IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.
"Don't shoot!" Rob called out hastily, fearing that Lopez might think it
his duty, as the guardian of the little party, to open fire on the
Regulars; and this was not in accordance with the designs of the Boy
Scouts, who were bound to exhaust every peaceful effort before
proceeding to any violence.
Andy had by this time come to his senses, and started to crawl over to
where he had stacked his rifle. Shooting at coyotes was one thing,
however, and being compelled to fire upon human beings quite another;
and the boy looked pretty white "about the gills," as Merritt afterward
put it, as he clutched his weapon. But he had also heard what the patrol
leader said, and did not make any hostile demonstration, beyond pulling
back the hammer of his gun with his trembling thumb.
Of course, if the two Mexican soldiers made any attempt to run off their
mounts, Rob knew very well that they could not stand for that; since to
be forced to foot it all the way to Chihuahua, across burning desert
sands, and rough hilly country, was a prospect that did not appeal to
him at all.
Fortunately the pair of cavalrymen did not dream of attacking nearly
three times their number. They just took it out in staring, and possibly
saying things back and forth. Then, as though they had decided that
retreat was the best play, since they were plainly outnumbered, suddenly
both men wheeled their horses and went galloping swiftly away, sitting
their saddles with that grace that seems to be a natural heritage of all
Mexicans.
"Good riddance of bad rubbage!" called out Merritt; though the boy was
undoubtedly relieved to see the cavalrymen depart without a fight.
Whether the men heard what he said or not, they turned and shook their
fists in the direction of the scouts; and from the threatening gestures
that followed this action it was plainly to be seen that they did not
mean this to be the last time they expected to meet the little party.
Rob turned to Lopez when the pair had vanished from view, and he could
no longer catch the heavy thud of their horses' hoofs on the hard
ground.
He found the guide frowning, and this fact told Rob what to expect.
"That spells trouble for us, doesn't it, Lopez?" he asked; while Tubby,
Merritt and Andy hung upon what was passing between guide and patrol
leader.
The Mexican shrugged his shoulders.
"If they can make it so, we will be followed, young señor," he remarked.
"You saw for yourself they were Federal cavalrymen, the same that
General Salazar he have send out to cut the railroad between Chihuahua
and the river. All men who fight for Huerta hate Yankee gringoes; and
they see these uniforms, so they understand you are Americano soldiers.
That is bad!"
"So that's the way the land lies!" remarked Merritt. "Well, we do not
intend taking off these good old suits and wearing anything else, not if
we know it. But see here, Lopez, what if those fellows should take a
notion to sneak around on us, and try a shot from the rear?"
"Not much chance of that, with all these thickets around, which Lopez
calls the chaparral," Rob told him; "but I'll just wander off a bit,
and see if I can glimpse them going. If that fails, I'll keep watch
while the rest of you eat breakfast. Get busy, Andy and Tubby, so we'll
have that agony over in a hurry."
"Agony!" repeated Tubby indignantly. "Well, I like that, now, don't you,
Andy? As if eating could ever be a task!"
Passing out of the hidden camp, Rob found a place where he could get an
uninterrupted view of the lower country. And it was not long before he
discovered two mounted men, whom he easily recognized as their unbidden
visitors, spurring away as fast as their horses could take them. When
the scout saw them look back several times, he no longer doubted that
they were positively the men he had come to watch.
It made Rob a trifle uneasy to note the fact that the cavalrymen had
departed in almost a southerly direction; because that might indicate
future trouble for the little expedition.
When he showed up in camp again breakfast was just ready.
"Hello! changed your mind about not wanting to eat, have you, Rob?"
hailed Tubby.
"Oh! you mistook what I said," replied the other laughingly, as he
threw himself down, selected a pannikin, and proceeded to slide several
slices of fried bacon out of the skillet. Then as he accepted the tin
cup of fragrant coffee which Merritt hastened to pour for him, he added,
"Guess I like to eat when I'm hungry as well as anybody."
"But you draw the line there, don't you, Rob?" demanded Andy. "You don't
want to eat any old time, whether you're hungry or not, like some
fellows we know?"
"Yes, we know a few, Andy," Tubby hastened to thrust in, realizing that
this was meant for his especial benefit; "and I notice that you're
copying after me in great shape, so that soon I'll have to take a back
seat."
"But what about those two cavalrymen, Rob?" asked Merritt, more deeply
interested in seeking information along these lines than in learning
which of the two disputing scouts could boast of the greater appetite.
"They've kicked the dust of this part of the country from their boots,
and are riding pellmell away to the south," Rob answered. "I reckon
there must be a big bunch of hard riders over there somewhere. All I
hope is that we don't run foul of them during the day and find
ourselves pursued."
Tubby, at that, forgot all about his controversy with Andy.
"What, us chased by a lot of greaser cavalry?" he exclaimed. "Jiminy
crickets! I hope that don't happen! I am not in the best shape going to
do any tall riding; though if I'm hard pushed, you'll find me sticking
to my horse like a mustard plaster. Mebbe you'll have to take a
crowbar next time, Rob, to pry me loose from my saddle."
"Well, let's get through eating as soon as we can," Rob told him;
"because this isn't any time to take things easy."
"Huh! always rushing me when I just get settled down to enjoy a little
bite of grub which I've helped cook," grumbled Tubby. But seeing that
the others were making haste, he set his jaws to working at double pace;
and when no one was looking he even managed to slip some of the hard
tack into his pocket. If they did force him to shorten his breakfast
hour to ten minutes, he wanted something to set his teeth into during
the long hours that must elapse before they found another chance to
break their fast.
The horses were soon saddled and packed, so that the camp in the thicket
could be abandoned. Of course, as usual, they had to wait for Tubby,
because something was always wrong with his bridle, or else the girth
needed shortening so that his saddle would not turn with him as it had
threatened to do many times the day before.
Finally the start was made.
The morning was fresh and clear; and while the day might turn out to be
hot enough toward noon to "fry an egg on a stone in the sun," as Andy
expressed it, the boys certainly enjoyed that first hour's gallop.
Tubby, who soon found his former troubles coming back, did not have
unalloyed pleasure, although he did not complain.
It was a fine stretch of country, and yet Rob knew that they were really
not far from the dreary desert. At times, when they had a chance to look
off to one side, they could see a vast level territory with not a single
tree to break its monotony, nothing but the dry sand that each wind
would send scurrying along to form new hillocks and valleys.
But they had also discovered something else that pleased them more.
This was an occasional glimpse of the railroad that ran between
Chihuahua and Juarez, being long known as the Mexican Central. In other
days, before revolutions came again to vex Uncle Sam's southern
neighbor, it had run without interruption all the way from the Rio
Grande to Mexico City, many hundreds of miles.
For some time past this road had been first in the hands of the rebels,
and then in the possession of the Federals. As each in turn tried to
destroy as much of the track and rolling stock as possible before
vacating, it can be understood that conditions were pretty bad all along
the road at this time.
It was the intention of Rob later on in the day to seek this line of
rusty rails and keep following it south. He anticipated meeting with a
party of Villa's men, perhaps before dark set in. Making friends with
them, he would demand to be taken into the presence of the commanding
general, whether he happened to be in far-off Chihuahua, or at some
point nearer by. He might even be chasing the marauding bands of
Federals that were playing fast and loose with the railroad, on which he
depended to move his men and munitions of war from Juarez south, on the
way to Mexico City.
They kept on riding constantly for several hours. Even Merritt and Andy
felt the strain, which must have been unusually severe on poor Tubby;
but no one heard the gamey fat scout give even a groan. Often, when Rob
would turn his head to look over his shoulder, he could not help but see
the look of "never-say-die" that was imprinted on Tubby's glowing face,
and notice how he kept mopping his streaming forehead.
But they were covering considerable distance, and that was a great
comfort. Tubby had much more at stake than any one of his three chums,
and he must, as the boys always said, "grin and bear it." In fact, there
was nothing else that could be done, since going back now was out of the
question; nor would Tubby have allowed any one to mention such a thing
to him.
Once when Rob dropped back to ask him how he felt, Tubby knew that the
leader was really solicitous about his welfare and had not made the
inquiry merely in fun.
"I can stand it, Rob!" was all he said between his closely shut teeth;
and knowing Tubby as well as he did, Rob felt sure that the fat boy
would hold out, unless he actually fell from his saddle.
At noon they halted in order to rest the horses, and at the same time
themselves have a bite. Again did Rob have to assist Tubby to alight,
though the other began to frisk around shortly, as though grimly
determined on showing them all that he had only been stiff from sitting
so long, and was far from being done up.
It took a whole lot of grit for Tubby to mount when the time came to
make a fresh start; but he seemed to feel that curious eyes were
watching all he did; so summoning his reserve strength, he clambered
into his saddle, and tried to look as happy as though he did not feel
that he was sitting on an inverted pincushion.
Just one hour later they noticed a dense smoke rising ahead, which
Lopez, on being asked, told them could only come from some burning
bridge. That would seem to indicate that they must now be getting into
the danger zone where Regulars and rebels were engaged in a game of tag,
one side doing the chasing now, and the other presently turning the
tables on them.
The little party had come down to more level ground and were heading for
the railroad, when Rob, chancing to look back, meaning to see how Tubby
was coming along, made a discovery that gave him an unpleasant feeling.
"We're being pursued, boys!" he called out, thinking it best that all of
them should know the truth at once, however unpleasant it might prove.
Of course there was an immediate craning of necks, and startled
exclamations from the other chums.
"Two dozen, if there's a man!" cried Merritt.
"And Mexican Regulars, too, for they wear uniforms, which the rebels
don't!" added Andy. "Looks like we might be in for a lively run, doesn't
it, Rob? And with our horses anything but fresh into the bargain!"
"Ginger snaps and pop guns!" Tubby was heard to say; "that settles my
hash all right!"