"Don't shoot!" Rob called out hastily, fearing that Lopez might think ithis 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 tobe 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 couldno 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 hethrew 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 findourselves 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 crow-bar 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 tobreak 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 theway 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 Tubbywas 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!"
"They seem to be gaining on us!" said Merritt uneasily. "Hadn't webetter romp ahead a little faster, boys?"
"Sure! Hit up the pace all you want!" It was neither Rob nor Andy who made this game reply, but Tubby! This response drew Rob's heart closer to the fat chum than ever before. A fellow who could show such nerve would have the best chance in the world to become a first-class scout, when once he woke up and began to study as he should.
They proceeded to coax their horses to pick up some, and for a time the gallant animals did manage more than to hold their own with the pursuers; but when half an hour had passed even Tubby could see that the distance separating them from that hustling lot of hard riders did not appear to be quite as great as after the spurt.
"Say, do we fight for it if we are cornered?" Andy wanted to know. When the patrol leader turned to glance back at him, he saw that while theboy's face might be somewhat pale, there was a dogged look around the eyes that spoke volumes.
"Well, they say that Boy Scouts never should fight unless driven into a corner, where they have to defend themselves to save their own lives, or the lives of others," Rob shouted back.
"That settles it, then," Andy replied. And Rob could see that considerable of his anxiety must have been connected with his doubt as to whether it should be their duty as lovers of peace to give up and surrender without striking a blow, or resist; for he even seemed tickled with what Rob had told him.
No one asked Tubby what he thought about matters. It was enough for them to know that the fat and clumsy chum was there in his saddle still, and managing by some means to keep close behind them. His horse must have suffered exceedingly, bearing all that heavy load; and it was lucky Rob had been wise enough to select an especially sturdy beast when thinking of Tubby.
The pursuers were not all in a bunch, but scattered, according to the ability of their mounts to maintain the killing pace. Undoubtedly, theywere urged on by the big cruel Mexican spurs, which, of course, every cavalryman wore on his boot heels.
This might seem to be a trifling matter; but Rob knew better. If it really came to a running fight, as seemed likely, they would profit by the fact that only a minority of their pursuers could fire upon them, the rest being either too far off, or else fearful lest they might hit their comrades in advance.
Meanwhile they were approaching the big smoke that kept rising ahead, and which must mean a burning bridge on the railroad, and perhaps a stalled train into the bargain.
Rob found himself wondering what sort of reception they would receive should they find a party of Villa's rebels holding out against the Regulars. He had already laid his plans and communicated them to his chums, so that each would know just what was expected of him in the emergency.
Already several shots had been fired by the leading horsemen, but as they were still pretty far distant, and as it is next to impossible to do any serious business with a gun while going at such headlong speed,of course these were sent after the fugitives more as an act of bravado and alarm, than in the hope that any bullet might find its mark.
At the same time it was not very pleasant for the scouts to hear those leaden messengers singing so merrily through the air over their heads,—for all the world like so many bees or locusts, as they afterward decided.
Every time a gun sounded, Tubby involuntarily ducked his head and tried to flatten himself out on the neck of his horse, an utterly impossible thing, on account of his build. He seemed to think that they must always pick him out for a target, because he offered such a fine mark.
"Guess you'd do the same, too," he called out to Andy, when he saw the grin on the other's face as he turned in time to see one of these performances, "if you made a shining mark like I do! And being in the rear adds to my chance of stopping one of those lead pills. Anyway, I'm going to do the trick right along, no matter what you think, Andy Bowles!"
"And you're right about that, Tubby!" called Merritt. "Even when you lie down flat you make a better mark than most of us do sitting up!"
"Keep your breath, fellows; you may need all of it!" Rob called out justthen, and this stopped the controversy.
Rob urged his horse alongside that of the Mexican guide.
"How are we going to come out of it, Lopez?" he asked anxiously. "Will they get at us before we make the smoke?"
The experienced eye of the other had before now accurately measured the distances; and doubtless he was figuring matters out at the time the scout broke in with this leading question.
"If no bad luck," Lopez assured him, "we surely come to the burning bridge before the wolf pack doubles us up, young señor."
"By bad luck you mean an accident?" Rob demanded.
Lopez shrugged his shoulders and cast a swift, meaning look back at poor fat Tubby, who was belaboring his tired mount with the flat of one hand, and urging the beast on and on. Evidently the guide had been half expecting an accident to happen in this quarter for some time, and was, in fact, surprised that the clumsy scout had held on so long; but then, he did not know what a stubborn nature Tubby possessed.
"Si, señor, a horse might slip, and toss his rider; or it may be apassing bullet happen to go in the wrong place and do damage. Who can tell? But let us hope it will not so bad as that prove. We are doing well; and the smoke, it is not so far away as it seems!"
All of which must have been poor satisfaction to Rob, who from that moment found himself enduring new agonies every time he twisted around to see whether Tubby still held forth.
The horses were reeking with sweat, and while Rob did not pretend to be as experienced in such matters as a cow puncher would be, still even he understood that this sort of thing could not be kept up much longer.
Only for the presence of that smoke and the hope that they might run upon some friendly rebels at the burning bridge, he would have made up his mind that there was no other way for them to escape save by turning at bay and engaging in a regular fight with those persistent pursuers, who kept dogging the heels of their horses mile after mile, bent on running them down.
"What do you think of our chances for finding some of Villa's men ahead?" Rob asked the guide several minutes later. They were stillkeeping up a furious pace and fairly holding their own, though none of the horses in the race could be said to be running as fast as half an hour previously.
"It is an open chance," Lopez replied with another shrug.
"But the Federals set the bridge on fire; and after doing that they would hardly hang around, because this part of the country must be swarming with rebels, who would be drawn to the burning bridge by the smoke. Is that the way you figure it out, Lopez?"
"You have said what was in my mind, young señor," came the reply; "and that is why I have kept moving on all this while. Had it not been the hope of finding friends, before now they must have felt our lead."
"Then we're doing the right thing in trying to get to the bridge before letting them come up on us," Rob decided. And after that he bent his whole energy to carrying out the plan he had arranged.
He even fell back so that he could ride alongside Tubby; for Rob had often heard that no chain can be any stronger than its weakest link; and this must surely mean Tubby, in their case. If any accident befellthe party, the chances were as ten to one it would spring from the fat scout.
And so Rob, believing in being prepared to meet things as they come along, even went so far as to figure out just what his course of action must be in case Tubby gave signs of falling off his horse, or the animal tripped in its headlong flight.
"It's only a little further, Tubby, so try your best to hold out!" he kept saying. "See, there's a spur of the hill jutting out, and the railroad comes around that. On the other side must be the Carmen River, where the bridge that is burning crosses. Just one more push and we'll be there in great shape. You're doing fine, I want to tell you, Tubby; I never thought you had it in you; and we're bound to get through this ride all right, believe me!"
No doubt this sort of encouraging talk did more than a little to keep Tubby from throwing up the sponge entirely; for he was close upon the point of complete exhaustion, and ready to own himself "all in."
"Try to think and tell me, Tubby," Rob went on earnestly, "where you've got those signal flags you brought all the way down here, because yousaid they might come in handy. I can use one right now, I believe."
"Reach in that pocket on the side of my bag toward you, Rob," replied Tubby in a gasping whisper. "You ought to find the lot there."
This Rob managed to do in spite of the fact that both horses were galloping at headlong speed.
Just then they cleared the point of the hill that jutted out close to the railroad track; and there in front of them lay the cause of the big smoke. The bridge was afire, just as they had believed. There was also a train stalled on the side near them, with its engine headed toward Juarez. Doubtless this was the one of which the boys had heard, which, starting from Chihuahua, laden with refugee Mexican families wanting to seek shelter over in Texas, had been lost somewhere on the way, held up by burned bridges, and possibly by other things in the way of damage done to the locomotive by the Federal's marauding cavalry parties.
As soon as Rob could manage to see what lay ahead, he felt cheered by the sight; for behind the cars he discovered dozens of men with guns, who seemed to be making a barrier of the train and exchanging longdistance shots with some enemy perched upon the higher ground, undoubtedly Federals.
There seemed nothing for the scouts to do but to join their fortunes with those men of Villa's command who were holding the Regulars at bay. So, without slackening the speed of their horses a particle, the little party galloped forward, Rob leading the van and wildly waving one of the signal flags, which, being white with a small red center, could be looked upon as a flag of truce, and would surely keep the rebels from firing on them.
It must have astonished those fellows who were making a rampart of the stalled train to discover thus a party wearing khaki uniforms so like those of the American soldiers across the border, coming at headlong speed toward them, and being fired after by a pack of pursuers whom they readily recognized to be the regular troops of Huerta!
And since all enemies of the prevailing government must be looked on as friends to their cause, the Constitutionalists, as the rebels liked to call themselves, made no attempt to halt the advance of the Boy Scouts. They held their fire, waiting until the hard-pressed fugitives couldreach shelter, when explanations might be in order.
But the unseen Regulars perched among the rocks on the hillside must have discovered that those they were engaged in fighting seemed to be receiving unexpected reinforcements, for they turned their attention to the oncoming riders, and once more the nerve-racking zip-zip of passing bullets gave Tubby a cold chill.
It was really only the bad marksmanship of the men among the rocks somedistance away, and the fact that the boys were now strung out in a disorganized line as they drew near the stalled train that saved the scouts from disaster, just as they saw a haven of refuge at hand.
The bullets continued to whine around them in a most disagreeable manner; while some, falling short, tore up the ground, causing little patches of dust to leap upward where they struck.
Tubby must have lived hours during those few but exciting minutes. Then, to his great satisfaction he found himself riding behind the cars of the train, where there were scores of people hiding, men, women and children, fugitives from the city that had fallen into Villa's hands once more. Some may have fled for fear that the rebel leader would confiscate all their possessions, because they had been on friendly terms with the troops of Huerta when the Government forces held the capital of Chihuahua State.
No one could say with what relief Tubby checked the onward rush of hischarger; Rob did not have to come to his assistance this time, for the exhausted boy actually fell from the saddle, being caught by several grim rebels, who had come crowding around to find out who these parties were, and how it came that American soldiers dared invade the sacred soil of Mexico,—which, had it been an actual fact, would have served to unite both hostile factions against Uncle Sam's boys in khaki.
But Lopez had unlimbered his tongue by now, and was rattling off the greatest lot of jargon in Spanish the boys had ever listened to. They could only understand a word here and there; but that did not matter, for as he talked the guide made many gestures, and it was possible to tell what he was saying from these alone.
Many of the rebels crowded close around them, forming a circle, ten deep. Others had hurried to exchange shots with the late pursuers of the boys, and opened such a warm fire that the Regulars quickly turned and fled, doubtless to join later on with their comrades among the rocks, and plot to overwhelm the defenders of the stalled train.
When the name of General Villa was mentioned several times, and alwayswith a grand sweep of the arm in the direction of the four scouts, Rob knew that Lopez was surely "spreading it on pretty thick." He must be telling the crowd that these gringo lads were great friends of the commanding general, and that they had come all the way down here, hundreds, yes, thousands of miles, just to see him, and tell him what a great patriot he was. And if this were so, then they must be looked on as comrades by every man who fought under Villa the Great; who would be very angry with any wretch so unlucky as to raise a finger to offend those whose friendship he valued so highly.
Of course such talk created no end of a sensation among the rough men who were enlisted in the cause of the revolutionists. They feared their commanding general more than any man on earth; and after hearing what Lopez had to say about these American boys, they were ready to give them a wild cheer; especially when told that the newcomers stood ready to cast their lot in with them, and help disperse the enemy.
When the guide, turning to Rob, told him about what he had promised the rebels in return for the protection they were giving the fugitives, thepatrol leader looked a bit grave.
"Of course we're willing to do all we can, you understand, Lopez, to help our new friends out; and if anybody is wounded, we know a whole lot about how to take care of bad hurts; in other ways, too, we'll do all we can; but except as a very last resort, I wouldn't want to shoot direct at those men over there. We're not soldiers, even if we do wear a uniform that seems to say we are; and the last thing a Boy Scout wants to do is to fight. But wait and see how things turn out. There are lots of ways we can assist without actually using our guns against the Regulars; though if it came to the worst, and they were charging this fort, you'd soon see how we'd pitch in and do our part."
After that Rob and his three chums noticed that they were being observed with even more curiosity. Later on it turned out that the cunning Lopez, meaning to do things wholesale while about it, had hinted that these young fellows might be secret messengers to Villa coming from Washington; and that there was a strong chance that the American Government was meaning finally to befriend the rebels, even allowing them to get arms at will from across the border. In this way they mightbe helped to hasten the fall of Huerta, who had never been recognized as president by the new administration.
Meanwhile, the fire of the Federals up there among the rocks had entirely ceased. Tubby, not being versed in such things, believed that the coming of reinforcements, in the shape of four boys and one man, must have given the Federals what he chose to call "cold feet," and that they had betaken themselves off. Rob, however, knew differently, for by using that convenient field glass of his, he could see that there were several men still up there. Evidently some sort of new scheme was being figured out by those who were besieging the train; and unless the defenders managed to learn its nature in advance, they might be given a disagreeable surprise shortly.
This gave Rob an idea.
Just as he had told Lopez, while the scouts would not like to be asked to fire on the enemy, unless the defenders of the train were hard pushed, there were plenty of ways whereby wide-awake young chaps, such as they were known to be, might make themselves useful.
He saw such an opening right then, and quickly began to look into itmore closely to find out if it were indeed practicable.
Examining the topography of the country through his glasses, Rob found that it was possible for a smart fellow to climb up to a certain point, where he could observe all that was going on beyond, and doubtless find plenty of chances to transmit his discoveries to the other scouts below by means of a signal flag and the wigwag code. There was Tubby, who had done himself more credit with signal work than along any other line connected with scout activities; why should he not keep himself in readiness to receive whatever news the vidette on the pinnacle of rock chose to send?
After speaking about this idea to Lopez, and asking him to pass it along to the rather fierce-looking individual who seemed to be in command of the rebels, Rob sought out the fat chum.
As more than a full hour had passed since their arrival at the still burning railroad bridge, it was to be hoped that Tubby had, in some measure at least, recovered from his state of exhaustion, and that he would be in fit condition to manage his end of the receiving line.
As he drew near the spot where he had discovered Tubby squatted like abig bull frog on the ground, Rob had to smile to notice how carefully the fat scout had folded his blanket several times and used it as a seat; for Rob knew the reason why.
"Now I wonder what he is looking at so seriously," he said to himself on drawing closer. "It can't be either the magic ring that's going to make General Villa fall on our necks and embrace us, nor yet that paper Uncle Mark gave us for his old time friend; because I happen to have both on my person right now."
His curiosity aroused by Tubby's seeming fit of abstraction, Rob crept softly up behind the other and peered over his shoulder. What he saw caused him to chuckle, as though more amused than ever.
Tubby had something in his hand, at which he was staring, all the while muttering to himself; and Rob could even catch what he was saying. It ran something like this:
"That's a bully clew, all right, all right. Rob says so, and he ought to know. And you needn't think that I'm going to let the whole thing drop, just because I've been too busy with other jobs to follow it up. Justyou wait till I get back, and see if I don't find the identical brace and bit that coward used to bore a hole in the bottom of Rob's sailboat, and make this creased shaving in the shape of a curl. And say, bet you that when I happen to mention the name of Max Ramsay I'm not very far away from the guilty party; though I ought not to accuse anybody till I'm dead sure.
"Oh! hello! that you, Rob? What's new? I was only making sure that I hadn't gone and lost that marked shaving we found in your boat, you remember, and which some fine day is going to make some feller I know start to shivering in his shoes. Sit down with me, won't you? I'd offer you a bit of my cushion, but seems like I can't spare it just now; you understand why."
"Yes, that's all right, Tubby, and small blame to you if you do feel badly. It was a tough ride for us all; and yet we ought to thank our lucky stars that we found a chance to give our pursuers the slip without a fight. But I wanted to ask if you thought you could bother taking a few short messages with the wigwag flags?"
Tubby became interested at once, and almost forgot how tired and sore he felt.
"Sure I can, and only too glad to be doing something in my particularline, Rob," he hastened to remark. "And it's just fine of you to come tome, when there's Merritt and Andy around. But what's doing? Have the Feds been sending messages, and do you want me to intercept what they say? Is that the game, Rob?"
"You're away off there, Tubby," replied the patrol leader; "but if you listen I'll try to explain. The idea struck me that perhaps I might manage to climb to that high rock you can see up there, and watch what the enemy is doing; because they must be up to some mischief, they keep so quiet lately. And after I get there you must stand by to take what I send and write it down. Have the other boys around to help, because three heads are better than one in receiving. If you should get all muddled up one of the others may carry the message through."
"Whee! that's a mighty clever scheme of yours, Rob; and if I wasn't so beastly tired and lame I'd ask to be allowed to go along with you. But p'raps it's better not, for the climbing would be tough, and I'm nearly all in for one day. But please don't go off alone that way, Rob, without carrying your gun along. Some of the tricky Regulars might manage tocut you off from us. And then wouldn't you be in a nice scrape without some means for defending yourself? You will, Rob, won't you?"
"Why, yes, I had thought it might be a bit foolish not to, with a chance always hanging over my head that I'd need something like a gun. But you can keep right on sitting here if you like, only turn around so you will have that crag in full view. Of course I don't know just how long it will take me to climb up there, because if they glimpse me they'll as like as not keep firing every time I show my head. But I ought to know how to creep, scout fashion. I've practiced it enough, goodness knows. Is it all understood, and have you the other flags handy? I want to take two along with me, after I've fastened them to a couple of sticks so I can wave them the right way, though I may only need one."
Tubby told him that all was clear, and Rob promised to send Merritt around to fix the other flags.
"When the time comes for you to send the first signal, guess I'll be able to get on my feet," the fat scout said as Rob moved away; "and if I can't make it alone, I reckon the boys'll give me a boost. You putyour faith in me to get whatever you wigwag, Rob; but take mighty good care of yourself, hear?"
So the patrol leader went away, bearing the two white and red flags, which he meant to rig out with short staves before he started on his perilous mission to the crag that jutted out far up the slope. From there a splendid view could undoubtedly be obtained, not only of the stalled train and the burning bridge, but also of the Federal cavalrymen who were keeping out of sight among the smallarroyosalong the hillside.
"Don't you think Rob ought to be pretty nearly up there by now, boys?"Tubby was asking, when about half an hour had crept by since the patrol leader left them.
He had become quite anxious, so much so, in fact, that with many grunts and "whees" he had actually managed to get upon his feet. Either Andy or Merritt would have been only too willing to lend the fat chum a helping hand, but Tubby was more or less proud and sensitive; he might accept assistance from Rob, who never made a habit of laughing in his face, but it was a different matter when any of the other scouts were concerned.
Then he had practiced waving his signal flags to and fro, making those particular movements that stood for letters in the Myers' code of wig-wagging. These had been readily interpreted by both Merritt and Andy, who were fairly up in the service, and could also relay messages by heliograph, using a bit of broken mirror to flash the rays of thesun from hilltop to valley.
"I'm looking to see him show up any old time now," Andy replied; for he was at that moment standing with his eyes glued on the lofty crag, from which the signal-sender expected to wave his message when the time came.
"But none of us have so much as glimpsed our chum even once on his way up there," Tubby complained; "which I take it is kind of queer. Gee! I hope nothing's happened to Rob! That would be a calamity, sure!"
"Oh! don't worry about Rob," Andy cautioned him; "he knows how to look out for himself, all right. You don't findhimstumbling over roots and all sorts of things like—er—some of the rest of us fellows. No danger of Rob bringing up in one of those deep, dry ravines they callarroyosdown here in Old Mexico."
"Yes, but sometimes accidents do happen even to the smartest scouts, don't they?" the fat boy persisted in saying, as though bent on allowing his feeling of anxiety to have full sway. "Huh! haven't you ever had a limb break when you believed it to be good and strong; or a stone slip out from under your foot, throwing you on your face? Even Rob, cleveras he is, might run across a piece of bad luck. Then, how d'ye know but that one or two of those greaser cavalrymen might not have been camping somewhere along the trail Rob followed, and seeing him coming, decided to lie in ambush to knock him over? Any way, I'm getting what my mother calls 'fidgetty'; and I'll be glad when it's all over."
"Well, chirk up, then, Tubby!" exclaimed Merritt just then, with a low laugh.
"Oh! did you see him, Merritt? And is that why you speak so encouragingly?" demanded the stout boy with quivering lips and a look of intense eagerness on his round face.
The corporal of the Eagles nodded his head in the affirmative.
"Yes, I'm dead sure I had a glimpse of his khaki coat close to the crag, just while you were talking in such a gloomy way; and if you wait two minutes, chances are you'll see him wave his flag to let us know he has arrived."
"Bully for you, Merritt; that's the best news I've had for a 'coon's age.' But it is too bad we didn't think to bring a couple of mirrors along with us on this trip. Then, you know, we could have carried on our little confab by flashes of the heliograph. It's a whole lot easierthan wigwag work, where your arms get so tired waving flags."
"There! See what's happened?" cried Andy suddenly.
"It's Rob, as sure as anything!" exclaimed the pleased Tubby. "He got up to that rock all right, didn't he? Watch him wave the O. K. sign, will you? And now I guess he'll take a good look around, so as to locate the enemy, and then begin to tell us what's doing."
Evidently Rob was taking advantage of his elevated position to survey the surrounding country in all directions. It would doubtless pay the besieged rebel forces to know what was going on, and if there was any hope of assistance coming to help drive the foe away.
The minutes began to drag horribly to impatient Tubby, and doubtless to the other scouts as well. They could see that Rob was turning this way and that, as though making good use of the excellent field glasses he had thought to carry with him on his ascent.
"Why doesn't he hurry and send something?" Tubby muttered for the tenth time as he walked to and fro, partly to work off his excitement, and partly to avoid the stiffness that overtook him whenever he stood still."Here I'm all primed up for business at the old stand, and ready to receive any message that may come. I've practiced the whole code over and over, you notice, fellers; and if I do say it myself, that shouldn't, I never felt in such good trim as right now. If only Rob would get busy and whisper something! He must have learned a heap by now. Why, it seems like half an hour since he bobbed up serenely there!"
"Less than ten minutes, Tubby, because I timed him," interposed Merritt.
"Well, long enough for him to take a squint at a whole circle and see all sorts of things," grumbled Tubby, quite disconsolate over the delay. "If this keeps up, it's going to wear me away to a skeleton, that's what."
"No danger, Tubby, of that happening," declared Andy.
"And get busy now," added Merritt. "There comes your first signal! He is asking if you are ready to take a message. Answer him O. K., Tubby."
"Hurray! Now mebbe there won't be something doing!" exclaimed theother, aroused to a full consciousness that duty called.
Tubby in action was a sight to behold. He was so fat that, when his chubby arms got to working vigorously, he looked something like a Dutch windmill with the sails flapping furiously in a half gale.
But Tubby knew his Myers' wigwag code all right, and could receive better than nearly any fellow on the roster of the Eagle Patrol. When one masters the art of taking a message with fair speed, sending is what Tubby always called "pie." This is also the case in telegraph work. In sending, one knows in advance what is coming, and the brain can work ahead, but this is not so in receiving.
Rob made his flag do its duty with a vigor that kept both Tubby and Merritt keyed up to top notch in order to read the message, while, as the fat scout called out the letters, Andy wrote them down.
And this was what the boy on the rocky crag sent as a beginning:
"Can see enemy—number about sixty in sight—have started to turn flank, and make attack from other side—warn Lopez!"
That was alarming news, because, if the movement were undertaken withoutany notice to the rebel force, they would undoubtedly be caught napping; and it does not require much of a surprise to create a panic with troops who are unseasoned fighters.
"But how could they cross over to the other side of the railroad without being seen, I want to know?" Tubby asked, after the whole message had been received.
"We can't tell that from here, but you bet your boots Rob knows," Andy was quick to reply, showing what an amount of confidence the boys of the Eagle Patrol were wont to place in their recognized leader under any and all conditions.
"Yes, that's right," Merritt added. "It might be there is some gully that the road spans, which we didn't notice when making our dash here, where the Federals could dodge through without anybody being a whit the wiser. Anyway, Rob says that's what they mean to do, which settles it, Tubby."
"There, he's waving again!" called out the observant Andy. "Quick, get busy and let him know you're ready to take the next message, Tubby!"
"On deck!" chirped the receiving end of the air telegraph, which theboys often called their "wireless."
This time Rob went on a little further. Possibly he may have guessed that what he sent before was apt to mystify the boys, and wished to make it plainer. At any rate he took up the very subject they had just been discussing, as though he had some means of overhearing their little talk.
"One mile above, track passes over a little gulch. Shallow, but deep enough to answer purpose. Can see soldiers crawling under right now. Rocks lie beyond, and from that easy to creep close to train there. Warn Lopez, and have him tell captain of rebel forces. Get all that?"
Now came Tubby's turn.
Really, all he had to send back was the "O. K." signal, showing that he had read everything that had been sent; but, then, Tubby was a good talker, and it was hard for him to resist a golden opportunity like the present, where he could display his knowledge along the line of flirting with the flags.
So he started the wave, and in another minute was working industriously.
"Don't think we missed a single letter," he told the boy on the crag;"and you sure sent faster than ever before in your life. What are we to do if they attack the train? Ought we to join in and use our guns? We want to know, because it might be too late when you get back. Answer."
The two watching boys had started to spell out Tubby's message. Thinking it a waste of precious time at first, Merritt had even started forward to object when he caught some of the later words, and this halted him. After all, it was not so far out of the way for Tubby to want to know what their line of conduct should be under certain conditions. They had not anticipated anything like this when Rob left; and, as he was their leader, all orders had to come from him.
On this account, then, they waited to see what the answer would be. Apparently Rob had made out what Tubby asked, for he at once sent another message. As the letters followed each other in quick succession, even Andy could read their import.
"Hold back all you can, unless it seems absolutely necessary to join in. We have come down here on a peaceful errand, and don't want to side with either force more than we can help. This is a Mexican affair, and UncleSam is keeping his hands off. Understand?"
"What shall I tell him, Merritt?" questioned Tubby, eagerly waiting for orders, because, in the absence of the acting scout master and patrol leader, the corporal was looked upon as in charge.
"We'll try to be wise and cautious, tell Rob that," replied Merritt; "and we'll keep out of the muss till we think we've justgotto help, in order to save our lives. That's all, Tubby."
Accordingly, Tubby started in again, for his arm had by now rested up more or less, so that he was in condition for work. The short message was possibly strung out considerably, because Tubby realized that in all probability it would be his last chance to flirt the flag, on this occasion, at least.
Then Rob waved them good-bye, and turned as though to take one last look over the country beyond, which was hidden from the sight of the boys at the stalled train.
Tubby still remained on his feet, though casting anxious eyes toward the spot where the comfortable blanket seat had been temporarily left, while Merritt was going over the message Andy had written down, so that he could give it to Lopez accurately for transmission to the rebelcaptain.
All at once Andy uttered an exclamation. There was such a note of alarm in his voice that Merritt looked up from his paper, and Tubby whirled around so as to face the other.
"What ails you now, Andy?" demanded Merritt.
"It's Rob!" exclaimed the scout addressed. "I just saw several soldiers creeping along the trail he must use coming back; and they mean to lie in ambush for him!"
When Andy said that, both Tubby and Merritt felt a cold chill pass overthem. It could be easily understood that if those vindictive Regulars had a chance to fire on the unknown party who wore the khaki of the United States soldiers, and who, they must know, had been sending messages from the rock jutting out above, there was no reason to believe that they would have the least pity because he turned out to be a boy. There were many mere lads bearing arms among the followers of Villa and of President Huerta—there always are when revolution stalks through a land and war clouds are in the air—so that the taking of a boy's life did not mean anything unusual to these grim fighters.
But Merritt was alive to the importance of letting Rob know of the peril that was lying in wait for him on the back trail. If he slipped away and started to come down the side of the rugged slope, there was always a terrible chance that he might know nothing of the three MexicanRegulars lying under the rocks like genuine bushwhackers, ready to pour a deadly volley in his direction as soon as they felt that he was in their grip.
"Quick, Tubby, try and attract his attention again—tell him for goodness' sake to wait up there and take another message!"
Merritt almost shrieked this as he sprang toward the fat chum. Tubby instantly started the human windmill in motion again, waving his flag at a great rate, and forming the signal "1111—3: Wait a moment," that would tell the boy on the crag there was still something of vast importance to be wigwagged to him.
"I can see him there yet!" said Andy, though his voice trembled as if he were quaking with suspense.
"Yes, but his back is this way!" groaned Tubby, still keeping busy with his flags.
Merritt even put his hands to his mouth and shouted the name of the patrol leader several times, as though hoping with this primitive megaphone to be able to attract the attention of the other; but apparently sounds did not travel upward as well as they do on the level ground. At any rate, they could not see Rob give the first sign of turning; and he seemed to be busy watching something beyond, perhaps thesoldiers who were crawling through that little ravine under the railroad track, a mile or more away.
"What if he starts down without once looking this way?" asked Andy.
"Oh! Ginger snaps and pop-guns! Don't mention it!" groaned Tubby.
"But that wouldn't be like Rob!" asserted Merritt, just as though he might be trying the best way he knew to bolster up his own courage with this hope. "It would be more his style to take a last look this way to see if we had scattered to carry out his orders. Keep doing it right along, Tubby, while we all watch and hope he'll turn around soon!"
It was an anxious time for those three lads, and one they were not likely to forget soon, either.
All at once a whoop went up from Tubby.
"He's turned around, and is looking this way!" he exclaimed.
"Keep going, then; faster, Tubby!" cried Merritt. "Tell him to wait up—very important!"
"There he is, starting in to wave!" cried Andy.
"W-h-a-t d-o y-o-u w-a-n-t?" came the question from above, with everyone of the three eager scouts below spelling it aloud.
"Stay where you are—great danger—three Federals in hiding on trail you took going up. If you must come down, pick another route!"
Tubby sent all of this, Merritt supplying him with the words in rotation; and evidently it was read correctly, for immediately after the message ceased, Rob sent back his "O. K.," and added: "Don't fear for me; I can take care of myself. So long!"
"He's gone!" cried Tubby, as the last fluttering letter came from above.
"Yes, and slipped out of sight just as if he meant to come back the same way he took going!" interjected Andy in dismay.
"That's all right," added Merritt. "Don't you see it must have been just a clever little stunt of Rob's, meant to fool the three cavalrymen who are lying in wait down on that depressed route he took going up? He reckons that they've been watching him all this while. So he just made out to have no suspicion that he knew about their game. Trust our Rob for keeping his wits about him! He'll slip around somehow, and leave them in the lurch."
"Say, I hope now none of that outfit can read wigwag work!" Tubbyremarked, with a new line of trouble appearing on his usually smooth forehead. "Because then they'd know what I told Rob, and of course they'd change their position so as to cover the ground all along."
"Not one chance in a thousand that a single Federal ever took a lesson in signal work with the flags," Merritt told him. But evidently he was not so wholly free from fears himself, for immediately afterward he went on to say: "Perhaps I'd better be hunting Lopez up and telling him all that's happened. Out of gratitude for what Rob has done to save them from being taken by surprise, these rebels may consent to make a little sortie and chase the three fellows up there away."
"A splendid idea, Merritt!" declared Andy, while Tubby burst out:
"Gee! but wouldn't it be just glorious to turn the tables on that lot and send them flying over the hill? Hurry up, and see if you can't get our rebel friends to make a start. They could charge right up that hill and scare the ambushers off like hot cakes. Go along, Merritt, and don't let the grass grow under your feet!"
Merritt was off even while Tubby spoke. He was something like Rob, forwhenever he had an idea he believed in carrying it out with speed. In this case it was essential that no time should be lost, for at any minute one of the armed men who lay there in wait for Rob might find an opportunity to get a shot at him, with a result that neither Tubby nor Andy dared allow themselves to consider.
Both of them continued to stand there, keeping their eyes glued on the side of the rise, at about the spot where they knew the soldiers lay hidden. More than a few times one or the other believed he could detect some slight movement, as though the men might be taking an observation; but the distance was so great they could not be sure, and no doubt their fears magnified many things.
"He's found Lopez, and is talking to him right now!" Andy said, referring to Merritt, after a little time had elapsed.
"Yes, and you can see that our guide believes the news mighty important, because already he's beckoning to that captain who's carrying a sword, even if he hasn't any uniform," Tubby continued. "I hope now the feller isn't going to show the white feather and just shrug his shoulders the way they're so fond of doing down here, as much as to say Rob'll haveto take care of himself. That would be a burning shame, wouldn't it, Andy?"
"But I don't believe they'll act that way," the other told him consolingly. "I reckon these rebels are fighters, and they'll think it a bully good chance to get one back on the enemy by knocking over three of the Regulars. See, he's showing a whole lot of interest right now. There, Merritt is pointing up at the place where we know the ambushers are squatting. Will they sally out and chase them away? Oh! I hope so, I hope they will!"
"It looks as though they might be thinking of doing that very thing, doesn't it, Tubby?" Andy again burst out, a ring of satisfaction in his boyish voice. "See, that captain is yelling something to his men, for a lot of them are running up, waving their guns, and chattering all sorts of things—like a pack of monkeys finding a cocoanut. Make your mind easy, Tubby; there's going to be something doing soon!"
All Tubby made answer was expressed in one word:
"Bully!"
Evidently Merritt had managed to tell Lopez what a great service Robhad done in making his way to the top of the elevation, and sending word as to what the enemy was doing; and the guide had in turn transmitted this to the rebel chief, upon whom it must have made considerable impression, for he was plainly excited and bent upon discharging his obligations toward the signal sender, according to the plan suggested by the Eagle's corporal.
A dozen men were told off and given hurried instructions. They immediately ran the length of the train, and then with loud shouts and waving guns started for the foot of the rise, not bothering to take the trouble Rob had done to keep their movements secret. In fact, they must have meant to let the three Regulars know of their intentions as they scattered and started to climb the hill.
"There! Listen to that, will you?" shrilled the excited Tubby.
"It was a gunshot, sure as anything!" added Andy, hardly less stirred himself. "And I saw the puff of smoke up yonder where the three Regulars are hiding! Guess they know the game is up and mean to have a few cracks at the climbing rebels before they skip out!"
"And there goes a shot from below," said Tubby, "showing that ourfriends don't mean that the fun shall all be on one side. Yes, and listen to how the dogs of war keep on barking, will you, Andy? Whee! isn't this exciting, though? I can just imagine how the bullets sing as they fly past! Hear 'em slash against the rocks! That will make 'em flatten out like pancakes!"
"All the while the rebels are climbing right along and getting nearer and nearer," Andy remarked, though not once could he tear his eyes away from the scene upon the side of the elevation. "They may hang on there too long, and find it a hard job to make their get-away, after all."
"I hope Rob isn't in line with all this shooting, or that he happens to run across the Regulars when they're making off!" Tubby pursued, voicing his fears.
"Trust Rob, Tubby; give him credit for horse sense, won't you?" scoffed the other scout. "And let me tell you, Tubby, that, if they do run across him, chances are they'll be sorry! Remember, Rob's got a gun along with him, and you've seen yourself how he could shoot at flying game many's the time. If he has to defend himself, he'll wing that lotin one, two, three order, give you my word for it!"
"I know that, Andy, as well as you do," agreed the fat boy; "and I guess I'm only saying what I do because my nerves are all unstrung. It's just awful to have to stand here watching, not able to lift a finger to help our chum! If I could only be in the thick of the thing, I wouldn't be croaking like this."
"I believe you, Tubby," said Merritt, who had come up in time to hear the last few sentences spoken by the others. "But there's little danger of Rob falling into a trap, now that he's been warned. I wouldn't be surprised if he's just been lying low all this time in some nice hole under a rock, waiting to find out what would happen. To tell the truth, I'm more concerned about the rebels shooting at Rob, under the belief that he's one of the enemy, than that those three Federals will catch him napping."
Unfortunately, these words gave poor Tubby fresh cause for alarm.
"Oh! I hope that doesn't happen," he kept on saying, as they all stood and watched the little puffs of smoke that broke out in ever so many places along the side of the rugged slope. These told that the rebelswere advancing steadily upward toward the spot where the men who had meant to waylay the wigwag operator had taken up their positions.
All the people who had been on the stranded train, men, women and children, had come out of their various hiding-places, and now stood in groups, along with the rebels at bay, behind the line of cars. Their eyes were glued on what was happening up there on the heights. For by now it had been circulated that one of the Americano boys had gone aloft to spy upon the enemy, and had reported important news, which fact had acted so favorably on the commander of the Villa forces that he had sent a detachment of his men to try and save the gringo lad from being captured or shot.