ON THE MEXICAN SIDE
Alex's fish breakfast was a culinary success, but over it hung the
shadow of that threat. But was it a threat?
The boys discussed it from every possible angle only to come back to the
original question:
Was it a threat or a promise?
"Well, he'll have a fine time catching the _Rambler_," said Case. "He's
got to go some if he does. And he'll need an aeroplane in order to do
it."
"He may have an aeroplane secreted in his pocket," Jule said.
However, two days passed and they heard nothing of either the river
thieves or the stranger. When El Paso was reached Buck and Rube prepared
for departure.
"You boys started out with accommodations for four," said Buck, "and
you've kept collecting about every person you came across until you've
doubled the crew."
"I can't see what we should have done without you three men," Case
answered. "In the first place, we never could have got through without
Rube's roll! He was perfectly willing that it should be used, and we
accommodated him."
"Then what should we have done without Thede? There's a man that knows
how to set a leg or bind up an artery! We certainly couldn't have left
him out. I think, when you come to size the whole thing up, we carried
just enough people to do what had to be done. How does that strike you,
Alex?"
"Right you are," answered the boy addressed. "We haven't been a bit
crowded, and we've had plenty to eat. I wish Rube and Buck were going on
with us."
"I'd eat you out of house and home," laughed Rube. "I presume you boys
noticed that I have quite an appetite."
"Just about the size of mine!" said Alex.
El Paso was the scene of great activity a year ago, when the Rio Grande
was the dividing line between the United States and Mexico. Streets were
crowded with men in uniform, and restaurants and saloons contributed
their full quota to the general confusion.
The city, however, was quieter now, and the boys had no difficulty in
finding their way about. Troops still guarded the Mexican line, but they
were inconspicuous.
Clay had, in a measure, recovered, though he was still weak. He was able
to sit on deck and watch the moving panorama which is to be seen in all
frontier cities.
The first trip taken by Case and Alex was to the bank, where they found
the money waiting for them. As the telegram had instructed the cashier
to pay the money over "without identification, at the risk of the
remitter," the boys had no difficulty whatever in securing it. They paid
Rube in full, and insisted on his taking an extra $20, for being "a good
fellow in the time of trouble."
The _Esmeralda's_ prow had been repaired on the way down, and she was
now in perfect condition. The boys saw her disappear around a bend in
the river with sincere regret.
They had been friends in need, and "a friend in need is a friend
indeed," as the old saying runs. But they had not seen the last of
either one of them.
Thede, the surgeon, decided, at the earnest solicitation of the boys, to
remain on board the motor boat. Clay was still in a feeble condition,
and Paul's broken leg needed constant care, so it was decided that the
doctor should remain on board.
Captain Joe, the parrot, and even Teddy Junior, the bear cub, seemed to
extend a welcoming paw and claw to the doctor and Paul. Provisions for
the remainder of the trip were laid in at El Paso, and on the second day
the _Rambler_, as trim a boat as ever plowed the waters of the Rio
Grande, lifted her anchor and sailed away.
Those were glorious days for the _Rambler_ crew. The time was late in
May, and at that season Nature is at her best in the South.
The boys fished and loafed about the deck of the motor boat until Clay
was almost well again, and Paul insisted on being taken to the deck to
watch the life on the river.
They heard no more of the river thieves, and everything moved along as
placidly as if they had never interfered with the current of their
lives. But this was only for a time.
One brilliant night when the _Rambler_ was given just sufficient motion
to give steerage way, when Alex and Jule were on watch, the former
asked, abruptly:
"Was it a threat or a promise?"
"I've been thinking the matter over," was the answer, "and I find there
is not a thing the river robbers had to give or offer. So we may as well
cut out the promise part. On the other hand, we know pretty well what
the devils would do to us if we again came into their power.
"Therefore," he continued, "we don't welcome a meeting. Still, if it
comes, I don't think we'll dodge. That wouldn't be good form, would it
now?"
"No," replied Alex, "I don't think it would. But we ought to do
everything in our power to avoid a collision with them. Some day, if we
don't watch out, we'll get the worst of it. We can't expect to win out
in every encounter."
"Right you are!" declared Jule.
"I wonder how those Greasers, over there, live?" asked Alex. "Dirty and
greasy as ever, I presume?"
"You bet!" answered Jule.
"Some day when we are not on watch, and the boat is lying at anchor.
I'll stump you to go and see," continued Alex. "Some of the sights in a
Mexican town must be worth seeing."
"You're on!" answered Jule.
"I have the meaning of that French writing," decided Alex, after a long
pause. "It is this: 'Wait until I catch you!' How's that for a free
translation?"
"It's free enough," laughed Jule. "Only I don't see how we can wait, as
the river insists on bearing us along on its noble and rather muddy
bosom."
"I've got a hunch," said Alex soberly, "that the next time we run afoul
of the river thieves it won't be so easy to get away. In other words,
I've got a premonition of approaching danger."
"Nonsense!" Jule exclaimed. "You've got a case of indigestion, if
anybody should ask you! I thought at the time that you were making
rather free with that potato salad."
"Oh, all right! Make fun of the hunch if you want to, but it is a
really, truly, warranted-not-to-shrink-or-fade-in-the-washing hunch.
Just you mark that down and keep for future reference."
Captain Joe now came out to Alex and stood rubbing his nose against the
boy's hand.
"Look here!" the dog appeared to be trying to say, "if you've got
anything important coming off, produce it. I have a few hours which are
hanging rather heavily on my hands."
"Want to go to shore, Captain Joe?" Alex asked.
The dog said that he did as plainly as ever a dog said anything and Alex
got to his feet with a yawn.
He whistled about the deck for a time with hands in pockets, as if about
to say something which he was positive would not meet with the sanction
of his chum. At last, however, he found words for it.
"I suppose I'll have to go and give the dog a run on the bank. That
seems to be about the only way I can keep him quiet."
"No, you don't!" laughed Jule. "If you get ashore that will be the last
of you until someone comes and looks you up. The last time you got
away----"
Alex, followed by the dog, sprang to the rail and leaped into the river.
Pausing only long enough to turn a laughing face toward his chum, very
much wrinkled as to nose, the boy, closely followed by the dog, struck
out for the Mexican shore.
"I've a good mind to jump in after you!" Jule called out. "You have all
the fun!"
"Come on in!" Alex called back. "The water's fine! I'll just give
Captain Joe a run on shore and come right back."
Jule hesitated only an instant. What boy can resist a night in May, when
the moon shines, and the waves make music on the beach? It is a shame to
tempt a boy with a stream of water which ripples and murmurs on such a
night.
Jule was tempted--and fell.
The Rio Grande is quite wide at the point where the boys entered the
water, and the _Rambler_ was about in the center of the stream, making
the swim a long one. The lads, however, struck out bravely and soon
landed on a swampy tongue of land which formed a peninsula at that
point.
"Say, but this is great!" cried Alex. "I wish Case was here to enjoy it
with us."
Captain Joe seemed to think his frolic in the moonlight about the
correct thing. He dived under the surface and pretended to catch the
boys by their legs; he brought chips and driftwood from the stream and
invited the boys to play tag with him.
At last he lay down on a bit of grass, signifying that his play spell
was over, and that he would like to return to the boat.
But there was no boat in sight.
Then, and not until then, did the boys recollect that the boat was in
motion--under steerway motion, it is true, but even steerway motion will
sometimes carry a boat a long way, especially when the boys who should
be guarding it are giving their attention to something else.
"The boys will wake up and come back after us," said Jule.
"Of course they will," agreed Alex.
Alex and Jule waited a long time, but there were no signs of the boat
coming back after them.
"If we remain right where we landed," Jule finally said, "they will be
certain to find us."
"That would be all right if they knew where we landed, but they don't.
The thing for them to do is to look along the shore until they see us.
What a fool trick that was, leaving the boat unguarded. Unless someone
on board wakes up, they may sail half the forenoon. I feel like giving
myself a swift kick."
"I reckon you don't feel that way more than I do," replied Jule. "I
suppose the boys will think we have deserted them."
"Or that we have been lured from the boat and murdered," added Alex.
"What's the matter with you now, Captain Joe? What have you found in the
bushes?"
The thing which showed in the bushes where the dog was looking was the
pointed hat of a Mexican.
"Look there!" Alex said, not in the least alarmed, but with the notion
that in some way the man could assist.
The next moment a gun was leveled at the two boys and a voice said in
excellent English:
"Throw up your hands!"
As the boys were without weapons, the command was instantly obeyed. Then
four rough-looking men came out of the thicket in single file and stood
in front of the astonished boys.
"What is the meaning of this?" Alex demanded. "Is it a hold-up? If it
is, we haven't got a cent."
Daylight was coming now and the moon was sinking in the West. The faces
of the four men were in the shadow, but still it was plain to be seen
that they were not out for a morning stroll.
The man who appeared to be the leader of the party gave a significant
motion and instantly both boys were turned bottom side up while their
pockets were being examined.