, however, was so graded and formed that +there seemed no reason to doubt that it had, at one time, been made by +the ancient mesa dwellers. + +"Seems to me we ought to find out what that roaring sound means before +we go any farther," suggested Ralph suddenly. + +"That's a fine Irish bull," laughed Jack. "How are we going to find +what it is unless we do go farther?" + +"That's so," agreed Ralph, somewhat abashed. "Come on, then." + +A few paces more brought them to an abrupt turn in the path, as they +could feel by their constant touching of the inner wall. + +"Better strike another match," said Walt. + +"Yes; here goes," agreed Jack. Both boys shouted, to make themselves +heard above the now thunderous roaring of the strange noise. + +A shout of surprise that rose even above the mysterious roaring, +followed the striking of the match. Beyond the turn the path took a +steep drop downward, and beyond that--the boys could hardly believe +their eyes as they gazed--was the glint of rushing water. + +"The subterranean river!" was the amazed cry that broke from the lips +of all three. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A NEW MEXICAN STYX. + +"The subterranean river!" + +The words echoed back weirdly from the vault-like chamber into which +they had now penetrated, and at the bottom of which the stream, upon +which the light of the match had glistened, flowed rapidly. Within +this spacious place the noise was not nearly so loud as it had been +when confined in the narrow tunnel, which, in fact, acted much as a +speaking-tube would have done. + +"It can't be!" gasped Ralph, unwilling to believe his own eyes. + +"But it is," cried Jack, as, all thoughts of their predicament +forgotten in this strange discovery, they made lavish use of their +matches on gaining the edge of the stream. The river was about twenty +feet in width, and they speedily saw that the roaring sound they had +heard during their progress through the tunnel was produced by a +waterfall some distance above, over which the river plunged into a sort +of basin at their feet. + +But this was not the most astonishing thing they found in that first +brief but comprehensive inspection. Affixed to the rocky wall at one +side of the chamber was a large, bronze lamp. An eager overhauling of +the utensil showed it to be filled with oil, and apparently it was not +so very long since it had been lighted. + +Hastily applying a match, Jack soon had the rocky chamber lighted, and +they could now survey the place into which they had blundered, at their +ease. In size it was about the same dimensions as the Council Hall of +the mesa, which lay, they knew not how many feet, above them. The +river roared down along one side of it, forming a deep, turbid pool +just beneath the waterfall, by which it entered the place. + +To their astonishment, the boys now spied in one corner of the chamber +several empty boxes piled up. Remains of excelsior and sacking were +within them, and they bore the stencilled marks, "Agricultural +Machinery, With Care." + +Instantly what Pete had related to him concerning the conversation of +the men accompanying Black Ramon flashed into Jack's mind. Could it be +possible that they had stumbled upon the place utilized by the +gun-runners to convey their ammunition across the border? At this +instant, there came a shout from Ralph, who had been peering about the +place. + +"A boat!" + +"A what?" The incredulous cry burst from both Jack and Walt. + +"It is a kind of a boat, anyhow. Come here, and look for yourselves." + +Ralph was bending over the rocky marge of the subterranean river at a +part of the chamber farthest removed from the waterfall. The water +here flowed comparatively slowly, most of its force having been +expended in the pool beneath the fall. Sure enough, Ralph had been +right. Moored to the bank by two stout ropes attached to iron bars +driven into the rock, was a boat--if such a name can be given to the +flat-bottomed, floating appliance, upon which the thunderstruck boys +gazed. + +The boat, or rather float, was about twenty feet in length and some +five feet in beam. It was not unlike, in fact, one of those shallow +craft used by duck hunters, only it was square at each end. Evidently +it would hold a considerable quantity of freight. More excelsior and +burlap litter in the bottom of it showed that whatever had been the +contents of the boxes, it had apparently been used to transport them. + +"Boys, we've tumbled over the discovery of the age!" exclaimed Jack, in +what was for him, a strangely excited voice. + +The others were not less moved. Their eyes were round and their jaws +dropped in incredulous wonderment, as they gazed before them. + +"Will somebody please pinch me?" + +It was Ralph who spoke, turning a countenance solemn and startled upon +his comrades. + +"No need to do that, Ralph. You're wide-awake; make no mistake about +that." + +"But--but I don't understand," began Walt in a puzzled tone. "What is +this place, what----" + +"What is it?" echoed Jack. "It's the gun-runners' underground +railroad. Can't you see it? This river, so the old Indian legend +says, emerges across the border. In some way these Mexicans heard of +it, and learned the secret of the hollow altar. No wonder the +government has not been able to find out how the rebels got their arms +across the border." + +"Well, what are we going to do, now we've found it?" + +Walt, the practical, propounded the query, as they stood there, +half-stunned by the rapidity with which unheard-of events had happened +within the last half-hour. + +"Why, I--upon my word, I don't know," laughed Jack, brought up with a +round turn by the hard-headed Walt. + +"I do," rejoined Walt. + +"What then?" + +"Escape to the open air." + +"You mean it?" Somehow, in his excitement, Jack had not gone as far as +this daring suggestion. And yet it was, after all, the only thing to +do. But suddenly another thought occurred to the boy. + +"The professor and Coyote Pete, how can we leave them?" + +"Well, we can't do them any good by remaining buried here, that's +certain," replied Walt, in his sensible way. + +Jack and Ralph nodded agreement. + +"On the other hand, if this river really leads out into Mexico, we can +take the subway to freedom and then, when we emerge, find out the best +thing to do. Maybe we can fall in with some government troops or +authorities of some kind." + +"But suppose the insurrectos are in power wherever this river comes +out?" + +The question came from Ralph. + +"We'll have to take chances on that, I suppose." + +"Hark!" came suddenly from Jack. + +Far back somewhere in the tunnels they had threaded they could hear +loud shouts and cries. The sound of the pursuit boomed out even above +the noise of the waterfall. + +"They're after us!" exclaimed Jack. + +"Shall we take the boat?" Walt's usually calm voice shook a little as +he asked the question. + +"It's our only chance. Come on, in with you, Ralph." + +Ralph hesitated no longer, but jumped into the little contrivance. A +sort of oar lay in the bottom. He thrust it over the side. + +"The water's only about three feet deep," he announced. + +"So much the less chance of our being drowned," rejoined Jack. + +The lad had his knife out--a heavy-bladed hunting weapon. As soon as +all was ready he would cut the ropes and set the boat free on the +turbulent current. + +"All right!" cried Walt, as he clambered in and took his place by Ralph. + +Jack gave a hasty look around, and the next instant made a flying leap +into the little craft. So fast had Black Ramon and his followers taken +up the trail after they had discovered that the boys had found the +secret of the hollow altar, that they were already entering the chamber. + +Ramon was in the lead. The glare of the lamp fell full on his +parchment-like features, as with a roar of recognition, he sighted the +boys. + +Ping! + +Something whizzed past Jack's ear, and, chipping the rock above, +showered the occupants of the boat with fragments. The sharp report of +the Mexican's revolver filled the place. With a quick movement, Jack +slashed the rope nearest him. If he had not been in such a hurry, he +would have seen that the other should have been severed first. As it +was, he had cut the one that held the boat's bow to the stream. +Instantly the flat-bottomed craft swung dizzily around, and still held +by her stern mooring, dashed against the bank. + +For a minute the boys feared she was stove in, but there was no time to +waste on an examination. + +Slash! + +One stroke of the knife severed the remaining rope, already drawn as +taut as a piano wire. But, as Jack's knife fell, the place became +filled with shouts and confusion. + +Ramon had been a little in advance of his men, and now they were all in +the place. A second's glance showed them what had happened. Not only +were the boys about to escape, but if they did not stop them the secret +of their underground route across the border would be discovered, and +its usefulness at an end. + +No wonder they strained every nerve to reach the boys. Ramon himself +had bounded to the side of the subterranean river as the boat swung +round. As her gunwale had struck the bank, he had leaped aboard. But +before he could use his revolver, Walt's powerful arm knocked the +weapon out of his hand, and it fell on the bottom of the boat. With a +snarl of rage, Ramon flashed round on the boy. But whatever the +Mexican might have been able to do with knife or pistol, he was no +match for the muscles of the American lad. + +Walt fairly picked the lithe form of the gun-runner from the floor of +the boat as Jack's knife fell across the remaining rope. With a splash +and a loud cry, Ramon pitched overside into the stream. As he fell, +though, he managed to clutch the side of the craft and he hung on, +desperately endeavoring to draw himself up into the boat. + +His followers, seeing what had happened, rushed down on them. A +tempest of bullets rattled about the boys' heads as they felt the rope +part. It was no moment for sentimental hesitation. Walt raised his +foot, and the next instant brought his heavy boot down with crushing +force on Ramon's clinging fingers. + +With a yelp of pain, the fellow let go and was rolled over and over in +the river, while half a dozen of his men waded in to rescue him. + +"Yip-ee-ee-ee! We're off!" yelled Jack, with a true cowboy yell. The +lad was carried away by the excitement and thrill of the adventure. + +With a lurch and a bump, the frail craft carrying our three young +friends shot forward. The lamp-lit panorama as Ramon, dripping and +cursing, was hauled out of the water by his band, flashed before their +eyes for a brief moment. The next instant dense darkness fell about +them. + +At what seemed to be a mile-a-minute pace they were hurried forward +into the unknown. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE CAMP OF THE GUN-RUNNER + +Jounced against the rough, rock walls, bumped over shoal places, and at +times whirled almost broadside on by the swift current, the queer, +flat-bottomed boat containing our three young friends was hurried +through the darkness. It was the maddest ride any of them had ever +taken, and, as we know, they had been through some thrilling +experiences since they had first stood on the railroad station platform +at Maguez. Had they known it, they could have controlled the boat more +or less with the rough oar--the one with which Ralph had sounded the +depth of the river--but, of course, they were inexpert in the +management of such a craft. They could do nothing but keep still and +trust to luck to bring them safely out of their extraordinary +predicament. + +After some ten minutes of this, the current seemed to slacken a little +and the walls narrowed. Jack stretched out a hand and, to his +astonishment, his fingers were swept along a rope stretched down the +side of the tunnel. This solved a problem he had been revolving in his +mind--namely, how did the Mexicans get their boat back after it had +delivered its cargo of arms? The explanation was now a simple one. +Evidently they hauled it back by the use of this rope. "It must have +been hard work, though," thought Jack. + +Conversation was impossible in the confines of the tunnel which, in +places, was a mere tube in the rocks; the roar of the water was almost +deafening. It was so black, too, that they could not see one another's +faces. Of real alarm Jack did not feel much, and for an excellent +reason. It was apparent that the Mexicans had used this underground +route across the border many times, and, if they could make the +passage--terrifying as it seemed--in safety, there was every reason to +suppose that the boys could make it with the same security. + +What worried Jack most about their situation proceeded from a far +different cause. There was little reason to doubt that at the other +end of the tunnel, wherever that might be, Black Ramon or his +superiors, arming the insurrectionists, had guards posted to receive +the smuggled guns. If no opportunity of escaping from the boat +presented itself before they were hastened out of the exit of the +tunnel, their situation would be just as bad as ever. Ramon would, of +course, lose no time in following them up, either by a spare boat, +which he might have had concealed in the vaulted chamber, or else on +his fast, coal-black horse which he might ride across the rocky range, +far above the subterranean stream. + +In the event of their falling once more into the hands of Ramon, Jack +could not repress a shudder as he thought of what the probable fate +would be. Ugly stories had from time to time floated across the border +concerning the manner in which Ramon, in his cattle-rustling days, +dealt with his prisoners,--stories of torture and suffering that made +one shudder even to listen to. If the apparent leader of the +insurrectionist gun-runners had cause for animosity against the boys +before, it was surely redoubled now. Not only had they accidentally +penetrated the secret of the Haunted Mesa, but they had toppled the +former leader of the cattle-rustlers ignominiously into the water, an +insult which Jack knew the man's nature too well to suppose he would +easily either forgive or forget. + +In such gloomy reflections was he occupied when a sudden shout from the +others roused him from his reverie, and, looking up, he saw that the +tunnel through which the river flowed was growing higher, broader, and +lighter. The darkness had now been exchanged for a sort of semi-gloom, +in which the almost black rock gleamed wetly where the hurrying current +of the stream had washed its base. + +"We're near the end!" shouted Walt to the others. + +Jack nodded. Suddenly his eye fell on Ramon's revolver, which lay at +the bottom of the boat as it had fallen when he toppled overboard. One +cartridge had been discharged, leaving but four good shells in the +chamber, but in an emergency those four, the lad knew, would be better +than no weapons at all. He regarded this as distinctly a piece of good +luck--this finding of the pistol. He examined it and found that it was +a heavy weapon of forty-four caliber. + +Hardly had he had time to observe all this before the boat, without the +slightest warning, shot out into daylight, very much as a railroad +train emerges from a tunnel. A swift glance at their surroundings +showed Jack that they had floated into a sort of natural basin amid +some wild, bare-looking hills. The banks of this basin were clothed +with a sort of wild oat and interspersed with a small blue wild flower. +Here and there were clumps of chapparal. But what pleased the lad most +was the fact that, although not far from them a rude hut stood upon the +bank, there was so far no sign of human occupancy of the place. + +Seizing the steering oar, Jack ran the boat up alongside a spot where +the bank shelved gently down to the water's edge, and ran her, nose up, +on the sand. + +"Hoo----" began Ralph jubilantly, his spirits carrying him away, but +Jack's hand was over his mouth in a second. + +"The less noise we make the better," he breathed, stepping out of the +boat on tiptoe and signing to the others to do the same. With scarcely +a sound, they landed and stood at length on the grassy carpet sloping +down to the sandy beach. + +So far not a sound had proceeded from the hut Jack turned to his +companions with a cautious gesture. + +"Wait here while I investigate," he whispered, "and be ready to jump +back into the boat and shove off at a minute's notice." + +They nodded and turned to obey, as Jack, as silently as he could, crept +on toward the hut, his revolver clasped ready for use at the slightest +alarm. The Border Boy did not mean to be caught napping. In this +manner he reached the wall of the hut nearest to the river, in which +there was a small, unglazed window. Cautiously raising himself on +tiptoe, Jack peered within. + +In a rough chair, by a table covered with the untidy remains of a meal, +was seated an elderly Mexican, as shriveled and brown as a dried bean. +The regularity with which he was "sawing wood" showed that he was as +sound asleep as it is possible for a man to be. Still Jack knew that +there are men who sleep with one eye open, so he did not relax an iota +of his vigilance as he crept around the corner of the house. On the +opposite side he found a doorway, and, noiselessly gliding in, he had +the pistol to the Mexican's ear before whatever dreams the man might +have been having were even disturbed. + +"Caramba, sanctissima! Santa Maria!" yelled the man, springing to his +feet as if propelled by springs. But the uncomfortable sensation of +the little circle of steel pressed to the nape of his neck brought him +back again into the chair in a second, trembling like a leaf, and +gazing in terror at the determined young figure standing over him. + +"Keep quiet and I'll not hurt you," said Jack, adding as an +afterthought: "Do you speak English?" + +"Me spiggoty 'Merican," sputtered the trembling old Mexican. + +"All right, Jose, then listen: Are there any horses here?" + +The old man's eyes held a gleam of intelligence. + +"Cavallo, senor. One, two, t'ree horse over heel." + +"Oh, over the hill, are they?" said Jack to himself, then aloud: "You +come and show them to me." + +"Mocho easy to find," protested the Mexican. + +Jack smiled to himself. He had been right, then. The old man was +trying to trick him. Assuming a sterner air, he thundered out, + +"Tell me where these horses are or I'll kill you!" + +The threat proved effectual, as Jack had hoped it would. Dropping all +his attempts at subterfuge, the Mexican told the boy that the horses +were in a gully not a hundred feet from the house. On the Mexican +being escorted there, still with the pistol held close to his head, his +words were found to be true. + +Three horses, ready saddled and bridled, stood in the gulch, apparently +reserved for the use of any one about the camp who should need them in +a hurry. + +This much ascertained, Jack marched the Mexican back to the hut, where, +with a rope, he leisurely proceeded to bind him. Then, amid the +fellow's tears and supplications--for he evidently thought he was about +to be killed--the boy marched him to the river bank. Walt and Ralph +were naturally bubbling over with questions, but they said nothing as +Jack sternly ordered the aged Mexican to board the boat. + +There were more prayers and tears, but finally the shriveled old chap +got on board, and the boys shoved him off. The current rapidly bore +him off down the stream and presently he vanished between the two +points of land through which the river made its way out of the basin. + +"Well, he's off for a good, long ride," said Jack, as with howls and +yells from its passenger the boat vanished from view. + +"Why didn't you just bind him and leave him in the hut?" asked Ralph. + +"Because Ramon may be along at any moment, and the old fellow might +give him some information concerning us we wouldn't like to have +published," was the rejoinder. "In that boat he is in no danger and +will simply take a long and pleasant ride, and won't be in a position +to do us any mischief when he is finally rescued." + +The boys were full of admiration for Jack's strategy, and openly +expressed their congratulations on the skillful way he had carried +things through, but the lad waved them aside impatiently. Rapidly he +told them that their best course was to get on horseback as soon as +possible, and head away from the valley. + +Some five minutes later three youthful figures mounted on a trio of +splendid specimens of horse flesh, loped easily up a trail leading from +the natural basin in the hills. In Jack's pocket, too, reposed a +certain paper found on the table in the hut and signed with Ramon de +Barros' name. With a vague idea that it might prove useful to him, the +boy had appropriated it, and shoved it hastily in his pocket. + +The summit of the basin reached, the boys found themselves not far from +a broad, white road. The compass, which Jack still had on his wrist, +showed the direction to be about due east and west. Crossing a stretch +of grass, which separated them from the thoroughfare, the three young +horsemen were soon standing on the ribbonlike stretch of white which +wound its way through a country pleasantly green and fresh-looking +after their sojourn in the desert. + +"Looks like the promised land," cried Walt. + +"I'll bet we're the first bunch to find the promised land via the +underground railway," laughed Ralph, as they gazed about them, +undecided in which direction to proceed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MADERO'S FLYING COLUMN. + +As they stood there, still undecided as to which direction to take, +Jack's keen eyes detected, above a clump of trees some distance down +the road to the west, a cloud of yellow dust rising. Evidently +somebody was coming their way. The question was, who was it? + +It might be some one of whom they could inquire the direction to the +Esmeralda mine--for Jack had determined to seek out his father, knowing +the mine could not be very far distant. Again it might be a band of +insurrectos, in which case they would have jumped out of the frying pan +into the fire with a vengeance. + +"Shall we ride forward?" asked Walt, as Jack's lips tightened in deep +thought. + +The other boy pushed back his sombrero. Jack Merrill was only a lad, +after all, and he found himself suddenly called upon to answer a +question which might have stumped a grown man. The question, however, +was decided for him, and by a means so utterly unexpected that it came +near jolting the Border Boys out of their composure; for Jack, as they +had ridden up from the river, had admonished his companions to keep +cool minds and wits and stiff upper lips whatever happened. They were +going into a country in which, from what they had been able to gather, +the insurrectos were numerically and strategically strong. Their only +safety, the lad argued with a wisdom beyond his years, was in facing +emergencies as they came, without betraying by outward signs whatever +of inward perturbation they might feel. + +"I think we had better ride eastward, till we come to some village or +town," Jack was beginning, in response to Walt's question, when a voice +from behind suddenly hailed them in unmistakably American accents. + +"Ah, here you are, gentlemen. We've been expecting you." + +The boys wheeled to find that a horseman stood beside them. He had +ridden almost noiselessly over the soft grass, which accounted for +their not having heard his approach. Jack took in the new arrival's +figure in a quick, comprehensive glance. + +The man who now faced them was a stalwart-looking chap of about thirty. +His face was bronzed and his eyes keen. The face of one who has lived +much out of doors. His manner seemed frank and open--even hearty--but +any one skilled in reading faces would have noted in the rather +receding chin and the eyes set close together that, in spite of his +apparent heartiness, the newcomer was a man of limited reliability. +The sort of chap, in short, who, while fearless up to a certain point +and adventurous to a degree, would yet in an extremity look out for +"Number One." + +As for his dress, it was much the same as the boys'. Sombrero, leather +chaps well worn, blue shirt, and red neck handkerchief. Jack's keen +eyes noted, too, that the pommel of his saddle bore some recent bullet +scars, and that in two bearskin holsters reposed the formidable-looking +butts of two heavy-caliber revolvers. The war-like note was further +enhanced by the fact that across his saddle horn the new arrival +carried a Remington rifle. + +The boys' position was now an extraordinary one. Advancing toward them +down the road, was, what they could now perceive to be, a considerable +body of horsemen. As if this were not enough to raise a question of +whether it was better to fly or remain where they were, here was this +total stranger, perhaps an American, too, hailing them as if he knew +them, or, at least, had expected to meet them there. Jack's mind was +made up in a flash, but, even in the brief instant he hesitated, the +stranger's keen, close-set eyes narrowed suspiciously. + +"I'm not mistaken, am I? You expected to meet me here?" + +"Yes, yes, of course," responded Jack quickly, and in as easy a tone as +he could command; "I hope we're not late?" + +"No; there comes Madero's flying column now. You couldn't have kept +the appointment better if you had arranged to meet us at some spot in +New York." + +"I'm glad we're on time," said Jack, not knowing exactly what else to +say. + +The lad was thunderstruck, as well he might be, by the turn events were +taking. He wished fervently, however, that they knew whom they were +expected to be and why their coming had been awaited with such +eagerness. + +"I say, you know," rattled on the other, who seemed to be a pleasant +natured enough chap, "that trip of yours through that hole in the +ground has mussed you up a bit." + +"It certainly has," agreed Jack, more and more mystified; "it's a +pretty rough voyage." + +"That's what, and going through that blamed trap in the Mesa, like a +comedian in an extravaganza, isn't the least unpleasant part of it. It +was a pretty slick trick of Ramon's to find that out, although, I +guess, some old Indian gave him the tip." + +"It's a great scheme," put in Walt Phelps, finding his tongue at last. + +"You chaps are a good deal younger than I expected to find you," +rattled on the stranger, "but I suppose you've seen lots of service." + +"Yes, lots of it," put in Ralph, throwing some fervor into his tone. +He felt that they had indeed, in the last few hours, seen service +enough for a lifetime. Jack inwardly rejoiced as the others found +their tongues. He had dreaded that the suddenness of the emergency +might have proved too much for them. Both lads were rising to it +gallantly, however. Now, if only he could find out who on earth they +were supposed to be, they might yet escape from the predicament into +which they had fallen. + +"Now let's introduce ourselves," went on their new acquaintance, +evidently not the least bit suspicious now. "My name's Bob Harding. +Which of you chaps is Con Divver?" + +"Right here," said Jack, motioning to Walt. + +"And Jim Hickey and Ted Rafter?" + +"I'm Jim and here is Ted," responded Jack, his heart beating like a +trip hammer. It was a daring game they were playing. + +"That's good. Now we all know each other. I think that Americans +enlisted in this sort of service should be on good terms, don't you?" + +"I certainly do," rejoined Jack warmly. + +"Fine! I'll bet we'll make good messmates. And now here comes Madero +himself. If you fellows will come with me, I'll introduce you in form. +Do you 'spiggoty'?" + +"Do we what?" asked Jack wonderingly. + +"Spiggoty. Talk this greaser lingo?" + +"Not very well, I'm afraid. Does the general talk English?" + +"Well. He's a good fellow, too. You'll find out." + +Thus rattling on, Bob Harding escorted the lads toward the van of the +advancing horsemen. There were about a hundred in the troop, which +Harding had referred to as a "Flying Column," and, although the +horsemen were all apparently well armed, their appearance was ragged +and wild in the extreme. They had evidently seen some hard fighting. +Here and there could be seen men with bandaged heads or limbs, while +their high conical-crowned hats were in some cases drilled, like +beehives, with bullet holes. In color, the insurrecto leader's +followers ranged from a delicate cream to a dark, reddish-brown, almost +the coppery hue of a red Indian. In all, they formed as ferocious and +formidable-looking a troop of horsemen as the Border Boys had ever set +eyes on. + +Madero himself, a rather sad-faced man of past middle age, rode in +advance, surrounded by several officers, the latter having red flannel +chevrons attached to their buckskin coats by safety pins. The famous +insurrecto leader raised his hat with Mexican courtesy as the newcomers +approached. Bob Harding drew himself up in his saddle and gave a +military salute which the general stiffly returned. The boys, taking +their cue from their new acquaintance, followed his example. + +"I am afraid that your first experience with the insurrectos was a +rough one, senores," said the general, with one of his sad smiles, +using very fair English. + +"No rougher than we must expect," rejoined Jack crisply. The lad by +now had begun to have an inkling of the situation. Evidently Bob +Harding was a soldier of fortune fighting with the insurrectos against +the troops of Diaz, while they themselves were supposed to be more of +the same brand. Evidently they had been expected by Ramon's +subterranean river, and in taking the boat they must have forestalled +the real Con Divver, Jim Hickey, and Ted Rafter. Jack caught himself +wondering how long it would take the latter to ride over the mountains +and discover the imposture. + +"We are on our way to our bivouac farther on, gentlemen," said the +general, with a wave of his hand, as if to dismiss them. "Captain +Harding will introduce you to your brother officers and later on I will +assign you to duty." + +The boys saluted once more, as did Bob Harding, and, still following +the young soldier of fortune, they rode toward the rear of the column. +The brown-skinned soldiers cast many glances out of their wild eyes at +them as they loped back, evidently wondering at the youth of Madero's +new recruits from across the border. + +The boys found no opportunity to exchange conversation as they rode +along. Bob Harding was far too busy introducing them to brother +officers to permit of this. From remarks addressed to them, which they +answered carefully in a general way, the boys soon learned that the +three soldiers of fortune they were impersonating had been redoubtable +warriors in several revolutionary battles in South America. Thus it +came about that Jack and his chums were speedily far more prominent +personalities than they cared about becoming. The officers of Madero's +command they found to be mostly small planters and ranch owners, +inflamed with bitterness at the freedom with which great grants of land +had been made to Americans by Diaz. + +Bob Harding was not backward in telling them his history, as they rode +along. He had been expelled from West Point for a hazing prank, and +since that time had "knocked about the world a bit," as he expressed +it. He was frank in confessing that he was with Madero's command for +the "fun there was in it." + +"I don't see much fun in injuring American interests and practically +warring on your own people," burst out Jack, before he knew what he was +saying. + +Harding whipped around in his saddle like a flash. + +"Say, Jim Hickey," he snapped, "those are funny sentiments coming from +you. You didn't feel that way during your famous campaign in +Venezuela, did you?" + +"Well, it wasn't so near home, you see," rather lamely explained Jack, +wishing that he had bitten his tongue out before he had made such a +break. + +But Bob Harding fortunately was not of an analytical disposition, and +he was soon rattling on again, relating to the boys, with great glee, +the manner in which the insurrectos were getting all the arms they +wanted by Black Ramon's underground route. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +IN THE CAMP OF THE INSURRECTOS. + +Camp was made that night not far from the outskirts of what must have +been a small town or village. Through the trees surrounding the camp +the boys could catch the glint of distant lights as the sun set and +darkness rushed up with the suddenness characteristic of the southern +latitudes. Rumor about the camp was that there was a fair or carnival +in the village. To Jack's huge delight, he found that a tent was to be +provided for them, and that, if all went well, they would be able, +after the camp was wrapped in sleep, to have a consultation. + +But before this occurred something else happened which bore so directly +on the boys' fortunes that it must be related here. Supper in the camp +was over, sentries posted, and the routine of what had evidently been a +long campaign taken up, when the three lads, who had been chatting with +Bob Harding and trying to draw out all he knew without betraying +themselves, were summoned by a ragged orderly to present themselves in +General Madero's tent. + +At first a dreadful fear that their deception had been discovered +rushed into Jack's mind, as they arose from the ground outside Bob +Harding's tent and made their way to the general's quarters. This +fear, which his comrades shared with him, was speedily relieved, +however. General Madero greeted them with the same grave courtesy he +had shown them earlier in the day, and, after a few words, bade them be +seated. Each visitor having been accommodated with a camp stool, the +general turned to a written paper which he had before him on the +folding camp table, and which he had apparently been poring over +intently when they entered. + +"I sent for you, gentlemen," he said, "in the first place, because I am +sure, from what Senor Ramon told me, our new recruits are anxious to +distinguish themselves, and also because I have some duty to outline to +you which is peculiarly adapted for Americans to undertake. + +"You know, doubtless, that the funds of the insurrectos are not as +plentiful as they might be. Most of us are poor men. I myself have +disposed of my estate to make the revolution against the tyrant Diaz +successful." He paused and frowned at the mention of the hated name, +and then continued in the same grave, even voice: + +"It becomes necessary, therefore, for us to raise funds as best we may. +Of course, we might live upon the country, but this I am unwilling to +do. The people are friendly to us. They give us their moral support. +Let us then not repay good with evil by plundering them. Rather let us +pay for what we get as we go along." + +Harding nodded, as did the boys. It was best to give the general the +impression that they were deeply interested. + +"Very well, then. But we must raise funds--and how? How better than +by helping ourselves to the product of which our country has been +robbed by favorites of Diaz. I refer, I need hardly say, to the +American mining men who have enriched themselves at my poor +countrymen's expense." + +Jack could hardly repress an angry start as he saw whither this line of +reasoning must lead. The gross injustice of the idea made him flush +hotly, but he was far too wise to expose his hand to the wily old +insurrecto leader, who was watching them with an eager look on his +withered, yellow face. + +"There is near here," continued the general, "a mine I have had my eyes +on for a long time. It belongs to a Senor Merrill, a rancher----" + +The general broke off abruptly. Jack had started so suddenly that the +lamp on the table was jarred. + +"Senor Hickey knows Senor Merrill?" he asked, bending his searching +black eyes on the lad. + +"I--no--that is, yes--I met Senor Merrill some time ago," stammered +Jack. "Hearing his name again startled me. I was not aware he was in +this part of the country." + +Apparently the explanation satisfied the old leader, for he continued +with a satisfied nod. + +"This Senor Merrill is rich, I hear. But all his wealth has not +prevented his miners leaving him to answer the call of the insurrecto +cause. His mine, The Esmeralda, is not more than twelve miles from +here. In the treasure room is stored much gold. Since we blew up the +railroad, he has not been able to ship it. We must have that gold." + +He paused and looked at the Americans inquiringly. Of the four, Bob +Harding alone looked enthusiastic. + +"It should be easy, general," he said; "if the Mexican miners have +quit, all we have to do is to march in and help ourselves." + +"Yes, but Senor Merrill is not unsurrounded by friends," went on the +general, while Jack's heart gave a bound of gladness; "he has a German +superintendent and several mine bosses. They have arms and ammunition, +and it will be a difficult matter to dislodge them. Also, there are +telephone wires by which he can summon aid from the regular troops." + +"Well, what do you want us to do, sir?" asked Jack, with what was +really, under the circumstances, a creditable simulation of disinterest. + +"To undertake some scout duty. Find out just what his force is and the +best quarter from which to attack the mine. And, above all, sever his +communication with the outside world." + +"Cut the wires?" asked Bob Harding eagerly. + +"That's it. Make it impossible for us to fail." + +"But, general, do not the regulars already know of your presence in +this part of the country?" asked Jack. + +General Madero smiled. + +"The heads of bone which command them know little beyond dancing and +how to flirt correctly," he said. "My flying column has, in the past +two days, passed from one end of the province to the other without +their being aware of it. The main part of my army is in eastern +Chihuahua, blowing up bridges and otherwise diverting their attention, +while I have come into, what you Americans call, Tom Tiddler's ground, +where I mean to pick up all the gold and silver I can. Why not?" he +demanded, with a sudden access of fury. "Is it not ours? What right +have these interlopers of Americanos here? Mexico for the Mexicans and +death to the robber foreigners!" + +He brought his lean, shriveled hand down on the table with a thump that +made the lamp shake. His Latin temperament had, for the moment, +carried him away; for a flash the blaze of fanaticism shone in his +eyes, only to die out as swiftly as he regained command of himself. + +"When shall we depart on this duty, sir?" asked Bob Harding, after a +brief pause. + +"To-morrow. The hour I will inform you of later. Not a word of this +in the camp, remember. I can trust to you absolutely?" + +"Absolutely," rejoined Bob Harding, with, apparently, not a single +qualm of conscience. + +The general's eyes were bent upon the boys who had not rejoined to his +question. + +"Absolutely," declared Jack, saving his conscience by adding a mental +"Not." + +Bob Harding, who was sharp enough in some things, was quick to detect a +change in the manner of the three supposed soldiers of fortune as they +left the general's tent. + +"Don't much like the idea of going up against your own countrymen, eh?" +he asked easily. + +"No," rejoined Jack frankly, "we don't." + +"Now look here, Hickey, isn't that drawing it pretty fine? Merrill and +chaps like that have practically buncoed old Diaz into granting them +all sorts of concessions, and----" + +"I'm pretty sure Merrill never did, whatever the rest may have done," +was the quiet reply. + +"Eh-oh! Well, of course, it's all right to stick up for one's friends +and that sort of thing, but I guess that you chaps, like myself, are +down here to, line your pockets, aren't you?" + +"Perhaps," was the noncommittal reply. + +"Well, to be frank with you, I _am_. I'm down here just for what there +is in it, and if I can see a chance to line my pockets by a quiet visit +to the gold room of a mine, why, that's the mine owner's lookout, isn't +it? I run my risk and ought to have some reward for it." + +"That's queer reasoning, Harding." + +"Say, Hickey, you're a rum sort of chap. So are your chums here, too. +Not a bit what I expected you to be like. I thought you were +rip-roaring sort of fellows, and you act more like a bunch of prize +Sunday-school scholars." + +There was a taunting note in the words that Jack was not slow to catch. +Particularly was the last part of Harding's speech brought out with an +insulting inflection. Jack's temper blazed up. + +"See here, Harding," he snapped out, "do you know anything about +dynamite?" + +"Eh? What? Yes, of course. But, good gracious, what's that got to do +with----" + +"Everything. Dynamite doesn't say or do much till it goes off, does +it?" + +"What are you driving at, my dear fellow, I----" + +"Just this;" Jack's eyes fairly snapped in the starlight, as he looked +straight into Harding's weak, good-natured countenance; "don't monkey +with high explosives. Savvy?" + +Harding's eyes fell. He mumbled something. For a minute he was +abashed, but he soon regained his spirits. + +"Forgive me, Hickey," he exclaimed, "and you, too, Rafter and Divver. +I thought you were just a bunch of kids, but now I see you are the real +thing. Blown in the bottle, this side up, and all that. + +"Say, do you know," he went on, lowering his voice cautiously and +bending forward as if afraid the coffee-colored sentry pacing near by +might overhear, "for a while I even thought you were imposters." + +"No!" exclaimed Jack, starting back in well-assumed amazement. + +"Fact, I assure you. Funny, wasn't it?" + +"Not very funny for us had your suspicions been correct," put in Walt +Phelps. + +"My dear Con, I should think not. Putting your eyes out with red-hot +irons would be one of the least things that old Madero would do to you. +Fatherly old chap, isn't he? But, as you said, Hickey: Don't fool with +dynamite!" + +A few paces more brought the boys to their tent. + +"Well, good night, or buenas noches, as they say in this benighted +land," said Harding, as they reached it. "Better turn in and have a +good sleep. And then to-morrow it's Ho! for Tom Tiddler's ground, a +pickin' up gold and silver." + +"And maybe bullets," came from Walt. + +"Oh, my dear fellow, that's all in the life. Buenas noches!" + +And Bob Harding passed on, humming gayly to himself. + +The boys entered their tent and lit the lamp. It was silent as the +grave outside, except for the steady tramp, tramp of the sentries. At +long intervals the weird cry of some night bird came from the woods, on +the edge of which they were camped, but that was all. + +Jack sat down on the edge of his cot and gazed across the tent at the +others. + +"Well?" he said. + +"Well?" came back from his two chums in danger. + +Thus began a conversation which, with intervals of silence, when the +sentries' heavy footsteps passed, continued into early dawn. Then, +with a consciousness that the future alone could bring about a solution +of their dilemma, the three tired lads tumbled into their cots to sleep +the slumber of vigorous, exhausted youth. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"DEATH TO THE GRINGOES!" + +It was broad daylight when the lads awoke. About them the life of the +camp had been astir for some time, in fact. Bugles rang out cheerily +and ragged troopers hastened hither and thither, with fodder or buckets +of water for their mounts, for in Madero's flying squadron each man +looked after his own animal, with the exception of a small force +detailed to commissariat duty. From the village below, curious-eyed +Mexicans began pouring into camp with the earliest dawn, and by the +time the three involuntary imposters were out of their tent and had +doused each other with cold water, the place presented a scene of +lively activity and bustle. + +"Sitting on the edge of a volcano seems to agree with us," remarked +Jack, as the three sauntered off to join Bob Harding, who was standing +outside his tent door, smoking a cigarette, a bad habit he had picked +up from the Mexicans. + +Indeed, three more manly, rugged lads would have been hard to find. +Under their tanned skins the bright blood sparkled, and there was a +surety in their long, swinging stride and the confident set of their +shoulders that made one feel a certainty that there was a trio that +would be able to take care of itself in any ordinary emergency. + +Refreshed, even by the few hours slumber, and with sharp-set appetites, +the boys felt altogether different persons from the three bedraggled +youths who had been jounced through the tunnel, and later thrown into +such a perplexing combination of circumstances. + +"I feel fit for anything," Ralph confided to Jack. + +"Good boy," rejoined his companion, throwing his arm about the Eastern +lad's neck; "we'll come out all right. I'm confident of it." + +"Unless the real Con Divver, Jim Hickey and Ted Rafter happen to show +up," put in the practical Walt, with a half-grin. + +"Botheration take you, Walt," exclaimed Ralph, in comic petulance; +"you're the original laddie with a bucket of cold water. As we figured +it out last night, we shall be far away from here on our way to the +Esmeralda mine before Ramon and the real soldiers of fortune whose fame +we have appropriated are anywhere near here." + +"I hope so, for our sakes," muttered Walt, half to himself. Practical +minded as Walt was by nature, he saw only too clearly the imminent +peril in which they were moving. "Sitting on the edge of a volcano," +was the way Jack had put it. He had not stated the case a bit too +strongly. At any moment, for all they knew, Ramon or one of his men +might arrive with the true story, and then, where would they be? + +At the conference in the tent the night before, the three lads had +agreed on a definite course of action. This was to get as close to the +Esmeralda as they could, and then make a bold dash for Mr. Merrill and +their friends. If Bob Harding chose to join them, well and good. If +he did not--well, they could not force him. Somehow, both Jack and +Walt had reached the conclusion that Bob, for all his vivacity and good +humor and apparent courage, would prove a "rotten reed" in a moment of +stress. How accurately they had gauged his character, we shall see. +This plan, as our readers will agree, was a sensible one, and, +moreover, had the merit of being the only way out of their dilemma. +But it all hinged on one thing, namely, on their departing before Ramon +or any of his followers arrived and denounced them. + +Breakfast in the insurrecto camp was a peculiar meal. The officers +messed together, and, of course, the boys joined them. Once or twice, +Jack, looking up from his peppery stew, noticed one or another of the +insurrecto officers eyeing either himself or his companions curiously. + +"They think you're awful youthful looking to have done all the things +credited to you," whispered Bob Harding. + +After the meal was despatched, the boys expected some sort of orders to +emanate from the general's tent, but apparently he was in no hurry to +move forward till the errand upon which he had announced he meant to +send the Americans, had been accomplished. The morning was spent by +the three lads in strolling about the camp, striving their utmost to +appear at their ease, but starting nervously every time an out-rider +came into camp. Every hoof-beat upon the road was eloquent with +signification for them. Ramon could not be far off now. In this +wearing manner passed the morning hours. For some time they had seen +nothing of Bob Harding, when suddenly, loud voices, in which that of +their friend predominated, reached them. The sounds came from behind a +thick clump of manzanita bushes, where several of the officers had been +whiling away the hours at a native gambling game. Among them, we +regret to say, had been Bob Harding. + +As the boys, attracted by the disturbance, came up, they saw the young +American on his feet in the midst of a group of native officers, who +were clustered about him, angrily demanding something. From a handful +of gold which the young soldier of fortune clutched, it was evident +that he had been a winner, but that some dispute had arisen over his +success. + +Suddenly, and without the slightest warning, the young Mexican who had +been the most insistent of the apparent objectors, drew his sword and +rushed upon Harding, who was unarmed. He threw up his arm as the +thrust came, and succeeded in deflecting it at the cost of a slash on +the back of his hand. + +At the same instant he ducked nimbly, and, rushing in under the +swordsman's guard, he planted a blow upon the Mexican's jaw that sent +him reeling backward, waving his arms round and round, like a windmill. +With a howl of fury, the man's companions made a rush for Harding. + +"They're going to rush him!" whispered Jack to the others. + +"So I see," rejoined Walt, grimly clenching his fists. + +As the charge descended on Bob Harding, he suddenly found three of his +countrymen at his side. + +"Thank goodness you're here," he breathed, and that was all he had time +to say before the mob was upon them. + +Jack had just time to deflect a sword blade, when he saw a terrific +blow aimed at him with the butt of a rifle. He dodged just in time, +and, as the stock went whizzing by his ear, he knocked the dealer of +the blow flat on his back. In the meantime, Walt and Ralph had been +giving good accounts of themselves, and Bob Harding had succeeded in +disarming one of his opponents. + +But they were by no means in possession of the victory yet. With howls +of fury, the companions of the sprawling Mexicans charged once more, +and suddenly Jack, after dealing one of them a staggering blow, saw a +sword fall jangling at his feet. + +Instantly he seized the weapon, and prepared to receive all comers. +Now, fencing had been one of the fads at Stonefell during the past +term, and Jack, under the tutelage of Mons Dupre, the French +instructor, had become an expert swordsman. With the weapon in his +hand, he felt equal to facing any of the excited little yellow-faced +Mexican officers. As for them, they showed an equal disposition to +annihilate the Americanos. + +Hardly had Jack gauged the balance of his new-found weapon, before one +of his opponents, a lithe, sinewy chap, with fiercely twirled +moustache, came charging in, handling his sword like a duelist. Jack +parried his furious onslaught easily. The fellow checked abruptly, +when he found that, instead of a green boy, he had an expert swordsman +to deal with. Steadying himself, he began a systematic play for Jack's +heart. This was no play duel or mock fencing match with buttoned +foils. It was the real thing, and Jack knew it. + +But the lad kept his head admirably. The Mexican, on the contrary, as +lunge after lunge was parried, became furious. + +"Carramba!" he hissed. "You dog of an Americano, I keel you!" + +"If I let you," rejoined Jack, falling back a pace. The fierce thrust +of his opponent fell upon thin air. The next instant Jack recovered, +as if by magic, and his blade flashed and writhed thrice like a +writhing serpent. + +Suddenly the Mexican found his sword abruptly jerked clean out of his +hand by Jack's weapon, and sent ringing over the heads of the other +combatants. + +"Senor, I am at your mercy!" exclaimed the Mexican, dramatically +throwing his arms open for the death-thrust, which it is likely he +himself would have given, had the circumstances been reversed. + +"Bring me your sword," ordered Jack. + +The other fetched it and handed it, hilt first, to his conqueror. Jack +took it, and, placing it across his knee, snapped it clean in two. + +"Save the pieces," he said, handing them to the Mexican. + +"Diablo!" cried the fellow, mad at the deliberate insult, "for that you +die!" + +Holding a snapped section of the sword by the hilt, he drove in at Jack +full tilt, only to be met by a healthy American fistic uppercut, +planted with such accuracy that the Mexican's wiry form was actually +lifted off its feet. He whirled round twice in the air, as if +performing some sort of grotesque dance, and then fell in a heap. + +"You won't bother us for a time," muttered Jack, turning to aid his +companions. + +While he had been engaged with his officer, the others had had their +hands full. + +Like a snarling pack of wolves, the Mexicans had withdrawn and suddenly +made a swoop on them all at once. Defending themselves as best they +could, Walt, Ralph and Bob Harding were, nevertheless, driven back +against the bushes. So far as Walt and Ralph were concerned, it was a +real fight, but with Bob Harding it was different. His face was a +sickly yellow, and in his eyes was a light that Jack had seen +before--the expression of a coward at bay. + +"Keep 'em off, fellows--I'm coming!" yelled Jack, as he charged into +the thick of the fray. "The reinforcement was totally unexpected by +the Mexicans, and they fell back for an instant--but 'for an instant +only. + +"Bah, it is only another of those boys!" cried the one who seemed to be +their leader, a fat, pudgy little fellow, with a thick, drooping, black +moustache. + +"Death to the Gringoes!" yelled his followers, their deep-lying hatred +of Americans now stripped of its veneer of politeness, and lying +exposed in all its ugliness. + +The fat, pudgy little officer made a rush at Jack, who, instead of +meeting it, ducked and caught the other by his wrist. The fellow's +sword went flying, and, at the same instant, Jack made a quick turn. +As he did so, the pudgy man's rotund little body was seen to rise from +the ground and describe an aerial semi-circle. He came crashing to the +ground with a thud, his thick neck almost driven into his shoulders by +the force of the concussion. + +"Now for the others!" yelled Walt; but even as he uttered the cry, +there came another shout from beyond the bushes in which the battle was +being waged: + +"Ramon! Ramon the Black!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A RACE FOR LIFE. + +The electric thrill that passed through the lads at the words, and +temporarily rendered them powerless to move, would have speedily made +them an easy prey for the aggrieved Mexican officers, but that the +latter were equally excited by the announcement. The mention of +Ramon's name, in fact, seemed to cause a galvanic wave of activity +throughout the bivouac. Men could be heard running hither and thither, +and above all sounded the heavy trample of the new arrivals' horses. + +In less than two minutes the last of the wounded Mexicans had picked +himself up from the ground, and, clapping a hand over a rapidly +swelling "goose egg," was hurrying from the scene of the sudden battle. +The last to get up was the pudgy little officer whom Jack had +overthrown. This fellow painfully scrambled to his feet, and, +breathing the most terrible threats in his native tongue, limped off. + +The boys stood alone on the card-strewn, coin-littered battle-ground. +Dismay was pictured on their countenances. The crucial moment had +come, and they were fairly caught in a trap from which there seemed to +be no possible means of extricating themselves. + +"Come on, boys," cried Bob Harding, who had quite recovered his +equanimity, "here's your friend Ramon, now." + +He hastened off, not even looking to see if the supposed adventurers +were following him. Suddenly, while the three lads stood regarding one +another, there came a high-pitched voice ringing clearly above the +confusion and shouts: + +"You consarned yaller coyote, you take yer leathery lunch-hooks off me, +or I'll fill yer so full uv holes your ma can use you for a collander!" + +"Coyote Pete!" exclaimed Jack. "Oh, boys, he's all right!" + +"Oh, Jack! What are we going to do?" gasped Ralph, pale under his coat +of tan, and looking about him nervously. + +"We must act quickly, whatever it is," exclaimed Jack. "Thank +goodness, Coyote Pete is safe. The professor must be all right, too, +then. Look, there are the Mexican's horses off yonder. Let's make a +dash for them, and try to sneak out while they are still looking for +us." + +"Do you think we can do it?" Ralph's voice was full of hesitancy. + +"If we don't, we'll all be lined up with a firing squad in front of us +within the next ten minutes!" exclaimed Jack. "Hark!" + +They could hear shouts and angry cries, above which Ramon's voice +sounded, as if he were narrating something. + +"He's telling them about us," cried Jack. "Come on; there's not a +fraction of a second to lose." + +Headed by Jack, the three Border Boys started on the run for the grove +in which the horses had been picketed. Some of the animals were +saddled and bridled, and for these they made a dash. They were not to +escape without some difficulty, however, for, as they placed their feet +in the stirrups, preparatory to swinging into the high-peaked saddles, +a dozing trooper sprang up from a litter of opened hay-bales. He +shouted something in Spanish, and made a spring for the head of the +animal Jack bestrode. It was no time for half measures. The heavy +quirt, with its loaded handle, hung from the horn of the saddle. With +a quick movement, Jack secured it, and brought the loaded end down on +the fellow's skull. He fell like a log, without uttering a sound. + +"Now, forward boys!" cried Jack in a low tone, "it's a ride for life." + +The others needed no urging. As rapidly as they could, consistent with +making as little noise as possible, the three young horsemen rode out +of the patch of woods in which the camp had been made, and emerged on +the high road without being stopped. Suddenly, however, a sentry with +a fixed bayonet, seemed to spring from the ground in front of them. He +cried something in Spanish, to which Jack replied by driving his horse +full at him. The fellow went down, and rolled over and over, as the +horse's hoofs struck him. Before he recovered his feet, the Border +Boys were upon the road and galloping for dear life. There was no use +in caution, now. Everything depended, in fact, on putting as much +distance as possible between themselves and the camp before their +absence was discovered. + +Fortunately, their horses were fresh, powerful animals, with long, +swinging gaits. They got over the ground at a wonderful rate, and +Jack's heart began to beat exultingly. Not far distant lay some hilly +ground, broken with deep gullies and thickly grown with wooded patches. +Could they gain it, they would have a chance of concealing themselves. + +"Hullo! They've discovered we've gone!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, as +behind them they could hear shots and bugle calls. "Don't spare the +horses, boys; we've got to make that rough country." + +The quirts fell unmercifully on the big, powerful horses, and they +plunged snorting forward. + +"We're kicking up dust enough to be seen ten miles," grumbled Walt. + +"Can't be helped," flung back Jack, "speed is what counts now." + +Before many minutes had passed, such good progress had they made that +the edge of a clump of woods was reached, and they plunged rapidly into +the friendly shelter. + +"Where to now?" gasped Ralph. + +"Right on! Right on!" shot out Jack. "Keep going till the horses +drop, or they overtake us. It's our only chance." + +On and on into the wood, the hunted boys rode. Their wiry horses were +flagging now, but still seemed capable of more effort. Over the rough +ground, though, the pace at which they urged them was a killing one. +Still, as Jack had said, it was "their only chance." + +All at once, from their rear, they heard shouts and bugle calls. Jack +turned a shade paler. The demonstration was much too close to be +pleasant. He had hardly believed that it was possible for the Mexicans +to have gained upon them so rapidly. + +"Guess we're up against it," muttered Walt Phelps, in his usual laconic +manner. + +"Not yet, by a good sight," pluckily retorted Jack. "Come on--into +this gulch. It takes a turn above here, and we may find some means of +getting out of their sight altogether." + +Almost on their haunches, the horses were urged down the steep bank of +the gully to which Jack had referred. It was about twenty feet in +depth, with steep sides at the point at which they entered it, and +bare. Farther on, though, it took a turn, and was covered almost to +the bottom with chaparral and brush. + +As Jack had said, if they could gain this portion of it, it ought to +afford them an ideal hiding-place. + +Rapidly they pressed forward along the rough bottom of the gulch, which +was evidently a roaring water-course in times of heavy rain, but which +was now as dry as a bone. It was stiflingly hot, too, but none of them +noticed that. Other things far more overwhelming in importance, were +upon their minds just then. + +Evidently, such skilled trackers as the Mexicans, had not been at fault +in locating the woods into which the boys had vanished. The yells and +cries, which Jack had heard, were rapidly drawing nearer in the woods +above them. But, if they could only gain the shelter of the overgrown +part of the gulch, they might still be safe. + +It was in this extremity that Jack bethought himself of an old trick he +had heard the cow-punchers talk of at his father's ranch. They had +used it in old frontier days, when the Indians were thick and hostile. +The deception was a simple one. It consisted in the hunted person +slipping from his horse at a suitable hiding-place and then letting the +animal wander on. + +The pursuers would naturally be guided by the sound of the horses' +hoofs, and would follow them up, leaving the concealed victim of the +chase at liberty, either to double back upon his trail, or remain where +he was. His intention of putting this trick into execution Jack +rapidly confided to his two companions. They rode forward through the +thick brush, which they had now gained, gazing eagerly at the walls of +the gulch for some cave, or other suitable place of concealment. + +Suddenly Walt spied the very place which they were in search of, +apparently. It was a small opening in the rocky wall of the gully, +which appeared from below to penetrate quite some distance back into +the earth. Its mouth was sheltered with brush and creepers, and but +for the fact that a bird flew out from it as they passed, and thus +attracted their attention, they might have passed it unnoticed. + +A brief inspection showed that it was a small cave, about twenty feet +in depth, and, as has been said, well screened from below. + +"We're not likely to find a better place," announced Jack, after a +hasty inspection. + +"Turn the horses loose," he cried in a low, but penetrating voice, down +to Walt, who had remained below with the stock. + +The red-headed ranch boy slipped off the back of his steed and alighted +on a rock, so as to make no tracks. He then gave the three horses, +that had borne them so bravely, their liberty. At first the animals +would not move, but began cropping the green stuff about them. + +"Here, that won't do," breathed Jack, as the three lads crouched at the +cave mouth. "Throw some rocks at them, Walt." + +The boys picked up some small stones, which lay littered in front of +the cave, and commenced a fusillade. It had such good results, that a +few seconds later, the three horses were plunging off along the bottom +of the gully as if Old Nick himself had been after them. + +As their hoof-beats grew faint, Jack held up his hand to enjoin +silence, although the boys had been discussing their situation in such +low tones that their voices could not have traveled ten feet from the +cave mouth. + +"Hark!" he said. + +From farther down the gully came shouts and yells, and then the +distinct rattling sound of loose shale, as several horsemen descended +the steep bank into the gulch. + +"They've picked up the trail," commented Walt grimly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +WHAT HAPPENED TO COYOTE PETE. + +Let us now retrace our steps to the Haunted Mesa, and ascertain how it +fared with Coyote Pete and the professor, after the boys' astonishing +disappearance through the balanced trap-door in the base of the hollow +altar. As we know, the lads' elders were crouched at the opposite end +of the former sacrificial structure, when, before their eyes, the lads +were swallowed up. + +For an instant--as well they might have been--the two onlookers were +fairly paralyzed with amazement. The occurrence seemed to be without +natural explanation. But an investigation by Pete, crawling on his +hands and knees while he made it, soon revealed the nature of the +device which, as we know, was nothing more nor less than a balanced +trap-door of stone. An unusual weight placed upon one end of it +instantly tilted it and projected whatever was on it upon the staircase +below. + +The professor, who recalled having read of such devices in other +dwelling-places of ancient communities, was at first for following the +boys into the unknown interior of the mesa, but before any move could +be made in that direction, one of the newly-arrived party shoved his +face over the top of the hollow altar in a spirit of investigation. He +fell back with a yell, crying out that there were spirits within it, as +his eyes encountered the crouching forms of its two occupants. + +"What's the matter, you fool?" demanded Ramon himself, who happened to +be close at hand. + +"Oh, the spirits! The spirits of the hollow altar!" howled the Mexican +in abject terror, his knees knocking together and his face taking on a +sickly pallor. + +"Hey! What's that the crazy galoot's after saying?" + +The question came from a thickset man, of about middle age, upon whose +upper lip bristled a fringe of reddish hair. His eyes were blue, +narrow and evil, and his face was scarred in half a dozen places. + +"Why, Hickey, my amigo, he says that the place is haunted," laughed +Ramon. + +The man addressed as Hickey turned to his two companions, one of whom +was a tall, lanky chap, with straggly black hair, and bristly, unshaven +chin. The other was a short, fat, rather good-natured looking little +man, whose truculent chin, however, gave the lie to his incessant +smile. Somehow, you felt, after a lengthy inspection of this latter, +that he was by no means the amiable personage his fixed smile seemed to +indicate. Small wonder, considering that his smile was fixed upon his +face by reason of an old knife wound, which, in severing some facial +muscles, had drawn up the corners of his mouth into a perpetual grin. + +"Hullo! Here's Rafter and Con Divver!" exclaimed the +bristly-moustached one. "Well, fellows, what d'ye think of this here +country?" + +"All right, as fur as we've gone," grunted the lanky man, "but I'm +itching to git across the border and git my paws on some of that gold." + +"Ye're right, Rafter," agreed the man with the perpetual smile, "that's +what we're after. I ain't made a good haul since we cleaned out the +safe of that asphalt company in Venezuela." + +"Well, gentlemen," smiled Ramon, in his most ingratiating manner, "you +will have ample opportunity shortly. I happen to know that one of the +first things that General Madero intends to do is to move upon the +mines of the robber Americanos, and get some of their gringo gold." + +"Hooray! That's the talk," grunted Jim Hickey, who, like his mates, +styled himself "soldier of fortune." But, alas! that high-sounding +title in his case, as in many others, was simply a polite way of +disguising his true calling, to-wit, that of an unscrupulous +adventurer, whose object was to line his own pockets. A fashion has +arisen of late of writing about soldiers of fortune as if they were +noble, Quixotic persons. Those with whom the author has come in +contact, however, have, without exception, been mercenary and +cold-blooded men, to whom the name highway robber could be applied with +far more justice than the higher sounding term. Such men were Jim +Hickey and his two companions, who had flocked like buzzards to the +border at the first word of trouble. + +"Waal, thar's that greaser of yours still cuttin' up didoes," drawled +Divver. "What's ther matter with ther coyote, anyhow? Say, Ramon, +ain't that the main station of yer subway, yonder in ther rock pile?" + +He pointed to the hollow altar, in which crouched Pete and the +professor. They had heard every word of this conversation, of course, +and its effect upon them may be imagined. + +"That, senors, is indeed the entrance to our convenient little +underground river. Ha! ha! an excellent joke on the worthy Colonel +Briggs. He is guarding every point of the border but this one. Of +course, he concluded, in his wise way, that nobody could cross those +barren hills yonder, but, as you know, gentlemen, we go under, and not +over them." + +"Trust you greasers?" grinned Rafter, who was a New Englander; "ye're +as slick ez paint, and thet's a fact. But, let's see what in ther name +of juniper scairt thet feller o' yourn. Seems like he's teetotel +abstinence on thet altar." + +"Yes, there is a superstition that the mesa is haunted," rejoined +Ramon. "That is the reason why I could never get a man to ascend it +without myself. If you gentlemen noticed the tracks upon the pathway, +you would have seen they went only to the top of the path. Beyond that +my men would in no manner go on the night we came here to reconnoiter." + +"That was before you sent the order through fer the arms?" inquired +Hickey. + +"_Si, senor_. But now, as you see, everything bids fair to go well, +and----" + +"By hemlock!" broke in Rafter's sharp voice, as he drew his pistol, +"thar's two cusses hidin' in ther altar." + +The New Englander had separated from the others, and taken a peek over +the edge of the ancient sacrificial device, to ascertain what had +caused the sudden alarm of the Mexican. What he had seen had caused +his amazed exclamation. + +"What's that?" came the bull-throated roar of Hickey, "two men in that +brick pile?" + +"That's whatsoever. One on 'em is a big, long, rangy cuss, like a +yearlin' colt, by gosh, and ther other's the dead spit of the school +teacher at ther Four Corners, back er hum." + +"We must see into this." + +It was Ramon who spoke. As he did so, he advanced in his agile, +cat-like way upon the altar. In his hand he held his revolver. But, +as he reached the edge of the pit and raised himself to peep over, +something--which something was Coyote Pete's fist--caught him full +between the eyes, and sent him toppling backward into the arms of +Rafter. Together the lanky New Englander and the Mexican crashed to +the ground, while Pete set up a defiant yell. + +"Come on!" he cried. "Any of your outfit thet's jes' pinin' fer a +facial massage, hed better step this way, an' be accommodated." + +Ill-advised as Pete's hasty action was, it at least created a brief +spell in which he had time to leap over the edge of the altar, and, +before Ramon or any of the rest could recover from their astonishment, +the cow-puncher had seized the Mexican's pistol and was standing at +bay, his back against the altar. + +"Now, then, any gent desirous uv heving his system ventilated free of +charge, will kin'ly step this way," he mocked. "Ah----" as Hickey's +hand slid to his waist, "don't touch thet gun, mister, or yer friends +will be sendin' you flowers." + +"Waal, by Juniper!" drawled Rafter, as he gathered his spidery form +together and scrambled to his feet. "You seem ter hev ther drop on us, +stranger." + +"Thet's what," retorted the cow-puncher, "and I mean to keep it till we +can come to terms. That Mexican gent yonder knows me of old--don't +you, Ramon?--and he knows thet what I say I'll do, I'll do." + +"So you are spying upon me again, are you?" grated out Ramon viciously. +"Not content with driving me out of the Hachetas, you must even +interfere with my political activities." + +"Waal, if yer gitting perlitically active with machine guns and +shootin' irons, I reckon Mister Diaz ull interfere with yer 'bout as +much as I will," grunted Pete, keeping the men before him covered with +the Mexican's pistol. The part of this speech referring to the machine +guns was a mere guess of the shrewd cow-puncher. But, as the reader +knows, he had struck the nail on the head. "But see here, Ramon," he +went on, dropping his tone, "we ain't here to molest you. We come out +here with a scientific gent, to measure the mesa. We was going back +home ter-night, an' was takin' a last look around when you come along. +I'll give you my word--and you know it's good--that we don't want ter +meddle with your affairs so long as they don't affect us. Run all the +guns you want--for I know that's your little game--but we've got some +kids with us, and it's up to me to get 'em back home safe. Let us git +out of here peaceable, and no more will be said." + +"Hum!" grunted the Mexican. "You forget that I owe you a little debt +for some things that happened across the border some time ago. Black +Ramon does not forget, nor does he forgive. I can guess who those boys +are you have with you, and here is my proposal: You leave that cub, +Jack Merrill, with me, and the rest of you can go, and----" + +_Swish_! + +Before Coyote Pete realized it, a raw-hide lariat circled through the +air from behind, and settled about his neck. The next instant he was +jerked from his feet, as Con Divver, who had crept unobserved around +the altar, drew the rope tight. Ramon had seen the other creeping up, +and had been talking against time till the crucial moment arrived. + +Now, with a howl of triumph, he rushed at the cow-puncher, and was +about to aim a terrific kick at his prostrate body, when a lanky form +suddenly appeared over the edge of the altar, and fixing ten bony +fingers in Ramon's inky locks, tugged till the Mexican yelled with pain. + +"Well may you cry aloud for mercy, sir!" exclaimed the professor, for +he it was who had suddenly come to the rescue, forgetting even the pain +of his ankle in the crisis. "Even in Homer you may find it written, +'Never kick a man when he's down.'" + +"_Phew_!" whistled Hickey, his smile puckering up his whole face in an +evil grimace. "This is growing interesting." + +"Sanctissima Santos! Take him off! Make him let go!" yelled Ramon, +dancing in agony. But the professor's long digits were entwined in his +locks, and the man of science showed no disposition to let go. + +"Sa-ay, yo-ou animated hop-toad, I reckin you'd better let go uv ther +Mexican gent's draperies, er I'll be compelled ter drill yer, by +hemlock." + +It was Rafter who drawled out the words, and, as he spoke, he held a +revolver leveled at the professor's head. + +"Better drop the varmint, perfuss," directed Pete, from the ground, +"they've got us hog-tied and ready fer the brand." + +"By ginger! I cal-kerlate ther ain't no de-oubt uv thet," drawled +Rafter, as the professor dropped his hold on Ramon's locks, and began +flourishing a small geological hammer. + +It would be wearisome to relate in detail all that took place at the +mesa after this, but suffice it to say that Ramon's rage on the +discovery that the lads had accidentally found the underground +passageway was what it might have been imagined to be. As we know, a +fruitless pursuit of them followed. + +This over, the rascals were faced with a dilemma. The boat in which it +had been arranged that Hickey, Divver and Rafter were to take passage +had been appropriated by the boys. + +"A thousand evils light upon them," raged Ramon, as he stood dripping +on the bank of the stream. "It is a hundred to one that they also +seize the three horses I had reserved for your use, gentlemen." + +"Waal, I calkerlate thet sooner er later we'll cotch up ter these young +catermounts, and then, by chowder, we'll mek it quite interesting fer +them, whatsoever," promised Rafter significantly. + +"Looks like we'll hev ter trek across ther mountains, after all," +commented Hickey, no more moved by what had occurred than he ever was +by anything. + +But in this he reckoned without Ramon's resourcefulness. The Mexican +was as clever as he was unscrupulous. Necessity being the mother of +invention, he soon devised a plan to avoid the long and perilous +excursion across the barren hills. + +Under his direction, the wagon-bed was taken off the running-gear, and +the tarpaulin cover so adjusted as to make it water-tight. Rafter was +a skillful carpenter, having once done honest work in a Maine shipyard, +so that the improvised boat was soon ready for transportation. Working +all night, in shifts, it was ready for its voyage down the river the +next morning, and just about the time our lads were eating breakfast, +the desperadoes, with the professor and Pete lying tightly bound in the +bottom of the clumsy craft, made a start. + +The stock, including that of the ranch party, which Hickey's sharp eyes +had discovered, was left in charge of some of Ramon's mestizos at the +mesa. As ill-luck would have it, almost the first thing that greeted +their eyes when they emerged from the tunnel was the sight of the old +Mexican whom Jack had bound and set adrift. He had been rescued from +his predicament by a rancher about ten miles down the stream, and had +made the best of his way back at once. His prayers, apologies and +explanations for the loss of the horses may be imagined as he faced +Ramon's wrath. In fact, but for the intervention of Hickey, it is +likely the old mestizo would have been flung into the water by his +enraged employer. + +A halt occurred on the river bank, while some peons were despatched for +fresh horses to a ranchero known to be friendly to the insurrectos. +Then began the ride to Madero's camp, which ended as we know. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BOB HARDING DOES "THE DECENT THING." + +"Back into the cave, fellows!" + +It was Jack who spoke, in a tone as low and cautious as they had +adopted since the beginning of their flight. + +"Say, Jack, if they ever do locate us, we're in a regular mouse-trap," +exclaimed Ralph, gazing back into the cave, which had no outlet except +at the front. + +"Can't be helped. Needs must when a certain person drives," responded +the rancher's son. "Listen, they're coming closer." + +The trampling of their pursuer's horses could, in fact, now be heard +quite distinctly in the gulch below. Suddenly all sound ceased. + +"They've stopped to listen," whispered Jack. "I only hope they hear +our horses up ahead." + +Apparently the searchers did hear, for, after a brief pause, on they +came again. As nearly as the boys could judge, there seemed to be +several of them. They made a formidable noise, as they came crashing +along below. Hardly daring to breathe, the boys crouched back into +their retreat. Their nerves were strung as taut as vibrating electric +wires, their hearts pounded till they shook their frames. The crucial +moment was at hand. + +If the insurrectos passed the cave-mouth without glancing upward and +noticing it, the boys were out of the most imminent part of their +peril. If, on the other hand--but none of the party concealed in the +cave dared to think of that. + +On came the trampling, and now it was quite near. A few moments would +decide it all. Voices could be distinguished now. Among them the boys +recognized the quiet tones of Madero himself. + +"You say, Senor Harding," he said, using English, "that those boys came +this way?" + +"I am almost certain of it, general," returned the voice of the +traitor. "I saw their tracks, and, as you know, called your attention +to them." + +"If you find them, Harding, you shall have the reward I promised. I +would not have them slip through my fingers now for anything in the +world. Merrill's son, you said, was one of them, Senor Ramon?" + +"Yes," rejoined another of the horsemen, "and the young brat is as +slippery as an eel. He and this Coyote Pete, as they call him, escaped +me once before in the Grizzly Pass. I have a debt to even up with both +of them." + +Ramon did not mention the hidden treasure of the mission. Perhaps he +had reason to fear that to do so would be to bring the anger of General +Madero upon him, for he was now apparently posing as a patriot and an +active insurrecto agent. + +"We must have him," declared Madero, in a voice that fairly made Jack's +blood run cold. Its smoothness and velvety calmness veiled a merciless +ferocity. + +"We will get them, never fear, general," Bob Harding's voice could be +heard assuring the insurrecto leader; "if they escape now, it will mean +the ruination of all our plans." + +"You are right, Senor Harding," came Madero's voice; "and now, would +you oblige me by seeing if that is not a cave up there on the bank of +the gulch." + +Important as absolute silence was, a gasp of dismay forced itself to +the lads' lips. From the conversation they had overheard, it was +evident Bob Harding was trying hard to cultivate favor with General +Madero. In that case, he was not likely to conceal the fact that it +was actually a cave Madero's sharp eyes had spied, or that the cavern +held the very three youths the Mexicans were in search of. + +"Let's rush out and end it all," whispered Ralph, upon whom the tension +was telling cruelly. + +"If you attempt any such thing, I'll knock you down," Walt assured him. +The ranch boy had taken the right way to brace Ralph up. The Eastern +lad bit his trembling lip, but said no more. Do not think from this +that Ralph Stetson was a coward in any sense of the word. There are +some natures, however, that can endure pain, or rush barehanded upon a +line of guns, which yet prove unequal to the strain of awaiting a +threatened calamity in silence and fortitude. + +"Here, hold my horse," they heard Harding say to one of his companions, +"I'll soon see if that is a cave or not." + +"Bah! It is nothing but a hole in the ground," scoffed Ramon, "we are +wasting time, my general." + +"Not so," retorted Madero. "I mean to have those boys, if we have to +turn over every stone in the valley for them." + +"Ye-ew bate," drawled Rafter, who was one of the searching party, with +his two companions, "I've got a word ter say, by silo, ter ther boy who +used my name." + +"I guess that goes for all of us," rumbled Divver's throaty bass. + +Harding's footsteps could now be heard clambering up the bank. From +below his companions shouted encouragement to him. + +"Ef they be in thar, yew let me take fust crack at 'em, by chowder," +admonished Rafter's voice from below. + +"You'll all get a turn," came from Harding, in his lightest, most +flippant tones. + +"How can men be such ruffians?" wondered Jack to himself, as he heard. +He knew now why he had instinctively mistrusted Harding from the first. +Yet they had saved his life that very morning. Was Harding going to +return evil for good, by betraying them to their merciless enemies? It +looked so. + +The former West Pointer's feet were close to the cave mouth now. +Crouching back in the dark, the lads awaited what the seconds would +bring forth. Jack's active brain, in the brief time he had had for +revolving plans to avert the catastrophe that seemed impending, had +been unable to hit upon one hitherto. Suddenly, however, he gave a +sharp exclamation, and muttered to himself: + +"I'll do it. It can do no harm, anyway." + +"Well, is it a cave?" + +The question came up from below, in Ramon's voice. The ruffian's +accents fairly trembled with eagerness. + +"Don't know yet--this confounded brush. What!" + +Harding, who had crawled in among the chapparal, started back, as +Jack's voice addressed him, coming in low, tense accents from the +interior of the cave: + +"Remember, Harding, we saved your life this morning--are you going to +betray us now?" + +"Is that you, Merrill? You see I know your name. That was a shabby +trick you worked on us." + +"Shabby trick! Our lives were at stake," retorted Jack. + +"Hurry up thar, young feller," came from below in Rafter's voice; "by +hemlock, I thought I hearn horses up ther canyon apiece." + +"All right; I'll be there--just investigating," flung back Harding. +"What do you want me to do, Merrill?" + +"What your own conscience suggests," was the reply. + +"But, if they ever found out, it would cost me my life," almost +whimpered Harding, all his craven nature showing now. + +"But they never will. Don't let them know we are here, and ride on. +We will escape, if possible, and if we are caught, your secret is safe +with us." + +"You--you'll promise it?" + +"On my honor." + +"I'll--I'll do it, then, Merrill; but for Heaven's sake, don't betray +me." + +"You need not fear that," rejoined Jack, with a touch of scorn in his +voice. "I have given my word." + +"Say, young feller, hev yer found a gold mine up thar?" shouted Rafter. + +"What is detaining you, Senor Harding," came Madero's voice. + +"Nothing, sir," rejoined Harding, diving out of the bushes once more, +and standing erect on the hillside; "that cave was quite deep, and it +took me some time to make sure it was empty." + +"Empty! By chowder, them _wuz_ horses, I hearn up ther canyon, then," +ejaculated the lanky Rafter. + +"You found no traces of those lads there, senor?" + +It was Ramon who spoke now, all his sinister character showing in his +face. + +"Not a trace of them," rejoined Harding, scrambling down the hill, +grasping at bushes, as he half slid on his way, to steady himself. + +"Well, gentlemen, they cannot be far off. We will have them ere long," +General Madero assured his followers, as Bob Harding mounted once more, +and they rode off, pressing forward hotly in the direction of the +tramplings Rafter had heard, and which came, as my readers have +guessed, from the horses the boys had turned loose. + +"Say," whispered Walt, as still a-tremble with excitement the lads +listened to the departing trampling of the insurrectos' horses, "that +was a decent thing for Harding to do." + +"The first decent thing, I imagine, that he ever did in his life," +rejoined Jack. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE TABLES TURNED. + +How the hours after that dragged themselves on, the boys never could +recollect exactly. The great danger through which they had just passed +had thrown them into a sort of coma. Ralph actually slept a part of +the time. An uneasy, troubled slumber, it was, frequently interrupted +by outcries of alarm. Walt Phelps sat doggedly at Ralph's side, and, +between them, the two came to the conclusion that, come what might, +they would have to abandon the cave before long. + +In the first place, the Mexicans might take it into their heads to make +a second search, in view of the fact that they could not discover the +boys anywhere else. In the second, there was no water or food near at +hand, and if they did not take the trail pretty soon, there was grave +danger of their being too exhausted to do so. + +It was almost dusk when the three lads emerged from their retreat. +Jack had previously made a careful reconnoiter, without, however, +seeing anything to cause alarm. As quietly as they could, considering +the nature of the ground, they descended the steep side of the gulch +and gained the bottom without mishap. + +So far, not a sign had they been able to detect of the insurrectos, and +their spirits rose accordingly. Gauging their direction by the sinking +sun, the fugitives struck out for the east. That, they had concluded, +would be the best general direction. Toward the east, they knew, lay +the railroad and the more cultivated part of the province. Westward +were nothing but sterile, arid plains, without water or inhabitants, +supporting no vegetation but thorny bushes and the melancholy, odorous +mesquite bush. + +Halting frequently, to make sure that they were not being followed or +spied upon, the lads pushed steadily forward, climbing the opposite +slope of the gulch, and finally emerging into a close-growing tangle of +pinon and spiny brush of various kinds. Through this tangle--at sad +cost to their clothes, they pushed their way--disregarding the +scratches and cuts it dealt them, in their anxiety to get within +striking distance of their friends, or, at any rate, of the Mexican +army. From camp gossip, they knew that the regulars were devoting most +of their attention to guarding the railroad line, inasmuch as the +insurrectos had hitherto concentrated most of their attacks on the +bridges, tracks and telegraph lines. + +For half an hour or more they shoved steadily forward without +exchanging more than an occasional word. It was rapidly growing dark +now, and the light in the woodland was becoming gray and hazy. +Suddenly, Jack, who was slightly in advance, halted abruptly, and +placed his finger to his lips. + +It needed no interpreter to read the sign aright. + +Silence! + +Tiptoeing cautiously forward behind their leader, the other two lads +perceived that they had blundered upon a spot in which several horses +had been left unguarded by the search parties, while they pushed their +way on foot through the impenetrable brush. But it was not this fact +so much that caused them to catch their breaths with gasps of +amazement, as something else which suddenly became visible. + +To the boys' utter dumfounding, they beheld, seated on the ground, +bound hand and foot with raw-hide--the professor and Coyote Pete! Both +looked dismal enough, as they sat helplessly there, while three +soldiers, who had been left to guard the halting-place, rolled dice on +a horse-blanket. + +So intent were these men on their game, that they had laid aside their +arms, and their rifles lay temptingly almost within hands' reach of the +three lads crouching in the brush. To make any sudden move, however, +would be to attract attention, and this was the last thing they desired +to do, naturally. + +Suddenly, and before Jack could withdraw his eager, gazing face from +its frame of brush. Coyote Pete looked up. His eyes met Jack's in a +startled, incredulous stare. But the old plainsman was far too +seasoned a veteran to allow his amazement to betray him into an +exclamation. Nor did he apprise the professor by even so much as a +look of what he had seen. The man of science was staring abstractedly +before him, at the gamblers, perhaps, as he watched the rolling dice, +working out a calculus or other abstruse problem. Such a mental +condition, at any rate, might have been assumed, from the far-away +expression of his benevolent countenance. + +Without making a move, Pete rolled his eyes toward the rifles. To +Jack, this motion read as plain as print: + +"_Nail them_." + +This, of course, was just what the lad desired to do, but how to +accomplish it without arousing the gamblers, who, despite their +absorption in their game, every now and then cast a glance around, was +a problem. + +Suddenly Pete threw himself to the ground. Apparently, he had been +seized by some terrible pain. Groaning, in what appeared to be agony, +his bound figure rolled about on the earth, while his legs, which below +his knees were free, kicked vigorously. + +"Oh--oh--oh!" groaned Pete. + +"What's the matter?" cried the gamblers, springing up in consternation +at this sudden seizure. + +"Oh, oh! mucho malo estomago!" howled Pete. + +So well was all this simulated, that even the professor came out of his +reverie and looked concerned, while the gamblers, laying down their +dice for an instant, hastened to the struggling, writhing cow-puncher's +side. + +It was the moment to act. + +Silently, almost as so many serpents, Jack and his comrades wriggled +out of the brush, and, in a flash, the coveted rifles were in their +possession. As Ralph seized his, however, the boy, in his eagerness, +tripped and fell with a crash against some tin cooking pots. + +Like a flash, the soldiers, who had been bending over Pete, wheeled +about. But it was to look into the muzzles of their own rifles they +did so. + +Too dumfounded at the sudden turn events had taken to move, the +insurrectos stood there quaking. Evidently the mestizos expected +nothing better than instant death. + +"Ralph, take your knife, and cut loose Pete and the professor, quick!" + +Jack gave the order without averting his eyes from the three scared +insurrectos. + +While he and Walt kept the fellows covered, Ralph hastened to Pete's +side, and in a few seconds the cow-puncher and the professor were free, +although almost too stiff to move. The professor was, moreover, lame. +With a groan, he sank back on a rock, unable, for the time being, to +move. + +Pete, however, gave himself a vigorous shake, and instantly made a dart +for the saddle of one of the horses. He returned in a jiffy with two +lariats, with which he proceeded to "hog-tie" the Mexicans with +neatness and despatch, as he himself would have expressed it. + +This done, he turned to Jack. + +"Thank the Lord, you're safe, boy," he breathed, and for a minute Jack +saw something bright glisten in the rugged fellow's eyes. But the next +instant he was the same old Pete. + +"Waal," he said, looking about him, "I reckon the next move is to stop +these gents frum any vocal exercise, and then we skedaddle." + +"That's the program, Pete," assented Jack, hastening to the professor's +side. The old man was almost overcome. + +"My boys! My boys!" he kept repeating. "I never thought to see you +again." + +"Nor we you, for a while, professor," said Jack hastily, while Pete, +not over-gently, stuffed the Mexicans' mouths full of gags made from +their own shirts. + +"But, my boy, you will have to leave me again," went on the man of +science dejectedly, "my ankle pains me so that I cannot move." + +"But you can ride, can't you, sir?" asked Ralph. + +"Yes! yes! I can do that. But where are your horses?" + +"Right thar," said Pete, coming up. He waved his hand in an eloquent +gesture at the animals standing at the edge of the little clearing, +"take yer pick, gents. Thet little sorrel jes' about suits me." + +So saying, the cow-puncher picked out a wiry, active looking little +beast, and selected four others for his companions. The professor was +aided into the saddle somehow, and, once up, sat clinging to the horn +desperately. + +"They'll never take me alive, boys," he assured them. + +"That's the stuff, sir," cried Pete lustily; "you'll make a +broncho-busting plainsman yet. Now, then, are we all ready?" + +"All ready here," sung out Jack, who, like the others, was already in +his borrowed saddle. + +"All right, then. We're off, as the fellow says." + +Pete dug his heels into his active little mount's sides, and the cayuse +sprang forward in a way that showed Pete he was bestride of a good +animal for their purposes. + +Followed by the others, he plunged forward into the darkling woods, +while behind them in the clearing three of the most astonished Mexicans +across the border stood raging inwardly with seething fires, but +outwardly voiceless and helpless as kittens. Thus, by an astonishing +train of circumstances, were our adventurers once more together. + +"But how in thunderation----?" began Pete, as they rode forward. + +"We'll tell you some other time," broke in Jack. "The main thing now +is to get away from here, for I've a notion that in no very short time +it's going to be mighty unhealthy for gringoes." + +"Guess you're right, lad. How're yer makin' out, perfusser?" + +"Except for a pain in my ankle, I am getting along very well, thank +you," was the reply. + +"Say, he's all wool and a yard wide, even if he does look like a +softy," declared Pete, to himself. + +Threading their way through the wood, the fugitives emerged, after some +hard riding, upon the bare hillside. Below them, and some distance +ahead, could be seen the twinkling lights of the village Jack had +noticed the night before, while on their right hands gleamed the +firefly-like lights of the insurrecto camp. + +"That must be ther road down thar," said Pete, pointing. "What d'ye +say, ef we cut inter it below ther camp?" + +"And ride into the village?" asked Ralph. + +"Not to any vast extent, lad," rejoined the cow-puncher. "I'll bet +Ramon and Muddy-hairo, or whatever his name is, hev thet greaser +community purty well tagged with our descriptions by now. No, we'll +hit ther road below the camp, and then swing off afore we hit ther +village. It will beat wanderin' about on these hills, and, besides, +we've got ter hev water an' food purty soon. I'm most tuckered out." + +This reminded the others that they, too, were almost exhausted, and it +was agreed by all that Pete's plan was a good one. By keeping to the +road, they might find a hacienda or native hut where they could obtain +refreshments without being asked embarrassing questions. + +As they rode along, talking thus in low tones, Coyote Pete suddenly +drew rein. On the dark hillside he loomed for an instant, as fixed and +motionless as an equestrian statue. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Ralph. + +"Hush, lad. Do you hear something?" + +Faintly, very faintly, out of the west came a sound full of sinister +significance. + +_Clickety-clack_! _Clickety-clack_! _Clickety-clack_! + +"They're after us!" exclaimed Jack, reading the night-borne sounds +aright. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +BUCK BRADLEY'S AUTOMOBILE. + +How their escape had been discovered so soon, was, had there been time +for it, a matter of speculation. There was little doubt, though, that +some of the searchers, returning unexpectedly, had come across the +bound mestizos, and had at once given the alarm. + +Coyote Pete glanced about him, as if looking for some means of escape. +The turn of the road that they hoped to make was still some distance +ahead, but the road itself lay stretched, like a white, dusty ribbon, +just before them. In the darkness, it showed clearly, and, as his eyes +fell upon it, Coyote Pete's mind was made up. + +"Take to the road," he cried, "there's a gulch just a little way up +ahead of us." + +In fact, the plainsman's watchful eye had detected, a short distance +ahead, a black void in the surface of the hillside, which he guessed to +be a deep arroyo. + +Their horses' hoofs clattered in an unpleasantly loud manner, as they +reached the hard highway, and began to hammer down it, still bearing +due east. Behind them now they could hear distinctly the yells and +shouts of the pursuers. They were still some distance off, however. + +"Let 'em howl," remarked Coyote Pete. "The lung exercise is all +they'll git. With this start, we ought to beat them out easy." + +"Look! Look!" cried Ralph, suddenly pointing ahead. "What's that?" + +They all saw it at the same moment--two big lights, like eyes. +Seemingly, the astonishing apparition was coming toward them at a good +speed. The shafts of light cast forward cut the darkness like fiery +swords. + +The fugitives paused, bewildered. What did this new circumstance +betoken? + +"What do you make her out to be, Pete?" asked Jack. + +"Why, boy, if it warn't thet we're down in such a benighted part of +ther country, I should say that yonder was a gasoline gig." + +"An automobile!" exclaimed Walt. "It does look like one, for a fact." + +"And, to my way of thinking, a naughtymobile is jes' about the ticket +fer us, right now," grunted Pete. "Hark!" + +There was no doubt now that the two shimmering bright lights ahead were +the head lanterns of an auto. They could hear the sharp cough of her +engines, as she took the hill. + +"She's a powerful one, too," commented Ralph, listening. The Eastern +lad knew a good deal about motor cars. His face bore an interested +expression. + +"I don't know who'd own one of them things down here but an American," +went on Pete, as if he had been in a reverie all this time, "and if it +is a Yankee, it means that maybe we are out of our difficulties." + +"Well, what shall we do?" demanded Jack. "Meet it, or take to the +woods?" + +As he spoke, from far behind them came the sound of shots and shouts. +That settled it. + +"We'll take a chance, and meet them," declared Pete, riding forward. + +Followed by the others, he deployed across the road, and an instant +later the bright glare of the car's headlights enveloped them. From +the vehicle, there came a sharp hail as the driver ground down the +brakes. + +"Say, you fellows, can you direct us to the camp?" + +"They're nothing but a bunch of greasers," came another voice from +behind the lights; "drive ahead, Jim." + +"Hold on thar, Buck," hailed Coyote Pete. "I'd like ter hev a word +with you." + +"Say, are you chaps Americans?" demanded an astonished voice. + +"Reckon so," hailed back Pete dryly, "that's what my ma said. Who air +you, anyhow?" + +"I am Big Buck Bradley, manager, owner and sole proprietor of Buck +Bradley's Unparalleled Monst-er-ous and Unsurpassed Wild West Show and +Congress of Cowboys," came back the answer. "Who are you?" + +"Well, I reckon jes' at present we're in danger of being made a Wild +West Show of, ourselves," drawled Pete. "But are you really Buck +Bradley himself?" + +"I was, at dinner-time," was the response. + +"Hoorah!" yelled Pete. "It ain't possible, is it, Buck, thet you've +forgot Mister Peter de Peyster?" + +"What, Coyote Pete?" + +"That's me!" + +"Waal, you thundering old coyote, what air you doin' here?" + +"Gittin' chased by a bunch of the toughest insurrectos you ever clapped +eyes on, and it's up ter you ter help us out," responded Pete. He +looked back, and motioned to the others, who had listened in +astonishment to this dialogue. "Come on, boys, and git interduced; +there ain't much time fer ettiquette." + +"Yee-ow-w-w-w-w!" came a yell behind them. + +"What's that?" exclaimed Buck, who, as the boys could now see, was a +big, red-faced chap, clad in a linen auto-duster, combined with which +his sombrero, with its beaded band, looked odd. + +"Why, that's an invitation ter us ter stop," rejoined Pete. + +Rapidly he explained the case, and Buck began to roar and bellow +angrily, as was his wont. + +"Waal, what d'yer think uv that? The derned greasers! And I was on my +way ter give 'em some free tickets. We show down in the village +to-night. Help you out? Surest thing you know. Turn them broncs +loose, and you and yer friends pile in. Tell me ther rest as we go +along." + +The party of adventurers, as may be imagined, lost no time in accepting +the Wild West Show man's hearty invitation, the professor being helped +into the tonneau by Coyote Pete, who lifted the bony scientist as if he +were nothing but a featherweight. + +"Back her up, and turn around, bo," Buck ordered his chauffeur. "I'm +out in my guess if we've got much time to lose." + +Rapidly the car was turned, and was soon speeding in the direction they +wished to go. The stolen insurrecto horses galloped off into the +hills, snorting with terror, as the car began to move. + +"Say, Pete, what-cher bin doin'?" began Buck, as the vehicle gathered +way, "shootin' up ther town?" + +"No, siree! I'm a law-abidin' citizen now," came from Pete, "and +actin' as chaperony to this yer party." + +"You seem ter hev chaperoned them inter a heap of trouble," observed +Buck dryly, as the car gathered way. + +"'Tain't all my fault. Listen," rejoined Pete, and straightaway +launched into a detailed account of their adventures. + +"Waal," observed Buck, at the conclusion, "you sure are the number one +chop feller fer gettin' inter trouble, but you bet yer life I ain't +a-goin' ter fergit ther time yer stood up with me and held off a bunch +of crazy cattle-thieves, down on the Rio Grande. So, gents, give yer +orders, and Buck Bradley 'ull carry 'em out." + +But, alas! as the redoubtable owner of Buck Bradley's Unparalleled, +etc., Wild West uttered these words, there came a sudden loud report. + +_Bang_! + +"Christopher! They're firing from ambush!" yelled Pete, jumping two +feet up from his seat in the tonneau. + +"Worse than that, consarn the luck!" growled Bradley, "thet rear tire's +busted agin." + +"Can't you run on a flat wheel?" asked Ralph anxiously. + +"Not over these roads, son. We wouldn't last ten minutes. Hey you, +chaffer! Get out an' fix it, willyer?" + +"I'll try, sir," said the man, bringing the bumping, jolting car to a +stop. + +"Try, sir?" echoed Buck indignantly. "Didn't you tell me, when I hired +you, thet you was a first-class, A number one chaffer?" + +"Sure I did," was the indignant reply, as the driver knelt in the dust +and began examining the tire carefully. "But you can't fix a puncture +in a jiffy." + +"This one is a-goin' ter be fixed in a jiffy," rejoined Buck ominously, +"or there'll be a punctured chaffer 'round here." + +As he spoke, the proprietor of the Wild West Show moved his great bulk +in the forward seat, and produced a heavy-calibred revolver, that +glistened in the starlight. + +"Get busy!" he ordered. + +"Y-y-y-y-yes, sir," stuttered the chauffeur, who had been hired in San +Antonio, before the show crossed the border, and found itself in the +country of the insurrectos. + +"Maybe I can give him a hand--I know something about cars," volunteered +Ralph. + +"Then help him out, will yer son?" puffed the red-faced Buck Bradley. +"It's my private opinion," he went on, in a voice intended to be +confidential, but which was merely a subdued bellow, "that that chaffer +of mine couldn't chaff a chafing dish." + +Ralph took one of the oil headlights out of its socket, and, taking it +to the back of the car, found the chauffeur scratching his head over +the tire. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Ralph. + +"Why, you see, sir," stammered the chauffeur, "I don't just exactly +know. I think it's a puncture, but----" + +"Say, aren't you supposed to be a chauffeur?" inquired Ralph +disgustedly. + +"Waal, I run a taxicab onct," was the reply, in a low tone, however, +"but that's all the chauffering I ever done. You see, I went broke in +San Antone, and----" + +"All right; all right," snapped Ralph impatiently. "Say, you people, +you'd better get out of the car, while I tinker this up." + +"Is it a bad bust-up?" puffed Buck Bradley, clambering out. "I only +bought ther car a week ago, and I've spent more time under it than in +it, ever since." + +"It's not very bad--just a little blow-out," announced Ralph, who had +been examining the wheel. "Got a jack and an emergency kit?" + +"Sure!" snorted Buck Bradley. "Here, you excuse for a chaffer, git +ther hospital outfit, and hurry up." + +"Please, sir, I--I forgot the emergency kit," stuttered the new +chauffeur. + +"You forgot! Great Moses!" howled Buck. "Have you got the jack, then?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Get it, please," said Ralph, pulling off one of his gloves. The boy +rapidly slashed it with his pocket-knife, while the others watched him +interestedly. In the meantime, the chauffeur had tremblingly "jacked +up" the car. + +Binding his handkerchief about the puncture, and placing the leather +from his glove about that, Ralph rapidly wound some strips of raw-hide +from Pete's pockets about the bandage. This done he proceeded to blow +up the tire. To his great joy the extemporized "plug" held. The tire +swelled and grew hard. + +"It won't last long, but it may hold long enough for us," said Ralph, +as he let the car down again and handed the jack to the "chaffer." + +As the man took and replaced it at the back of the car, Buck Bradley +regarded him with extreme disfavor. Then he turned to Ralph. + +"Say, sonny," he said, "did you say you could run a car?" + +"Yes." + +"This one?" + +"I think so." + +Bradley turned to his "chaffer." + +"Here, you!" he bellowed, "it's about two miles into town. Hoof it in +thar an' when yer git ter camp tell Sam Stow to run ther show +ter-night. I'm off on important business, tell him." + +As the "chaffer" shuffled off, Buck Bradley began to hum: + + "I knew at dawn, when de rooster crowed, + Dere wuz gwine ter be trouble on de Gran' Trunk Ro-ad!" + + +"It's a good thing you got that done in jig-time, young feller," spoke +Buck, as the job and his song were finished, and they scrambled back +into the car, "fer here they come." + +He pointed back up the starlit road. + +Not more than a few hundred yards off, several mounted figures came +into view. At the same moment that the occupants of the car sighted +them, the pursuing insurrectos made out the automobile. + +Yelling at the top of their voices, they swept down upon it. + +"Let 'er out, and don't bother ter hit nuthin' but ther high places," +Buck admonished Ralph, who now held the wheel. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +AT THE ESMERALDA MINE. + +"If only I was certain that my boy and his friends were safe, Geisler, +I wouldn't feel so much anxiety." + +Mr. Merrill, an anxious look on his face, paced up and down the floor +of the office of the Esmeralda Mine. It was the morning of the day +following the dash for safety in Buck Bradley's car, and the mine owner +and his superintendent had been in anxious consultation since +breakfast. In truth, they had enough to worry them. In the specie +room of the mine was stored more than $20,000 worth of dust, the +product of the big stamp mill. + +From what they had been able to ascertain, the insurrectos were +unusually active in the neighborhood. Open warning had been sent to +the American mine owners, including Mr. Merrill, to be prepared to +yield up generously and freely, or have their property destroyed. In +addition to this worry, the mine owner and his superintendent, together +with the three young "level bosses," had been practically cut off from +communication with the outside world for the past twenty-four hours. + +A branch of the Chihuahua Northern tapped the mine, but no train had +puffed its way up the steep grade for more than three days, and it was +useless to try to use the wires, as they had been put out of commission +almost at the beginning of the trouble in the province. + +"If I had ever dreamed the trouble would assume such serious +proportions, the last thing I would have done would have been to allow +the professor or his young charges to journey to the Haunted Mesa," +continued the mine owner. + +Geisler, a rotund German, with a wealth of flaxen hair and moustache, +puffed at his china-bowled pipe before replying. + +"Dese Megxicans is der teufel ven dey get started, ain'd idt?" he +remarked. "For a veek, now, dere has not been a tap of vork done py +der mine, und nodt a sign uv der rabblescallions uv loafers vot vos +employed deere." + +"That is a lesson to me in employing Mexican labor," declared Mr. +Merrill emphatically. "If it isn't a saint's day carousal, it's a +revolution, and if it isn't a revolution, it's a bad attack of aversion +to work. I tell you, Geisler, the folks who are sympathizing with +these insurrectos don't know the people or the country." + +"Dot is righd," rejoined Geisler, expelling a cloud of blue smoke. "De +country iss all righd, but der peoples--ach!" + +He spread his hands, as if in despair. As he did so, the door of the +wooden building opened, giving a glimpse of the empty, idle shaft-mouth +beyond, and a young man of about twenty-two or so entered. + +He was a mining student, employed as a level boss by Mr. Merrill. His +employer looked up as he entered. + +"Well, Markley, any news?" + +"Why, sir, that arrant rascal, Pedro, just rode by. I asked him if he +couldn't get the men back to work on Number Two, and he wouldn't hear +of it. He says that the insurrectos are going to wipe out all the +American mines, and drive the gringoes out of the country." + +"Oh, they are, are they?" questioned Mr. Merrill, a grim look +overspreading his face. "Just let them try it on the Esmeralda, that's +all." + +"You mean that you would oppose them, sir?" + +"Oppose them! Holy smoke, man, you don't think I'd sit here with my +hands folded and let a lot of rascally mestizos wreck my property, do +you?" + +"I should remarg idt not," puffed Herr Geisler. + +"But, sir, there are only five of us here. How long do you suppose we +could stick it out?" + +"Till der lastd oldt cat be dead, py chiminy!" exploded the German. +"Herr Merrill, you are all righd. Young man, are you afraidt?" + +"No," protested young Markley indignantly, "but----" + +"Budt what, eh? Answer me dot, blease. Budt vot?" + +The belligerent German advanced till his pudgy forefinger was shaking +under Markley's aristocratic nose. + +"Well, they say, you know, that Madero isn't very gentle to his +prisoners, especially when they happen to be gringoes." + +"There, there, Markley," said Mr. Merrill, with a tinge of impatience, +"don't repeat all the old gossips' tales about Madero. Why, if one +believed half of them, he would be endowed with hoofs and horns, not to +mention a tail with a spike on the end. If either you or Redman or +Jennings wishes to leave the mine, you may. I'll write you a check for +the amount I owe you now." + +"Well, you see, sir," began Markley, but Geisler interrupted him +furiously. + +"Ach Himmel! Vot are you, a man or a Strassbourg pie? Donnervetter! +Go! Raus! gedt oudt! Vamoose!" + +"Sir," began Markley, turning to Mr. Merrill from this furious storm of +abuse. + +But his employer had taken out his check-book and fountain pen, and +seemed intent upon making out the pink slips. Markley, baffled, turned +with a red face toward Geisler. + +"It's all right for you to talk," he said in an aggrieved tone, "but we +are all young fellows. We have our careers in front of us. We want to +make something of ourselves----" + +"Ach!" broke out the German explosively, waving his pipe about angrily, +"make deaders of yourselfs. Dot is vot you shouldt do. Go on. Dere +are your pay checks. Take dem, und gedt oudt." + +Glad enough to escape, Markley hastily thanked his employer, and, +snatching up the pink slips, made for the door. Outside, Redman and +Jennings were waiting. + +"Come on," said Jennings, as Markley waved the checks, "let's get out +of here. Old Madero may be along at any minute, and they say he hangs +you up by the thumbs, and----" + +Their voices died out, as they hurried off to pack their belongings, +after which they made off for the nearest town, some ten miles away to +the southeast. + +"Veil," began the explosive Teuton, as their voices died away, "dere +iss dree vine specimens--nodt by no means." + +"You can hardly blame them for looking out for their own interests," +rejoined Mr. Merrill. "It isn't everybody who, like you, would stick +by his employer at the risk of his neck." + +"You is more dan my employer, py chiminy, you voss mein friendt," +exclaimed Geisler. "I aindt forgot it dot time dat no vun vouldt gif +me a chob pecos dey dink I been vun pig vool. Vot didt you do, den? +You proved yourself anudder fooll py gifing me a chob. Dink you, den, +I run from dis, my dearie-o? Oh, not by a Vestphalia ham! Here I am, +und here I shtay shtuck, py chiminy!" + +The mine owner gave his faithful super a grateful look, and then +snatched up his soft hat with a brisk movement. + +"Come, Geisler," he said, "let us take a look around. Possibly, in the +event of an attack, there may be one or two places that will need +strengthening." + +"Ach, Himmel! vot a mans," muttered the German to himself, as he +followed his employer out. "I vork for him, und, py chiminy grickets, +I vight for him too, alretty." + +The stamp mill and main buildings of the mine, including the boiler and +engine room, were surrounded by a stout fence of one-inch planking, +perhaps ten feet in height. Frequent strikes and minor outbreaks among +the Mexican miners had persuaded Mr. Merrill to follow the example of +most of his fellow American mine owners in Mexico, and be prepared for +emergencies. Facing toward the west, was a large gate in this +"stockade," as it might almost be called. Surmounting this, was the +bell, idle now, with which the miners were summoned to work. From the +gate, which was swung open as Markley and his cronies had left it in +their retreat, could be seen a huddle of small adobe houses--the homes +of the laborers--and beyond these, and deeper in the valley, lay the +red-tiled roofs and green gardens of Santa Marta, the nearest town. + +Men could be seen moving about the laborers' huts--in fact, there was +an air almost of expectant bustle about the place. Shielding his eyes, +Mr. Merrill gazed down toward the little town. His keen vision had +caught the glint of a firearm of some sort between the legs of a man +seated outside one of the huts. + +"These chaps must have advance information of some sort," he remarked +to Geisler. "That fellow yonder is cleaning up a rifle." + +"Looks like it voss business alretty," remarked Geisler. "Himmel, I +vould gif vun dollar und ninety-eight cents, alretty, to see a troop of +regulars coming up der railroad tracks." + +But the tracks lay empty and shining before them, without even a +freight car backed upon a siding to suggest the activity that, at this +time of the week, usually reigned about the mine. + +"There isn't a regiment nearer than Rosario, at last reports," rejoined +Mr. Merrill, "and no way of reaching them, now that the wires are cut. +If only I dared leave the place, I'd ride to Rosario, but the instant +we vacated it, those yellow jackals down yonder would come swarming in." + +"Dot is right," agreed Geisler, with a frown, "dey know, vorse luck, +aboudt der amount of goldt vot is stored in der strong room. I bet you +your life, dey iss yust votching for a chance to make idt a addack py +der mine." + +"That's my idea, too, Geisler, and---- Hullo, who's this coming?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +AN ACT OF TREACHERY. + +He pointed inquiringly down the hillside at a young figure on horseback +that was wearily climbing the declivity. + +"He voss come a goot long vay, alretty," commented Geisler, taking in +the dust-covered appearance of horse and rider. The gray powder, which +covered both, was visible even at that distance. + +"He's an American," went on Mr. Merrill, "a young man, too. I don't +recollect ever having seen him before round here. Wonder what he +wants?" + +While he spoke, the rider came rapidly forward, and presently drew rein +beside the miner and his super. He was a young man, tall, well +muscled, and with a well-poised head, but his eyes were set rather too +close, and there was something about that clean-shaven chin that rather +made you distrust him. + +"I've beaten those kids to it," he muttered to himself, as his eyes +first took in the two solitary figures standing at the gate. "The rest +will be easy." + +Bob Harding, for it was the exiled West Pointer, could hardly help +smiling, in fact, as he comprehended the simplicity of his task. + +"Good morning," he said in a pleasant voice, as he rode up. "Is this +the Esmeralda Mine?" + +"It is," rejoined Mr. Merrill, "and I am its owner. Come in and rest +yourself, won't you? You look fagged." + +It was the hearty, cordial greeting of one American in a strange land +to a fellow countryman. Bob Harding accepted with alacrity. He +slipped from his saddle as if he were weary to death, and, indeed, his +travel-stained clothes supported that idea. If the two men facing him, +though, could have seen him scattering dust in liberal proportions over +himself and his horse a short time before, they might not have fallen +into his trap so easily. With quirt and spur, he had worked his horse +into a sweat. At such tricks, Bob Harding was an adept. + +But of all this, of course, neither Mr. Merrill nor his super had any +idea. To their unsuspecting minds, Bob Harding was a fellow-countryman +in difficulty, and they treated him accordingly. + +"Phew!" remarked Harding, slipping his reins over his arm, and +following Mr. Merrill within the stockade, "I had a tough time getting +away from those insurrectos." + +The remark had just the effect he intended it should have. Mr. Merrill +regarded him with astonishment. Geisler muttered gutturally. + +"The insurrectos!" exclaimed Mr. Merrill. "Are they near at hand?" + +"They were," rejoined Bob Harding, secretly rejoicing to see how well +his plan was working, "but they are now in retreat. The government +troops met them near San Angelo, and drove them back to the west." + +"I had no idea there were any government troops closer than Rosario." + +"Nor had Madero's flying column, as he called it. But he found out a +few hours ago. In the confusion I escaped and rode on here. I have a +message for you from your son." + +"My son! Good Heavens! Is Jack in the hands----" + +"He was a prisoner of Madero, but he has escaped, and is now lying +wounded at a spot I will guide you to." + +"Himmel! Yack Merrill a prisoner, alretty!" gasped Herr Geisler. + +"Not only Master Merrill, but two boy friends of his, an old gentleman, +whom I should imagine was their instructor, and a cowboy." + +"Yes, it must be them!" exclaimed Mr. Merrill. "But how, in the name +of all that's wonderful, did they come across the border? I thought +they were at the Haunted Mesa, in New Mexico." + +"It is too long a story to relate to you now, senors," rejoined Bob +Harding, "I may tell you, though, that they are safe at the hacienda of +a friend. But your boy is seriously wounded, and must see you at once." + +"Good Heavens, Geisler! This is terrible news, Mr.--Mr.----" + +"Mr. Allen, of New York," put in Harding glibly. + +"Terrible news that Mr. Allen of New York brings us. You were with +them, Mr. Allen?" + +"I was, sir. In my capacity as war correspondent for the _Planet_, I +was with Madero's column. But, in the moment of defeat at the hands of +the regulars, the miserable greasers turned on me as a gringo. I was +compelled to flee for my life. First, however, I cut the bonds of our +young friends and their comrades, and under cover of night we escaped." + +Bob Harding was certainly warming to his subject as he went along. Mr. +Merrill regarded him with gratitude. + +"I've a horse in the stables, Mr. Allen," he said. "I'll saddle up, +right away, and accompany you. How can I ever thank you for all you +have done for my boy and his friends?" + +"Don't mention it," said Allen glibly; "we Americans must do little +things for one another, you know. But hurry, sir. Your boy was +calling for you when I left." + +"Poor lad!" exclaimed the deluded mine owner, hastening toward the +stable. "Geisler, you must stay and look after the place. How far is +it, Mr. Allen?" + +"Not more than ten miles, sir," was the rejoinder. + +"I can ride there and back before dark, then," declared Mr. Merrill. +"If the lad is strong enough to be moved, I'll bring him with me." + +All this time Geisler had been examining "Mr. Allen's" horse with a +singular expression. As the miner owner vanished in the direction of +the stable, he spoke: + +"Dot poor horse of yours vos aboudt tuckered in, aindt it?" he inquired. + +"Yes, poor brute," rejoined Bob Harding, "I rode at a furious pace." + +"Und got all der dust on his chest, und none on his hind quvarters," +commented the German suspiciously. + +But Harding returned his gaze frankly, and wiped his brow with a great +appearance of weariness. + +"Is that so?" he said. "I didn't notice it. But then, I rode so hard, +and----" + +"Are you ready, Mr. Allen?" + +It was Mr. Merrill's voice. He rode up, as he spoke, on a big +chestnut, which he had saddled and bridled faster than he had ever +equipped a horse before. + +"All ready, sir," was the response, as Bob Harding swung himself into +his saddle again. + +Geisler had run into the office. Now he reappeared, holding something +under his coat. He approached Mr. Merrill's side, and, while Bob +Harding was leaning over examining his saddle-girth, the German slipped +the object he held to his employer. + +"Idt's a gun," he whispered. "Keep idt handy. Py chiminy, I dink +maype you need him pefore you get through." + +"With the insurrectos in retreat?" laughed Mr. Merrill. "Geisler, you +are getting nervous in your old age. Come, Mr. Allen, let's be getting +forward, I can hardly wait till I see my boy." + +The horses plunged forward and clattered down the hillside. + +Geisler watched them till a bend in the road below hid them from view. +Then he turned slowly to reenter the stockade. + +"Py chiminy," he muttered, emitting huge clouds of blue smoke, "I dink +me dere vos a vood-pile in dot nigger, py cracious." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +AT ROSARIO STATION. + +The dull gray of the dawn was illuminating the east, and the breath of +the morning astir in the tree-tops, when Bill Whiting, station agent at +Rosario, began to bestir himself. The station agent was not about so +early on account of passengers that might be expected by an early +train--for the excellent reason that there was no morning train. Since +fighting had begun in Chihuahua, schedules had, to quote Bill, "gone to +pot." On a sidetrack lay a locomotive, smokeless and inert, just as +her crew had abandoned her. Some loaded freight cars, their contents +untouched, likewise stood on the spur. That Bill Whiting, however, +meant to guard the railroad's property, was evidenced by the fact that +strapped to his waist was a portly revolver, while a rifle lay handy in +the ticket office, in which, since the outbreak of trouble, he had +watched and slept and cooked. + +Bill's first task, after tumbling out of his blankets and washing his +face in a tin basin standing in one corner of the office, was to tap +the telegraph key. The instrument gave out a lifeless "tick-tick." + +"No juice--blazes!" grunted Bill, and, being a philosophical young man, +he bothered himself no more about the matter, and went about getting +his breakfast. + +In the midst of his preparations, however, he suddenly straightened up +and listened intently. To hear better, he even shoved aside the +sizzling frying-pan from its position over one burner of his kerosene +stove. What had attracted his attention was a distant sound--faint at +first, but momentarily growing nearer. + +"Blazes!" muttered Bill, scratching his head, and making for a rear +window, which commanded a view of the long, white road. "What's that, +I wonder? Sounds like a sick cow." + +He gazed out of the window earnestly, and then suddenly recoiled with a +startled exclamation. + +"Blazes! It ain't no cow. It's an automobubble. Yes, sir, as sure as +you live, it's a bubble. Whose can it be? Maybe it's old man +Stetson's himself." + +Chugging in a spasmodic sort of way, the car drew nearer, and the +station agent now saw that there were several people in it. + +"Looks like that car is spavined, or something," commented Bill. "Why, +it's regularly limping; yes, sir--blazes!--it's limping, fer a fact." + +Buck Bradley's auto was, in fact, at almost its "last gasp." Ralph's +temporary repair had not lasted any longer than he had expected. +Fortunately, at the time it gave out, the insurrectos had apparently +given up the chase, and the party was not far from the hacienda of a +friend of the genial Buck. At his suggestion, therefore, they diverted +from their road to the mine, and swung off to this house. Here a hasty +meal and a warm welcome were enjoyed, and Ralph set the car in order as +best he could. Buck's friend, however, had news for them. He had +heard that there was an encampment of regulars at Rosario, from which +it was only a short run by rail to the branch on which the Esmeralda +was located. + +This information caused the party to change their plans. With the car +in the condition in which it was, they doubted whether it would be +possible to travel over the rough roads intervening between themselves +and the mine. On the other hand, Rosario was not far off, and on a +smooth, hard highway. If the information of Buck Bradley's friend was +correct, and there was no reason to doubt it, the regulars were camped +at Rosario guarding the line. What more easy than to explain their +case to the leader of the Mexican regulars, and steal a march on the +insurrectos by reaching the Esmeralda first by rail, and wiping out the +band of Madero? + +But, alas for human plans! The party in the auto was doomed to bitter +disappointment. As they approached, and no camp was to be seen, they +began to realize that their information had been inaccurate. Bill +Whiting speedily clinched all doubt in the matter. + +"Say, my friend," hailed Buck Bradley, as the agent emerged from his +shack, "where are the soldiers?" + +"You mean the greaser regulars?" was the rejoinder. "Blazes, they went +off yesterday. Had a tip where Madero was, and they are after him, +hot-foot, I reckon." + +The boys exchanged despondent glances. Here was a fine end to their +high hopes. The Esmeralda was now farther off than ever, and the auto +was hopelessly crippled. One tire was worn almost to ribbons, a rim +had been sprung, and two spark plugs had cracked. Every one of the +party realized, as the car stopped with a sigh, that it couldn't move +again until a tall lot of overhauling had been done. + +"Anything I can do to help yer?" volunteered Bill, noting the woebegone +faces of his countrymen. + +"Nothing, son, unless you've got a wire working," sputtered Buck, who, +as he did with everything, had gone into this matter, heart and soul. + +"Wire!" echoed the station agent, "why, blazes, I couldn't put through +a tap fer Diaz himself. The wire went dead two days ago, and I've been +on my own hook since." + +"What was the last word you had?" asked Jack, thinking, perhaps, that +they might have some information in regard to affairs at the mine. + +The agent dived into his pocket and fished out a yellow paper. + +"Here it is," he exclaimed, "and it's signed by 'King Pin' Stetson +himself: 'Keep freight moving at all hazards.'" + +"It's signed by Mr. Stetson, you say?" exclaimed Ralph eagerly. + +"Sure. He's the main boss on this road, you know, and----" + +"I know, I know!" cried Ralph eagerly, "but is he here across the +border?" + +"Huh? Not he. He's in the best hotel in El Paso, consulting and +smoking two-bit seegars. But my job's here, and here I stick." + +But Ralph and Jack had not heard this speech. A light shone in the +Eastern boy's eyes, the light of a great idea. + +"There's a locomotive yonder, Jack," he whispered. "I can run one. I +learned one summer when pop took me over the Squantock and Port Gloster +line. You said there was a branch connecting with the Esmeralda. Why +can't we go by rail?" + +"By ginger, Ralph! Have you got the nerve?" + +"Look at me." + +Jack regarded his comrade an instant. There wasn't a flicker of an +eyelash to show that Ralph was the least bit nervous. The experiences +of the last few days had taught him much. + +While Bill Whiting regarded them curiously, Jack hastily told the +others of what Ralph had proposed. + +"That appeals ter me as a ring-tailed roarer of a good idee," announced +Buck Bradley, when he had finished. + +"Waal, I'm more used ter doin' my fightin' ahorseback than from a loco, +but I guess it goes here," chimed in Pete. + +"An eminently sensible suggestion," was the professor's contribution. +The maimed ankle of the man of science was now almost well, and, as he +put it, he was "restored to his customary salubriosity." + +"Then, all we've got to do, is to get permission to take the +locomotive," declared Jack. He turned to Bill Whiting, who had been +eyeing them curiously. + +"We've got to get through to the Esmeralda mine," he said. "Our auto +is broken down, and yet the fate of the mine, and perhaps the lives of +its defenders, hang upon our arrival there as soon as possible. Have +we your authority to run the locomotive through?" + +"Say, son," drawled Bill Whiting, "put on your brakes. That's a +compound, and even supposing I could let you take her, how would you +run her?" + +"There's a boy here who can run her all right," cried Jack impatiently. +"All we need to have is your authority." + +Bill Whiting shook his head. + +"Sorry," he said. "I don't know you, and that loco's railroad +property. I'm responsible fer it. Suppose you'd ditch her? +No--blazes!--it wouldn't do at all." + +"I'll give yer a hundred dollars gold fer two hours use uv that +ingine," cried Buck Bradley. + +"No good," declared Bill, shaking his head; "it's railroad property. +I've got my job to look after, even if Chihuahua is turned inside out." + +"But this is a matter of the utmost urgency," argued Jack. "Listen." + +He rapidly detailed the outlines of their situation to the agent. The +man was obdurate, however. + +"Couldn't nobody touch that ingine but old man Stetson himself." + +"How about his son?" Ralph's voice rang out clearly above the excited +tones of the others. + +"Waal, I reckon he could, but he ain't here." + +"He isn't, eh?" demanded Ralph, hopping out of the tonneau, "well, my +name happens to be Ralph Stetson." + +"Oh, quit joking. You're Americans, like myself, and I'd like ter help +you out, but I can't do it." + +"Will you give me a chance to prove to you I'm Ralph Stetson?" asked +Ralph eagerly. + +"Sure; a dozen, if yer want 'em," grinned the agent, gazing at the +ragged, tattered figure before him. + +Ralph dived into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of letters and +papers. Motioning the agent to sit beside him at the edge of the +platform, he skimmed through them for the other's benefit. The group +in the auto watched anxiously. A whole lot depended on Ralph's proving +his identity. + +"Say, blazes!" burst out the agent suddenly, "_you are_ Ralph Stetson, +ain't you?" + +"I think those letters and papers prove it," answered the boy. "Now, +do we get that loco?" + +"I reckon so, if you say so. But, will you sign a paper, releasing me +of responsibility?" + +With what speed that paper was signed, may be imagined. In the +meantime, Buck Bradley, who knew a thing or two about railroading +himself, had his coat off, and was hard at work waking up the banked +fires. Presently the forced draught began to roar, and black smoke to +roll from the smoke-stack. By the time the auto had been wheeled in +under a shed, and Bill Whiting asked to communicate with the government +troops as soon as possible, all was ready for the start. + +The engine was trembling under a good head of steam, white jets gushing +from her safety valves. + +"All ab-o-a-r-d!" yelled Pete, in the manner of a conductor, and Buck +Bradley, who had stepped off after his labors to cool up a bit, began +to climb back again. + +"Why, are you going with us, Mr. Bradley?" demanded Jack amazedly. +"What about your show?" + +"Oh, Sam Stow kin look after that," was the easy rejoinder. "It won't +be the first time. I've worked long enough; now I'm off for a little +play." + +"Won't be much play about it, I'm thinking," grunted Pete. + +The engine bell clanged, a hoarse shriek came from her whistle, and the +wheels began to revolve. Ralph was at the throttle, while Bill Whiting +was up ahead to throw the switch. + +"Good luck!" he cried, waving his hand as the locomotive swept by and +rolled out upon the main line. + +"Good-by!" cried the crowd of adventurers in the cab, waving their +hands back at him. + +Buck threw the furnace door open, and sent a big shovelful of coal +skittering into the glaring interior. The cumbrous machine gave a leap +forward, like a scared greyhound, as Ralph jerked the throttle open. + +The Border Boys were off on what was to prove one of the most +adventurous incidents of their lives. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +JACK MERRILL'S "SPECIAL." + +The landscape swam by, the telegraph poles flashed past, as the flying +locomotive gained headway. The ponderous compound jolted and swung +along over the rough tracks like a ship in a stormy sea. But the +thrill of adventure, the buoyant sense of facing a big enterprise, +rendered the lads oblivious to everything but the track ahead. + +From time to time, Buck Bradley stopped his shoveling, and, holding by +a hand-rail, leaned far out from the footplate, scanning the metals +that stretched out in two parallel lines ahead. + +"Be like them varmints to hev blown up a bridge, or spiked a track," he +muttered. + +All eyes were now on the alert for the first sight of the red-brick +station--the only one on the line--which Bill Whiting had told them +marked the Esmeralda switch. As yet it had not come into view, but +they judged it must be around a curve which lay ahead, the far side of +which was hidden from them by a clump of woods. Suddenly, from this +clump emerged a figure, waving a red flag. He stopped in the middle of +the track, waving his flag frantically. + +"Shut down!" yelled Buck. "There's danger ahead!" + +"Looks more like a trick, to me," growled the wary Coyote Pete. + +"Can't afford to take chances," rejoined Buck. "How do we know what's +the tother side of that curve?" + +"That's so," agreed Pete; "them critters might hev planted a ton of +dynamite there, fer all we know." + +The brakes ground down, and the panting locomotive came to a stop +within a few feet of the man with the red flag. It could now be seen +that he was a small, dark Mexican, wearing a high-crowned hat. + +"Why, I know that fellow, he----" began Ralph. But his recognition of +the fellow, whom he had seen in Madero's camp, came too late. + +From the woods ahead of them, a perfect hailstorm of bullets began to +spit about the engine. Fortunately, none of the occupants of her cab +were struck, although the windows were splintered and the woodwork +honeycombed. + +"Go ahead!" roared Buck. + +"What if they've torn up the track?" gasped Ralph. + +"Not likely. If they had, they wouldn't be bothering to shoot at us. +Let her out. Ouch!" + +A bullet whizzed past the burly showman's ear, and just nicked the tip +of it. + +With a roar of rage, like the bellowings of an angry bull, he leaned +his huge form out of the window and began pumping lead from his +revolver into the woods. It is doubtful if his fire had any effect, +but at that minute Ralph started the engine up again. A yell came from +the Mexicans within the wood, as he did so. A hundred or more poured +out, firing as they came. + +"Duck, everybody!" yelled Coyote Pete, as the storm broke. + +A tempest of lead rattled about the engine, but, thanks to the +protection of the steel cab, not one of the crouching occupants was +hurt. Almost before they realized it, they had swung around the curve, +and were safe. As Buck Bradley had surmised, no attempt had been made +to wreck the track beyond, the insurrectos having counted, seemingly, +on stopping the dash for the Esmeralda by their ambush in the wood. + +[Illustration: A tempest of lead rattled about the engine. Almost +before they realised it, they had swung around the curve.] + +"Consarn their yellow hides," grunted Pete, "that shows they kep' +closer tabs on us then we knew. I reckon they was scared to follow us +to Rosario, thinking, like we did, that the regulars was there. Waal, +that was a neat little surprise party, but it didn't work." + +Round the curve they tore, at a hair-raising gait, but the engine stuck +to the metals. Ten minutes later a cheer went up, as the red-brick +station, which they knew must mark the Esmeralda switch, came in sight. + +"I got the switch key from Whiting," cried Buck, as they reached the +switch, "I'll throw it." + +He swung himself down from the cab, and ran rapidly ahead, down the +track, to the switch lever. As he bent over it, from a clump of bushes +near by, there leaped a score or more of men. + +"Buck! Buck!" yelled Coyote Pete. + +The big fellow looked up just in time. The foremost of his attackers +was upon him as he threw the switch over. Buck picked him up, and +fairly pitched the little Mexican over his head. The man fell in a +heap at one side of the track. + +"Come ahead!" bawled Buck, while the others hesitated and held back. + +Ralph started the engine up, and it rolled toward the switch points. +This seemed to wake the hesitating Mexicans to life. With a yell, they +made a concerted rush for Buck, but, as they did so, Ralph pulled the +whistlecord, and the locomotive emitted an ear-splitting screech. The +Mexicans hastily jumped aside, to avoid being run down, while Buck made +a leap to exactly the opposite side of the track. As the engine puffed +by, he swung on. As he did so, however, one of the yellow men made a +spring for the switch. It was his evident intention to throw it, while +the engine was passing over it, and ditch them. + +But, before he could carry out his intention, Jack, who had seen what +was about to happen, had snatched up a hunk of coal. With all his +force, he aimed it at the fellow, and struck him fair and square on the +head. The would-be train-wrecker toppled backward with a groan, just +escaping the wheels of the engine. Before he gathered himself up and +realized what had hit him, the engine was roaring and puffing its way +up the grade to the Esmeralda. + +"That shows us what we may expect at the mine," commented Jack. "I +hope they are still all right." + +"Don't worry about that, boy," comforted Buck, noting his troubled +face. "The fact that Madero had his men along the line shows that he +anticipated our game--like the shrewd ruffian he is. It stands to +reason he couldn't have his precious squadron, or column, or whatever +he calls it, in two places at once, so I guess we'll be in time yet." + +"I hope so, I'm sure," breathed Jack. "If we failed now, it would be +the bitterest moment of my life." + +But, as they came in sight of the tall stockade and the smokeless +chimneys of the Esmeralda, they saw that their apprehensions were +groundless. No sign of life appeared about the mine buildings. But +presently, in answer to a long blast on the whistle, a strange figure +came toddling out of the gate. It was that of Geisler. As he saw the +engine, with its load of friendly faces, he broke into a cheer, and ran +toward the track side. + +"Hoch! Hoch! Hoch!" he yelled, waving his china-bowled pipe about his +head. "Diss iss der bestest thing I've seen since I had idt der +Cherman measles, alretty yet." + +As the brakes ground down, and with a mighty exhalation of steam and a +sigh from the air-brakes, the locomotive came to a stop, Jack leaped +from the cab and ran toward the German. To his astonishment, Geisler +almost recoiled as he drew near, and uttered a shout. + +"Donner blitzen! I voss righdt den, idt vos a trap dot dose rascals +laid." + +"What do you mean, Mr. Geisler? Where is my father?" gasped Jack, all +in one breath. + +"Himmel!" sputtered the German. "Oh, diss is an onloocky day, py +chiminy. A young feller rode it to der mine, early to-day, undt told +your fader dot you vos wounded, and----" + +"My father went with this fellow?" demanded the boy, his eyes blazing +with eagerness and anxiety. + +"Ches. He thought dot idt vos all righdt, und----" + +"It's a trick of Madero's to rush the mine!" exclaimed Buck, who, with +the others, came up as the German was ejaculating the last words. + +"Dot is vot I dink idt. Listen." + +Forthwith the German launched into a detailed report of what had +occurred, not omitting a full description of Harding, which was +instantly recognized by the boys. + +"Harding, the scoundrel!" exclaimed Jack. + +"I'd like to get my hands on him for just five minutes," breathed Walt +viciously. + +Buck and the others, who were, of course, familiar with what had +occurred to the boys with Madero's column, were also incensed. + +"Such men should be hanged!" exclaimed the professor, with what was for +him, a remarkable display of emotion. + +"Budt come," urged the German, as he concluded his narrative, "vee hadt +better be getting inside der stockade." + +He pointed down toward the miners' village, where men could be seen +hastening about, as if preparing to take action of some sort. What +that action was, they guessed too well. Acting in concert with Madero, +they meant to storm the mine, and break open the specie room. + +Ralph ran the locomotive upon a switch and locked the throwing lever. +Then he followed the others through the gate of the stockade. As it +closed behind them, Geisler let fall a stout wooden bar into sockets +prepared for it. + +"I guess dot holdt dem for a viles," he said, as the bar clattered into +position. + +But Jack's thoughts were distracted, and his manner absorbed. His mind +was fixed upon Harding's rascality, and the probable dilemma in which +his father now was. Buck Bradley noticed the boy's despondent air, and +sought to cheer him up. + +"Brace up, Jack," he roared in his hearty way, "your pop is all right. +According to my way of thinking, those greasers just lured him away +from here, so that they could have easy access to the specie room. +They knew that if he was on the ground, he'd blow up the whole +shooting-match before he'd let them get at the gold." + +"Then you don't think they have harmed him, Mr. Bradley?" + +"Not they, my lad," was the reassuring rejoinder, "they wouldn't dare +to injure a prominent American like your dad. Why, our troops are all +massed at San Antone--for manoeuvers, the department says--but as +surely as my name is Buck Bradley, the troops are there to see that the +greasers don't get too fresh. You see, Jack, Uncle Sam don't want to +mix in other folks' troubles. He believes in playing in his own back +yard, but when any one treads on your Uncle's toes, or injures one of +his citizens--then, look out for high voltage shocks." + +"You have relieved my mind a whole lot, Mr. Bradley," said Jack +gratefully. "I guess it's as you say. Madero and his crowd wouldn't +want to run the risk of an American invasion." + +"You can bet a stack of yaller chips on that, boy. But now, let's +follow this Dutchman around and see what the lay of the ground is. If +we've got to put up a scrap--and I guess we have--it's a long move in +the right direction to have your surroundings sized up accurate. By +the way, is this fellow Geisler all right?" + +"My father thinks he is the most faithful and capable mining super in +the country," answered Jack warmly. "I guess he is, too. I only met +him once before on a former visit to the mine, but he sort of inspires +me with confidence." + +"Same here, Jack. I tell you the Dutch kin raise some Cain when they +get going, and that fellow looks to me like one of the right brand." + +Thus talking, they came up with the others. Geisler was explaining +volubly his plan of defense. Buck Bradley interrupted him. + +"What's the matter with boring some holes all around the stockade?" he +asked. "We can fire from behind them if it's necessary, without +exposing ourselves." + +"Buck, that's a great idea," declared Pete, whose eyes were shining at +the thought of what he termed "some action." "Got a brace and bit, +Geisler?" + +"Sure. Ve-e haf a whole barrel of braces and bitters," was the +response, as the corpulent Teuton hastened off to get the tools. + +At the part of the stockade at which they now were standing a ladder, +used in some repairing job, still leaned against the high, wooden +fence. Coyote Pete, struck by a sudden idea, clambered up it, and +gazed over the top of the defensive barricade. As his head topped the +summit, he gave a shout and rapidly ducked. At the same instant a +sound, like the hum of an angry bee, buzzed above their heads. + +"A bullet!" gasped Buck Bradley. + +"That's wot, pod'ner," rejoined Pete, "and it's the first of a whole +flock of such like. The country off to the southwest is jest alive +with insurrectos!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE ATTACK ON THE MINE. + +Flinging his legs over each side of the ladder, Coyote Pete slid to the +ground like a boy sliding down a cellar door. + +"I could catch the glint of sunlight on their rifles," he explained. +"The beggars were trying to approach unseen, though, I guess, for they +were sneaking round a neck of woods so as to take advantage of that +arroyo that runs almost up to the mine. Better get busy with that +borer." + +And "get busy" they did. Holes were rapidly bored in the stockade, the +apertures being of sufficient size to accommodate comfortably the +muzzle of a rifle. Above each such hole another was bored, to enable +the defenders to see the position of their foes. Although this work +took more than an hour, there was still no sign of the enemy. But they +evidently had a close watch kept on the mine, for a hat elevated on a +long stick above the top of the stockade was promptly riddled with +bullets. + +"Jingo!" gasped Jack. "Those fellows mean business." + +"What do you suppose they are going to do?" Walt asked Buck Bradley. +The stout showman looked grave. + +"This hanging back looks bad," he rejoined. "I guess they are waiting +till dusk so as to try and catch us unprepared. Evidently they figger +they've got us where they want us, and there is no use being in a rush +about finishing us up." + +Buck's words were grim, but his expression was grimmer yet. The former +ranch boss had been in many a tough place in his day, but revolving the +situation in his mind he could not call to recollection any more +dangerous circumstances than those in which he now found himself. + +"Bottled and corked," was the way he expressed it to Coyote Pete, who +fully shared his apprehensions. + +Fortunately, behind the office of the mine, there was a small room well +stocked with rifles and ammunition. This was wise precaution of Mr. +Merrill's, who, knowing the Mexican character to a T, had insisted on +this room being provided in case of strikes or other difficulties. + +The store of arms was drawn upon freely, and each of the defenders had +a spare rifle at his side. The weapons were piled by their respective +holes while the besieged awaited the attack. But a hasty dinner was +prepared on the coal-oil stove Of the office, and eaten and digested +before there came any move on the part of Madero's men. + +Through the peep-holes a casual inspection showed nothing outside but +the hillside sloping away from the mine, with here and there a clump of +bushes or small, scrubby trees. But every once in a while the grass +would stir, or a clump of bushes would be agitated strangely, as some +concealed form crept up yet closer to the stockade. Evidently, as Buck +had said, the intention of Madero was to "rush" the place. + +The mining village now seemed deserted, except for a few forms of women +and children which could be seen flitting about. Evidently most of the +men had joined the insurrectos, hoping to have a share in the loot when +the time came. + +"Say, Geisler!" exclaimed Buck Bradley suddenly, "got any steam in the +boiler?" + +"Ches. Aboudt forty or fifty pounds. Der fires vos banked. Pud vy?" + +"Oh, nothing. I've just got a little plan in my head. Now, Jack, +suppose you and I take a little run to the boiler room and look about +us a bit." + +The boy was glad of anything to do to relieve the tension of waiting +for the attack that didn't come. He gladly accompanied the +self-reliant Westerner to the boiler house. They found, as Geisler had +said, that in one of the boilers steam was still up. + +"Now let's take a look around here, sonny," said Buck, glancing about +the walls as if in search of something. "Ah! Here we are, that will +do." + +He pounced on a big reel of fire hose attached to the wall, as he spoke. + +"Fine! Couldn't be better," he continued, as he rapidly unwound it. +"Why, there must be fifty feet or more here. Now let's see. Where is +the blow-off valve of this boiler?" + +"This is it, isn't it?" asked Jack, indicating a valve, with +wheel-controlled outlet near the base of the boiler. + +"That's it. Now then for a monkey wrench and then we are all ready to +give those greasers the surprise of their lives in case they try an +attack upon this side of the stockade." + +"What are you going----" + +That was as far as Jack got in his question. As the words left his +lips, there came from without the sharp sound of a shot. + +Bang! + +"Phew!" whistled Buck. "That's the overture. The performance is about +ter begin." + +In the meantime, the members of the party left at the peep-holes by +Buck Bradley and Jack, had been trying their level best to obtain some +inkling of which side the insurrectos meant to storm first. But, for +all the sign the long, waving grass gave, or the bushes imparted, they +might as well have gazed at the sky. Had they not known that the +insurrectos were out there somewhere, they would have deemed the +hillside barren of life. + +Suddenly, however, as Coyote Pete's keen eye was sweeping the open +space before the stockade, the grass quite near at hand parted, and a +wiry little Mexican stepped out. + +It was a good evidence of the control that Madero exercised over his +men that this fellow, although he must have known he was placing his +life in deadly peril, advanced to within a few feet of the stockade +without a tremor. + +Apparently, judging from his expression, he was astonished that no +hostile demonstration came from within. But the defenders had no wish +to sacrifice life needlessly, and refrained from firing upon him. +Suddenly he halted, and raising his voice, cried out in Spanish: + +"Will you foolish gringoes surrender and give up the gold peaceably, or +must we attack the mine?" + +"Did Madero tell you to ask that?" shouted Pete through his peep-hole. + +"Yes; the general demanded that I should offer you this chance for your +lives." + +"Then tell the general, with our compliments, that if he thinks he'll +get Mr. Merrill's gold without a fight, he's up against the toughest +proposition he ever tackled." + +"As you will, senors. Adios!" + +With a wave of his hat, the Mexican ran speedily back down the +hillside, and dived into some bushes. The watchers of the stockade +were of the opinion that the wave of the hat was merely a bit of Latin +extravagance. They soon found out, however, that it had the +significance of a signal. For, as the fellow dropped into cover, the +grass became alive with human forms. Coyote Pete's finger, which had +been trembling upon the trigger, pressed it. + +Bang! + +It was the first shot of the desperate battle for the defense of the +mine, and the sound that had reached the two in the boiler house. + +The report was followed by a series of appalling yells from without the +stockade. Mexicans seemed to spring from every clump of grass and bit +of brush. It was amazing how they could have crept so close without +being detected. + +"We can't last five minutes!" gasped Walt, as he gazed out. The lad +fired grimly into the advancing rush, however, and the others stood to +their guns like veterans. Their cheeks were blanched under the tan, +though, and the corners of their mouths tightened. Each one of those +defenders realized the practical hopelessness of their positions. + +Suddenly, amid the besiegers' onrushing forms, appeared a figure +mounted upon a superb black horse. The animal curvetted and plunged as +the reports of the rifles of both sides rattled away furiously, but his +rider had him in perfect control. + +"There's Ramon, the scoundrel!" roared Pete, gazing at the defiant +figure. "I'll give him a shot for luck." + +But for once the plainsman's aim was at fault. The bullet evidently +did not even ruffle the former cattle rustler. + +"Ledt me try!" puffed the German ferociously. + +He fared no better. + +"Bah! Und I thought I vos a goodt shot!" he exploded. + +"It ain't that," rejoined Pete superstitiously. "The Mexicans say that +Ramon bears a charmed life, and that only a silver bullet will ever lay +him low." + +Before the professor could make any comment Ramon was heard issuing +commands in a sharp voice. He seemed to have the direction of the +attack. Of Madero there was no sign, unless a small figure on a shaggy +pony, far to the rear, was that of the insurrecto leader. + +The result of Ramon's command was soon evident. The attackers had not +been prepared for so sharp a defense, and, anxious to lose as few men +as possible, Ramon had ordered them to drop once more into the grass. + +This was good strategy, as it was apparently only a matter of time +before the mine defenders would have to surrender, and it was little +use to sacrifice lives in a mad rush against their rifles. + +The attack had splintered the stockade in a score of places, but, +thanks to the toughness of the seasoned wood, the bullets that had +penetrated had lost most of their strength. Beyond a few scratches +from flying splinters, none of the defenders were injured. + +"What can they be up to?" wondered Pete, as half an hour passed and no +further sign came from the besiegers. + +Ramon's figure had now vanished. Perhaps he realized that the fangs of +their enemies were by no means drawn, and deemed it more prudent not to +take chances on the strength of his "charmed life." + +And so the time passed. The sun was well on his march toward the +western horizon before there came a move on the part of the enemy, and +when it did come it was a startling one. Taking advantage of every bit +of cover, the astute mestizos had crept around the stockade till they +were in a position exactly behind the defenders. So that, in fact, for +the last half hour, the alert rifles of Coyote Pete and his companions +had been covering emptiness. + +A yell as the attackers charged from the direction into which they had +covertly worked themselves apprised the besieged of what had happened. +Bitterly blaming his stupidity in not foreseeing such a move, Pete, +followed by the others, darted across the stockade. As they were +halfway across, however, a dozen or more heads appeared upon the +undefended top. + +The insurrectos had determined on a bold rush, and unmolested they had +succeeded in scaling the walls on each other's shoulders. + +"Good Lord!" groaned Pete, as he saw. + +Despair was in the countenances of the others, but, even as they halted +in dismay at what seemed certain annihilation, a strange thing happened. + +With a screaming, earsplitting roar, a white cloud swept from the +direction of the boiler house at the clustering forms on the top of the +stockade. + +It was a column of live steam that swept them from their perches, like +dried leaves before a wind. + +Buck Bradley's plan had worked with terrible effectiveness. Before the +rush of white-vapor the insurrectos melted away in a screaming, scalded +flurry. In less than two minutes after Jack had turned the steam on, +not a sign of them was to be seen. + +"Hooray!" yelled the boys, carried away by the sudden relief of the +strain when it had seemed that all was over. "Hooray! We win!" + +"Don't be premature!" admonished Buck gravely, as the column of steam +was shut off. "We ain't out of ther woods yet by a long shot. How +about it, Pete?" + +The old plainsman tugged his sun-bleached moustache viciously. + +"Why, boys," he declared emphatically, "them reptiles ain't begun ter +fight yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE LAST STAND.--CONCLUSION. + +As the cow-puncher spoke, there came a sound from the direction of the +gate which was filled with sinister significance. + +Thud! Thud! + +It echoed hollowly within the stockade. Buck Bradley was quick to read +its meaning. + +"They've got a big log or suthin, and are busting in the gate!" he +cried. + +A shout of dismay went up from them all. As it so happened, there had +been no time to bore any holes near the gate, and the only way to delay +the work of battering it down would be to clamber to the fence top and +fire down into the insurrectos handling the battering ram. + +But it needed no second thought to show that this would be madness. At +the first appearance of a head above the stockade, they knew that half +a hundred rifles from without would pour a volley at it. It would not +take more than ten minutes to wipe out the whole garrison in this way. + +"Nope. We'll have to think of some other plan," decided Buck. It is +worthy of remark here that not one of the defenders of the mine had +ever even hinted at a surrender. This was not due so much to the fact, +as they knew, that it would only mean exchanging one form of death for +another, as it was to their grim determination to defend the mine at +whatever cost to themselves. It was the dogged American spirit that +prevailed at the Alamo. + +"Aha! I haf idt!" burst out Geisler suddenly, after a few minutes of +deep thought. "Dere is no hope uv safing dot gate?" + +"Not the least," Buck assured him. "They'll have it through in a few +minutes now." + +He pointed to the timbers which were already showing jagged cracks up +and down their entire length. + +"Veil," said the German, "der office uv der mine is made strong--oh +very strong, for behindt idt is der specie room. Ve can gedt by der +inside in dere and fire through der vindows. And as a last resort vee +can----" + +He paused. + +"We can what?" demanded Jack. + +"Nefer mindt. I dell you later. Now is dot agreed upon?" + +"It's about all we can do, I guess," grunted Pete, "unless we stay here +to be shot down." + +"Den come mit me." + +The German rapidly led the way across the yard to the office building. +As he closed and barred the door, they noted that it was lined inside +with steel, strongly riveted to the oak. The windows also had steel +shutters, cleverly concealed, in cases into which they slid, from +casual view. In the windows, as well as in the door, were small +apertures for firing through. + +"Why, it's a regular fort!" exclaimed Ralph, as the shutters clanged to +with a harsh, grating sound. + +"You bet my life idt's a fort," agreed Herr Geisler, "undt ledt me tell +you dot you needt a fort ven you have a specie room by dis country." + +"Then the specie room is near us?" + +"In there." + +The German pointed over his shoulder at a door in the rear of the +office. + +"Idt is steel walled, undt dere is a combination lock on der door. +Even if dey should kill us all, dey still have a tough nut to crack." + +The German spoke calmly, and his blond features were absolutely +unruffled. No emotion appeared either on the weathered countenances of +Coyote Pete or Buck Bradley. The professor's face, though, was ashen, +but he uttered never a word. As for the boys, who shall blame them if +it is said that their hearts were beating wildly, their mouths felt +dry, and their brains throbbed. + +It was the last stand, and they all realized it. + +Unless help should come from an unforeseen source, they were bound to +perish miserably at the hands of the insurrectos. + +Suddenly, there was a great crashing, rending sound from without. +Instantly a chorus of wild yells arose on the air, and shots were fired +as if in exultation. + +"They've busted the gate!" exclaimed Buck. + +Peering through the apertures in the door and windows, they could see +the hoard come pouring into the yard of the mine. At first they came +cautiously. They evidently recollected the steam, and feared another +ambush. In a few minutes, however, their confidence returned. The +watchers could see a little man dart out from among the crowd and point +toward the specie room and the office structure. + +"The gold is within, my brothers!" he shouted in Spanish. + +"Bodderation tage dot feller," sputtered Geisler, "a veek ago he vos +der best vorkman ve hadt by der mine, undt now look at him." + +With a howl, the insurrectos charged on the hut. The lust of gold was +in their veins, and they minded the volley poured into them by the +defenders no more than if it had been so much rain. Several of them +fell, but it seemed to make no difference to the others. They charged +right up to the very doors of the place. Some of them even tore at the +walls as if they imagined they could demolish them and get at the +gringo gold. + +"Dot is vot goldt does for mens," philosophically remarked the German, +as he gazed at the onrush, firing methodically at the same time. + +Jack, Ralph, and Walt were at one of the windows, while the professor +and Coyote Pete defended the other. During the mad rush for the +office, they all did considerable execution, without, of course, any +cost to themselves. The Mexicans, to be sure, returned the fire +furiously, but their bullets "pinged" harmlessly against the steel +shutters, or buried themselves in the thick, wooden walls. + +Suddenly there came an angry shout from some one evidently in authority +among the insurrectos. Instantly the attack melted away, the +retreating men dragging their wounded with them. It was Jack's first +sight of real warfare, and it made his blood, as well as that of the +others, run cold. + +"Now what are they up to?" wondered Buck, as this sudden cessation of +activities came. + +"Search me," rejoined Coyote Pete, "but it's some deviltry, you can bet +on that--that voice was Ramon's. He's got a plan in his head to get us +out of here." + +"Well, he'll have a man's-sized job on his hands," rejoined Buck, +calmly reloading the magazine of his rifle and running a cleaning rod +through the foul barrel. + +The others employed their time in the same manner. Thus they waited +for what seemed an interminable age. Still there was no sign of the +Mexicans. The yard without was empty of life. + +"If they don't show up in a few minutes, what say if we open the door +and make a rush for it?" asked Jack. + +"As good an idea as any," rejoined Buck, "but what I would like to know +right now is what they can be doing." + +"Queer, ain't it?" said Pete. + +They all agreed that it was, but not one could hit upon an explanation +that seemed plausible. + +Suddenly, Buck, who had been sniffing suspiciously for a few seconds, +gave a sharp exclamation. + +"Do you fellows smell anything?" + +"No----" began Jack, and then: + +"Good heavens, yes! Something's on fire!" + +"That's right," agreed Pete, without a quaver in his voice. "The +varmints hev set fire to the building from the rear." + +"That's what!" rejoined Buck, "and we can't get within a mile of them. +I don't suppose there are any rifle holes in the specie room are there, +Mr. Geisler?" + +"Nodt a vun," rejoined the German, in a peculiar voice, and then they +noticed, in the gloomy light of the closed-up place, that his face was +ashen white. + +It was clear that the German was badly frightened. His knees seemed to +be knocking together, in fact. Small wonder, too. The sharp, acrid +smell of blazing wood was in the air now. They could hear the crackle +of the flames as they devoured the wooden outer walls of the specie +room. + +"Come, cheer up, my man," Buck admonished the quaking German. "Why +you've stood it all through like a major, and----" + +"Idt ain't dot. Idt ain't dose mis-er-able creasers dot I'm afraid +of," rejoined the German in a quavering voice. + +"What then?" + +"Dot room behindt us contains, besides der specie, almost a ton of +dynamite!" + +"Great jumping wildcats!" + +The exclamation dropped from Buck's lips. The others were too +thunderstruck to utter a word. + +"There's only one thing to do," spoke up Pete, his words fairly +tumbling out of his mouth in his haste. "We must open the door and, at +a signal, make a rush for it. We may never get through, but it's +better than being blown up as we shall be if we remain here. The +insurrectos must have left their horses somewhere near at hand. Maybe +we can find them and escape." + +"It's one chance in a thousand!" exclaimed Jack. "But perhaps this +will be the thousandth time." + +"Let us pray so!" exclaimed the professor fervently. + +Buck had sprung to the door. His hand was on the bar. He knew, as did +they all, that there was not an instant to lose. Their lives hung by a +hair. At any moment the flames might reach the dynamite and +then--annihilation, swift and terrible. + +"Now!" he cried, dropping the bar. A strange light, not of fear but of +determination, gleamed in his eyes. + +Clang! + +The bar fell to the ground, and the besieged party dashed forth, firing +as they emerged. + +Suddenly, from without, and just as the insurrectos espied the daring +sortie, there came the shrill notes of a bugle. At the same instant a +ringing cheer came over the top of the stockade. + +What could it all mean? As if in a dream, the boys saw the insurrectos +picking up their rifles and rushing toward the gate. But before they +could reach it, a glorious sight greeted them. + +A regiment of regular Mexican cavalry, the men with their carbines +unslung, pouring a disastrous hail into the swarming insurrectos, +suddenly swung through the shattered gateway. + +Shouts and cries responded everywhere within the stockade. The +terrified insurrectos dropped their rifles and ran hither and thither +in mad, frenzied panic. It was every one for himself. Over the +stockade they clambered, many paying toll with their lives before the +carbines of Diaz's troopers. + +But in the midst of the turmoil a clear, boyish voice arose. + +"Back! Get back, for heaven's sake!" + +The officer of the Mexican regulars heard, and wheeled his men. He +recognized the thrill of warning in Jack Merrill's tones. + +Stumbling forward, the suddenly relieved party of Americans darted +toward the gate for their lives. On down the hillside they fled, with +the cavalry surging behind and about them. + +"What is it? What is the matter?" gasped the officer in English, as +Jack stumbled along at his side. + +The lad gasped out one word: + +"Dynamite!" + +Hardly had it fallen from his lips before the ground shook as if +convulsed with an earthquake. A red flame shot skyward behind them, +and a mighty, reverberating roar went rumbling and echoing over the +countryside. + +The flames had reached the explosive. + +Almost at the same instant a shower of embers, debris, and odds and +ends of all descriptions came showering about the retreating force. +Several were cut and bruised by the shower, but none seriously. + +Fortunately, also, beyond causing several of the cavalry horses to bolt +in mad terror, no damage was done to the troops or our friends. The +situation was rapidly explained to the wondering officer whose name was +Captain Dominguez, in command of the force detailed to guard the +railroad. + +"We learned at Rosario that you had come to the mine," he said, in +explanation of the troops' opportune arrival, "and, knowing that Madero +was in the habit of raiding mines and was in the neighborhood, we made +top speed to the rescue." + +"And we're all mighty happy to meet you, you kin bet, captain," chimed +in Buck, "but ef yer hadn't arrived when you did, we would not have had +the pleasure." + +"No, I can see that," rejoined the young officer, gazing off down the +hillside. + +In every direction could be seen Mexican troopers pursuing rebels, +shooting them down, without mercy when fight was shown, in other cases, +making prisoners. The rout of the insurrectos was complete and final. + +Suddenly a figure on horseback was seen coming at a hard gallop toward +the little group surrounding Captain Dominguez. + +"It's Harding!" gasped Jack, as the figure drew closer, and indeed it +was the former West Pointer. But he was in sad case. His shirt was +torn almost from his back, his features blackened and seared, and a red +stain showed upon his chest. + +"He was in that explosion, the precious scoundrel!" grated out Buck, as +his eye took in these details. "He was one of the fellers that set +that fire." + +Straight for the little party Harding rode. But before he reached them +two Mexican troopers interposed. They raised their carbines and the +next moment would have been Harding's last, but for Jack. + +"Don't let them fire!" he begged. + +The captain shouted an order and the troopers lowered their weapons. +Straight on for the party rode Harding, toppling out of his saddle as +he reached them. The fellow was badly wounded. He had been struck by +a flying splinter in the explosion of the dynamite. + +"Ah, a countryman of yours," remarked the captain, with a tinge of +sarcasm. "You should be proud of him, senors." + +But Jack was on his knees beside Harding. + +"Where is my father, Harding? Tell me quick!" + +"I will," gasped out the wounded man. "Madero had him tied in that +grove yonder. He wished him to see the destruction of his mine, he +said, and----" + +The man fainted. Rascal as they knew him to be, the boys were soon +applying such remedies as they could--all but Jack, that is. The boy, +on Harding's pony, was off at lightning speed for the grove Harding had +indicated. As he entered it, he spied Mr. Merrill tied, as Harding had +said, to a tree. Of the meeting between father and son we prefer to +let each reader draw his own mental picture. + +"Merrill, forgive me!" breathed Harding, who had recovered from his +swoon a few moments after as Jack and his father came up from the grove. + +"I may forgive you, Harding," rejoined Jack, "but I can never forget." + +And forgive Jack did, as he showed by interceding for the man and +having him removed to a hospital near Rosario. Harding ultimately +recovered and of his further movements we have no knowledge. He fared +better, however, than Hickey, Divver and Rafter, who were captured by +the government forces and sentenced to death by a summary court-martial. + +Mr. Merrill rapidly explained that he had ridden ten miles or more from +the mine with Harding before he became suspicious. He then asked +Harding point blank where his son was, and the fellow's reply had been +to give a peculiar whistle. Thereupon several insurrectos had leaped +from the bushes and made the mine owner captive. As Harding had told +Jack, Madero, with fiendish cruelty, had tied him in the grove to +witness the annihilation of his own mine. + +After a short pause, during which restoratives were administered to the +almost exhausted Americans from the Mexican officers' field kit, they +headed for the mine to ascertain what damage had been done by the +explosion. Almost the first object that met their eyes as they neared +the stockade was a jagged break in the structure caused by a large +object that had come crashing down upon it. On closer view this proved +to be the steel safe in which the gold had been placed. On opening the +receptacle, everything was found intact, a fact which the makers of the +safe are now using as a testimonial, as you may have noticed as you +passed their Broadway store. The testimonial is signed by Conrad +Geisler, who is now Mr. Merrill's partner. + +Well, there is not much more to tell of this part of the Border Boys' +adventures. As it may be of interest, however, to relate the further +history of the underground river and the Haunted Mesa, we shall set it +down here. Ramon escaped from the general disaster to the insurrectos +at the Esmeralda Mine, and apparently rode straight from there to the +mouth of the underground river he had long used to such good advantage. +At any rate, when the boys visited it later, they found that a +cunningly set explosion had completely blocked the passage for +navigation, and the secret route of the forgotten race was forever +closed to man. As for the Mesa, you can read all about it +scientifically described in Professor Wintergreen's monograph on the +subject. + +The ponies and the redoubtable One Spot, Two Spot, and Three Spot were +located at the Mesa, where they had been left in charge of Ramon's men. +All were fat and in good condition, and Firewater was very glad to see +his young master again. + +By the way, Bill Whiting is now stationed in charge at the important +railroad center of El Paso. + + * * * * * * + +"Wall," remarked Pete, as they rode toward the ranch one evening, "I +guess things 'ull be quiet now fer a while." + +"Hope so," rejoined Buck Bradley. "I wired Stow ter bring my show ter +Maguez and you can all have free passes." + +Jack thanked the genial showman on behalf of his companions, and then +reminded him that Ramon was still at large, although the insurrectos +were almost subjugated. + +"Yes, consarn that pesky critter with the finest horse I ever set eyes +on,--and while he's alive ther'll be no peace along the border." + +"That's right," agreed Pete. "He's a natural born trouble-maker. But +I guess so far as we are concerned we are through with him." + +But Coyote Pete, accurate as were his usual judgments, was wrong in +this. Black Ramon and his horse will figure again in these stories, +and it will then be seen how the boys finally brought him to book for +his misdeeds. + + * * * * * * + +The shadows are falling over the plains and the foothills are purpling +in the clear twilight of the southwest. In the sunset sky the bright +lone star of evening glimmers. Let us now say good night and good luck +to the Border Boys till we meet them again in a new volume of their +adventures to be called: "THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE +FRONTIER*** + + +******* This file should be named 19083.txt or 19083.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/8/19083 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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