Roughriders of the Pampas: A Tale of Ranch Life in South America

CHAPTER XV

DUDLEY MAKES A DISCOVERY

"There is the list of owners we have to call upon," said Dudley, on the evening of the day on which they had ridden from the estancia. "You see, there are three Portuguese, whom Mr. Blunt describes as good fellows; two Englishmen, with whom he has always been on the best of terms; and one other individual of whose nationality he is uncertain. He is really our nearest neighbor, but somewhat cut off, owing to a belt of forest. We shall visit him last."

"The others are some distance away, I suppose?" was Harold's question. "That means that we shall be away some days. Then I act as cook. That's agreed?"

"So long as you give us something fit to eat," was the laughing rejoinder. "One of the gauchos shall help you, and you two will cook for the whole party. I'll tell off two more to gather wood or thistle tops, and one to fetch water. We will commence right away, and so let everyone know what is expected of him. Call the boys, Pepito."

The young gaucho, whom Dudley had selected to lead his escort, came with half a dozen men at his heels trotting up to our hero, and pulled his horse in with iron hands, which set the beast rearing and plunging.

"The señor called," he said, stroking his thin mustache with the fingers of one hand, and looking not a little proud of himself, for it was a feather in his cap to be selected as the leader of Dudley's escort.

"I called to inform you that we shall camp here where we stand, for there is open pampas all round, and a stream of water close at hand. Tell off a man to help the señor here to do our cooking, and two more to gather thistle tops or what wood there may be lying about. I shall want another to get water for the cooks, and the remainder will be broken up into guards. We will commence right away by being careful; then, if anyone does attempt to surprise us, we shall not be taken so easily."

"It is good advice, señor," came the answer. "I have nine gauchos with me, and will tell them off as you say. How many guards will the señor need? I suggest four. There are twelve of us here, including yourselves, and if the señors care to take their turn——"

"Care! Of course we shall share the work," sang out Dudley briskly. "We are not going to lie under our saddles and sleep all through the night when a watch has to be kept. It will do us good to take our turn. Divide the men into three lots of three, then, Pepito, placing the señor here with one batch, yourself with another, and myself with the last. We will watch for two hours, and then the guards will be changed."

He waved his hand to show that the interview was over, and then watched as Harold made his preparations for the evening meal. The young fellow set to work with a will, for camp cooking was an art which had attracted his attention since he came to the pampas. Up till then he could hardly have prepared a rasher of bacon had he been asked, but the days he had spent away on the estancia with Dudley, when raw provisions were carried in their haversacks, and had to be cooked before they could be eaten, had taught him not a little, and the lad was beginning to pride himself upon his ability. Selecting a hollow down by the stream which ran close beside the camp, he and the man told off to help him erected a fireplace with boulders taken from the bed of the stream, and, breaking open a cartridge, damped a portion of the powder, setting fire to the train of dry grains which led to it by means of a flint and steel, for matches in those days were very precious out there on the pampas. Driftwood from the bank of the stream had already been piled over the powder, and very soon there was a merry blaze. Cooking pots were now produced, and for an hour, while Dudley and Pepito were busily superintending the watering, feeding, and grooming of the horses, the two cooks went on with their work.

"Roast deer, grilled bones, bread and coffee," shouted Harold at length, appearing before Dudley in his shirt sleeves. "Dinner is ready and waiting."

"And so are we. Bring the boys, Pepito," sang out Dudley. "Let us get the meal over before it is dark. Then the men will have time for a smoke before turning in."

Out there on the pampas, when the first streak of light found the camps astir, and the rising of the sun often enough discovered the gauchos, already breakfasted, their horses watered and fed, and themselves mounted and away after the cattle, a man did not as a rule wish to sit up late after darkness had fallen. Candles, like matches, were scarce, and, besides, the strenuous life, and the fresh open air, always had their effect. The gauchos worked hard from cock-crow till nightfall, and then, having supped and smoked a pipe, they were content to fall asleep, as if they were children, and make the utmost of the hours of darkness. Scarcely an hour, therefore, after their meal was ended, the camp was wrapped in silence, eight long figures lying beneath blankets under the shelter of as many saddles, while on the four sides, spread out some two hundred yards from the camp, rode the comrades who were on guard. Gaunt and weird, too, did these latter look as the light of a small crescent of the moon fell upon their figures. Each man was wrapped in his poncho, which belled out all round him, falling sometimes even lower than his knees. Wide-brimmed hats were pulled well over the ears, and in every case a thin rod stuck up above the shoulder and head, standing out prominently against the light of the moon, and showing plainly that the gaucho carried arms. Sometimes the sturdy fellows would sit like statues, watching and listening, while their mounts, seeming to understand what was expected of them, would stand without so much as a move, waiting, like the patient and well-trained beasts they were, for the word of their masters. Perhaps a low whistle would sound across the camp, and at once the men on guard would lift their heads and would amble across to where the call had originated, only to retire again within a minute. For the whistle was a signal, and a prompt answer to it told the one who had given it that his comrades were awake and alert.

"The two hours is ended. The señor takes the guard."

The tall figure of Pepito bent over our hero, and with a start he was awake.

"Two hours gone!" he exclaimed, as he rubbed his eyes. "Why, I lay down only a minute ago! There is some mistake."

"There is none, señor. Two full hours have passed, and you have slept all the while. I know that, for I crossed close to you many times. The horses are sleeping peacefully, señor, and there is nothing to report. The moon falls in two hours more, so you will know when to rouse the other guard."

It was true. Dudley sprang to his feet, threw his poncho over his shoulder, and ran off with his saddle to where the horses were picketed. Two minutes later he and his three gauchos took up their guard, and patrolled round the camp. It was a new experience to our hero, and many a time that night did he see an enemy in some bush across the stream, which on quiet investigation proved to be a shadow. For he was like the young soldier taking sentry duty soon after joining the ranks, who finds this unaccustomed work at first somewhat trying. However, nothing startling occurred during the night, and when the sun flashed across the pampas on the following morning it found the camp broken up, and Dudley and his escort well on their way.

A week later the little cavalcade was returning to the estancia, having paid the last of their visits.

"On the whole we have been very successful," said Dudley, as he and Harold rode side by side. "We have interviewed all the ranchers our employer sent us to see, and they have agreed to bring their men at once should they receive a signal. At the same time we have arranged to keep one another informed of the movements of the natives and of any strange whites. By the way, I can't say I like that last fellow we went to see."

"Nor I," was the prompt answer. "He was a surly beggar, and I caught him many a time scowling at you, Dud. I thought, too, that his promises were not sincere. He seemed eager to hear all about this intended organization of the ranchers, and yet gave me the impression that he cared little what became of those owning estancias on either side of him."

"Of whom Mr. Blunt is one, Harold. Yes, I too thought the man queer. We will ask Pepito about him."

A call brought the gaucho cantering up at once, and in a minute he was ambling along beside our hero.

"I can tell you little about the owner of the last estancia we visited, señor," he said. "There is no love between his men and ours, and were it not for the belt of forest which divides us I think there would be trouble. As it is, our gauchos have met those from the estancia we speak of, down in the settlements, and knives have been drawn, and shots fired. It is even whispered, señor, that those who pose as gauchos are merely robbers. One of the men here can tell a tale which will open your ears."

"Then call him," was the prompt answer.

A short and very swarthy gaucho galloped up at Pepito's call, and sat his horse jauntily beside Dudley while Pepito interpreted what he had to say.

"This man says that once he met a gaucho down at the cattle station on the river, and heard more than he was intended to hear. The fellow had a pocketful of money, and spoke over freely in his cups. He said enough in any case to show our friend here that service on this estancia from which we are now riding was far more profitable than service elsewhere. He scoffed at the very name of ranching, and hinted that there was other work."

"Other work! What can that have been?" asked Dudley curiously, for to tell the truth the impression he had gained of the last estancia owner he had interviewed was not very good. The fellow had been curt and almost openly rude. He was a swarthy, truculent man, short of stature, broad, and with a decidedly unpleasant cast of countenance. As to his nationality, he was in all probability an Italian. He could speak English fairly well, and Harold, who watched him closely, could have sworn that the fellow had an antipathy to all that was English. In fact, after the interview was over, the two left the house with a feeling of doubt, vaguely wondering whether the individual who lived there would even lift a finger if his neighbors were attacked.

"Well, what was this work?" asked Dudley. "If the man scoffed at ranching, what else could there have been? Out here on the pampas there is little that one can do to earn a living except by looking after cattle."

Pepito turned to the dusky gaucho and questioned him closely. Then he swung round to his young leader and shrugged his shoulders.

"Our friend cannot say definitely, for even a gaucho in his cups has some caution. But this is certain. The forest belt which separates us runs far into the Indian country, and the man who owns this estancia has friends there. It seems that on occasion the Indians are invited to a feast, just to keep them in good temper, and our friend here believes that more than one Indian raid has been planned by this neighbor of ours."

The news came as a blow to Dudley, and for a while he sat his horse in moody silence, while Pepito and the other gaucho drew rein and retired at a wave of his hand.

"If the hint that we have just had has any truth in it we have trouble to face," he said at last. "If this fellow is a rascal, and makes friends with the Indians, he is now possessed of all the information he wants. He has heard of our forts, and of the agreement between the ranchers, and in that case he will be fully prepared. I think——"

He broke off suddenly, and pulled in his horse with a jerk.

"You think? Yes?" demanded Harold eagerly, for he too had gained an unfavorable impression of their last host.

"That it is my duty to look further into this matter. You see, these Indian raids are very dangerous, particularly for Mr. Blunt, for he lives right on the Indian frontier. Now if the fellow we have recently left is a rascal——"

"As Pepito's friend seems to believe."

"Exactly. If he is a rascal and harbors Indians it explains why these raids are so sudden and so successful as a rule. I noticed myself that in our last affair the men who invaded the estancia retired in this direction. I can see for what reason. They make for the nearest and most secure shelter. They retire on the forest, break up into small bands there, and each band drives off a lot of cattle, knowing well that they are secure, for they are on another estancia, and it is a rule amongst the owners not to bring their men on to a neighboring rancho."

"And for the shelter given to the Indians our late friend has some reward I suppose?" chimed in Harold, a note of satire in his voice.

"If he is a rascal, and if what I am surmising is correct, then he undoubtedly has something in return for what he does. There are scores of our beasts unbranded at certain seasons of the year, and it must be easy to pick out those animals, and leave the remainder to the Indians."

"While the man from whom the beasts are stolen can never claim them, seeing that they do not bear his brand. I see your meaning, Dudley," said Harold thoughtfully. "In the same way this fellow may harbor a crew of outlaws, and few would suspect that the raids came from his estancia."

"That was what I was thinking. I know that the sudden onset of these ruffians, and their equally sudden disappearance, have been puzzling questions for Mr. Blunt. True, he and his gauchos have never followed them more than a mile or two over the estancia borders. But still, when they have come to inquire, the neighboring gauchos and the owners of the estancia have seen nothing of the raiders, till their turn comes, perhaps weeks later. Everyone thinks that the rascals disappear into the Indian country, but what if they have their headquarters near at hand, and the very fact of their being on an estancia owned by a white man shelters them even from suspicion?"

The very thought was sufficient to make Dudley anxious, and for five minutes at least he sat his horse like a statue. Harold looked expectantly into his face, as if about to ask him a question, while just in rear, obedient to every action of their leader, the gauchos sat silently, the fringes of their leggings blowing in the wind, and their steel bits jingling musically. Something was in the air they knew, for why had their leader called two of his following to his side? Something told them that the señor was disturbed in his mind, and, as if to give him every opportunity to get to the bottom of this trouble, they sat as silent as a band of ghosts, looking keenly into one another's eyes.

As for Dudley, he felt that he ought to take some action, and he was puzzled as to what it ought to be. During the past half-hour the many tales which Mr. Blunt had told him had been passing across his mind with unusual vividness. He knew that his employer had been raided time and again, just as other owners had been. He remembered, too, that the roving bands of outlaws and rascals who at times infested the pampas had paid more than one visit, and had even burnt Mr. Blunt out of house and home. On each occasion they had disappeared as if by magic, to turn up again days later many miles away. What if those bands came from the neighboring estancia?

"I will do it," he said aloud. "I feel that it is my duty to set a watch on this fellow. We have still four days to ourselves, for Mr. Blunt told me he did not expect us to return till a fortnight had gone. We will make the most of those spare days. We will turn and ride back."

With a swing he brought his horse's head round in the opposite direction, and was in the act of cantering away past the gauchos, when Pepito arrested his attention.

"The master returns?" he asked, with a lift of his chin. "The señor suspects this owner whom we have left, and means to watch him?"

"That is my intention," was the short answer. "About turn!"

"One moment, señor! Perhaps the gauchos of this man we have seen suspect that you do not like them. Perhaps they have been instructed to watch you till you are on our own estancia. Look at the forest. A hundred men might be there, and would see us at once if we turned. It would be better and wiser perhaps if the señor made his camp close to here, and then to-night we could mount and ride back till we were in the forest."

The handsome fellow lifted his hat deprecatingly, as if to apologize for so boldly venturing his advice. But Dudley was not the one to feel injured, particularly when he remembered that Pepito had been brought up on the pampas, and knew every trick.

"Excellent, Pepito!" he cried. "Just ride round as if you were hunting for a likely spot, and then we will camp. Get the fire going, picket the horses, and when darkness comes send out the guards. If anyone has crept up close by, then they will see us settled for the night. We will wait three hours before setting off."

The gaucho gave a vigorous nod of his head, and in a moment was cantering away, his eyes searching diligently for a favorable camping site. Not that there was much difference in the surroundings, for the pampas spread on every hand, sweeping away in long and slightly rolling knolls covered with waving grass right to the horizon, save in the direction from which the party had just come. There a dense line of dark forest cut across the low skyline, the forest behind which lay the estancia of the individual whom they had so recently visited. Dudley stood in his stirrups for some minutes, watching the long green band, wondering whether there was ground for his suspicions, whether the man who lived at the neighboring estancia were honest, and merely possessed of an unfortunate and surly manner; or whether he were indeed a rogue, who harbored rascals, and organized the constant raids from which the ranchers suffered.

"Honest or not, I feel it my duty to look into the matter," he said aloud. "If he is a respectable person, then no harm will have been done, for I shall take pains to keep out of sight of him and of his men. If he is a rascal, why, then, perhaps I shall be able to open the eyes of Mr. Blunt. He would be surprised to hear that the attacks which he imagines are organized in Montevideo are really the work of a neighbor. And if that is actually the case, then I fancy that within a little while we shall be able to put a stop to any repetition of the trouble, and perhaps even may see the end of this vendetta which has dogged his footsteps for so many years, and which has so constantly threatened his life."

"Then you return and pay a second visit?"

It was Harold who asked the question, with a strange glint in his eyes, and so suddenly that Dudley started. "I believe that you are on the right track, and that the gentleman behind those trees is a rascal. Dud, it would be fine to do something for our employer. He has been good and kind to you, and to me he has been even more. I'd do a lot to pay him back in some manner."

"Then you shall have the opportunity," answered Dudley promptly. "If we are right, this little business will be dangerous, for if they are rascals over there they will shoot us on sight. We must chance that, and I swear that we will not return till we have cleared up the matter. Ah! Pepito has found a camping ground for us, so we will dismount."

They slipped out of their saddles and led their horses to the pool which lay within a hundred yards of the spot. Then the usual routine of the camp was carried out. The horses were picketed, fed, and groomed. Saddles were placed in a row close to the fire, while Harold rolled his sleeves to the elbow, produced his pots and pans, and commenced to prepare the evening meal. And all the while one of the gauchos slowly walked his horse in a wide circle round the camp, as was the usual custom, his eyes constantly roving the pampas, for the camp lay on the border of the Indian country. On this occasion the gaucho cast many a glance towards the forest, as if he, too, were suspicious of the men living beyond that dark barrier. Once even, as if he had seen something suspicious, the active fellow clambered to his feet, and stood to his full height on the saddle, one hand over his eyes to shade them from the light. But evidently he was satisfied at length, for he slid down again and rode away to the opposite side of the camp.

"It was nothing, señor," he said when Dudley walked out to question him. "I thought I saw a horseman come from the trees, and so clambered to my feet. But there was no one there. I must have caught sight of a shadow. The señor may feel sure that there is none on the edge of the forest, for had he been there I should certainly have seen him."

Within an hour they sat down to their evening meal, and, soon afterwards, darkness having fallen, they lay down. On the outskirts of the camp four silent figures rode to and fro for all the world as if the camp were settled for the night, and as if the little party had no intention of moving till the sun had risen once again above the waving pampas. But the stillness of the place lasted for one short hour only. Then Pepito rose, called gently to the men, and led the way to the horses. In three minutes all were mounted and ready, while Dudley and Harold conversed in low tones with the young gaucho who led the men.

"We shall divide now into two parties," said Dudley. "Pepito will take half the men and ride to the left. We shall take the other half and make to the right. An hour before dawn we shall return to this spot, and, once we are all here, we shall ride away to our own estancia. That is clear, I think?"

"As daylight," whispered Harold.

"The señor's words leave no room for doubt. We divide now?"

"At once," answered Dudley.

They joined the men immediately, divided them in silence into two groups, and in a moment they had separated, each party sweeping away from the other and riding in a direction which would take them to that dark line of forest which separated Mr. Blunt's holding from the neighboring estancia.

What if Dudley and his friends had known that while they lay in their camp that evening a band of silent men, led by a short and repulsive-looking individual, had ridden from the tumble-down house located on the estancia beyond the forest, and had slowly and cautiously entered the trees? And that is what had actually happened. For no sooner had our hero and his little party ridden away out of sight, than the owner of this neighboring rancho had sent two of his ruffians to follow and watch, and in the evening he came, together with several others, to join them in the forest where they had halted. It was one of these horsemen whom Dudley's scout had seen. It was no fancy on his part, and no mere shadow had deceived his keen eyes. For men were there, a band of ruffians armed to the teeth, and waiting only for the word of their leader to ride down upon the peaceful camp outside on the pampas and murder every one sleeping there.

"We will surround them, so that none can escape," growled the surly leader. "Then, knowing the plans of this Mr. Blunt, we will post men to cut off any gaucho who may be sent with a message to the other ranchers, and as the dawn breaks we will attack our neighbors. At last, my friend, I shall be even with you. You escaped my men on the river, just as you slipped out of my fingers on two former occasions. This time fortune is favoring me, and when the dawn comes I shall have paid my debt. There will be no longer a reason for the vendetta."

The man clenched his fists and swore in Italian, under his breath. Then, calling gently to his men, he rode from the trees, and very soon was spurring down upon the spot so lately occupied by Dudley and his party.

CHAPTER XVI

HEMMED IN ON EVERY SIDE

A small crescent of the moon rode high in a cloudless sky on that eventful night when Dudley led his little band back towards the dark forest line behind which lay the estancia that they had so recently visited; and the faint light it shed helped them not a little as they rode.

"We are fortunate," whispered Dudley to Harold, who jogged along beside him. "If it had been one of those pitch-dark nights which we have on occasion, we should have found it difficult to discover even the forest, for it is wonderful how easily one loses one's bearings on the pampas."

"Even during broad daylight," came the answer. "Why, time and again I have found myself at a loss, and have wondered which direction I ought to take. Then I have remembered the advice which Pietro gave, and soon I have got my direction from the sun. But we are lucky to-night, as you say. There is the forest, and there—yes, there is Pepito and his following."

They pulled in their horses for a minute and stared steadily ahead to where, stretching ghostly and silently across their track a mile away, lay the forest line, the belt of trees which separated them from the estancia towards which they were riding. What might not be in store for them there? What unthought-of danger might they not be about to encounter?

"I am sure, as sure as a fellow can well be, that the man who lives over there is a rascal," murmured Dudley, as if speaking his thoughts aloud. "If ever there was 'ruffian,' written upon a man's face, he had it on his; and the more I think of Mr. Blunt's tales, of the attacks with which he has had to put up, and the mystery which surrounds the brigands who have made these attacks, the more sure I am that there is something in our suspicions. There is good reason for them, and to-night we will do our best to settle the matter."

"And supposing you find evidence that this fellow is a ruffian," asked Harold thoughtfully, "will you——?"

"Attack him promptly? No, Harold, that would be doing too much. I have no orders to interfere with him, and besides I should hardly be able to obtain evidence that he or his men had actually made a raid on Mr. Blunt. No, our best plan, if our suspicions are confirmed, will be to slink away, and, once we are back home, help our employer to make other plans. Then we will set a net for the fellow, and one of these days perhaps he will fall into it. In any case we shall be warned of the danger, and after that it will be our own fault if this man is successful. Ah, there is Pepito! I can see his men distinctly. We will move on again."

Away to his right, dimly illuminated by the feeble rays of the moon, a ghostly band of riders could be seen jogging slowly on towards the forest, and a glance told Dudley that the men he saw must be part of the escort which he had brought from the estancia. He shook his reins, pressed his knees into the flanks of his horse, and set the beast in motion. Then his eyes left the silent band riding under the moonlight, and fixed themselves on the forest line ahead. And presently, as the distance decreased, he was able to make out the tops of the trees, which were moving in the breeze, and later even caught the whisper of the leaves, and the distant creak of swaying branches. Down below the summits of the trees the same dark line continued, save for a small break here and there, where the faint light from the sky filtered in between the trees.

Nothing else could be seen, and though he searched every foot of that dark line with his eyes, he discovered nothing to cause him alarm, or to warn him of the dark figures hovering in the forest. For some few feet within the shadow cast by the trees a silent band sat their horses, waiting the word of the squat individual who rode at their head.

"The fools! To think that they should play so nicely into my hands!" this leader whispered to the man at his elbow. "Here were we, sure that the knaves suspected us, about to ride out with the hope of surprising their camp. Gauchos are the same all over the pampas, and who knows, it is more than likely that their guards would have discovered us, and to take them all would have meant a long and fast gallop across the plains, a thing that neither you nor I like, amico."

A grunt from his companion told this leader that the man heard and assented.

"Even a gaucho may be thrown and killed when galloping at night," he answered sourly. "There was Guino, an old comrade, who broke his neck when——"

"Yes, yes, I remember," was the hasty interruption. "But to return to these fools. They have saved us all that trouble. Instead of our riding out and attempting to surprise their camp they come to us. You hear me? They ride to the forest, thereby placing their necks in the noose we have prepared, and showing me plainly that if I was suspicious of them, they also had little faith in me. Good! They shall be captured. You have placed the men?"

"They are in position, señor. They await your whistle."

"And you gave them strict orders to do as I said?"

"They understand what is wanted of them thoroughly. These men are to be captured. Our fellows would sooner kill them at once and have done with them. But you have reasons for saving their lives, and our fellows are not fools."

The man answered sourly, as if he considered his leader to be acting stupidly, and showed plainly that if the order was that this band of inquisitive gauchos and their English leaders was to be captured unharmed, he at least was not in favor of such a policy.

"I have given the order strictly," he added; "but were I in your shoes I would wring the neck of every one of the dogs."

"But you are a fool," came the short, curt answer, while the squat figure turned in the saddle and faced the man who had just spoken, the ugly leader of the band of ruffians peering into his lieutenant's face with such a malignant expression that had it been light the man would have started backward. As it was he had incurred the anger of his master more than once before, and even though the darkness hid the scowling face which was thrust within a foot of his, this ruffian cringed, and sat far back in his saddle, muttering beneath his breath. For Antonio Sarvisti had a reputation. He was the leader of a band of lawless men, and knew that such a position was no sinecure. Words meant weakness. Disobedience on the part of one of his men, if left unpunished for an instant, would lead to mutiny, and then a swift death would be the reward of the leader. No, Antonio had a short way with his following, and a hand which went quickly to his revolver. A lesson now and again was of advantage, and this ugly leader was not the man to hesitate. He was one of those ruthless savages who know how to command desperadoes. He held them at arm's length, treated them more as children, allowed them to quarrel and fight as much as they liked amongst themselves, and, like the astute ruffian he was, whenever they showed signs of discontent he at once organized a raid with which to distract their attention, for he well knew that the mere thought of the booty which they would gather would sweeten their tempers. But whatever happened, strict obedience to his mere nod was a point on which he insisted, and the smallest breach meant always the crack of a pistol and a bullet in the head of the one who had misbehaved. Even the surly individual who acted as Antonio's lieutenant was never free from the haunting fear that he too might fall a victim to his leader, and it was seldom that he presumed upon his position. At this very moment he sat back in his saddle, staring fearfully at the squat figure of the Italian, while one hand instinctively slid towards the pocket which held his revolver.

"You heard," came the sharp question from Antonio. "I said you were a fool, and now I think you a bigger one, for your hand is near your revolver, while, if you will only look, my weapon is within an inch of your face. There, feel it!"

The cold ring of steel touched the gaucho's forehead, sending a shiver through his frame and causing him to start back. Beads of perspiration burst out on his face, while his hands trembled. For this Antonio was marvellous.

"Preserve us!" he murmured with quivering lips. "The man sees like a cat. Señor, I am at your mercy."

"As you will always be," was the answer, given this time in softer tones. "Antonio Sarvisti is not the man to be played with, and if he makes one of his band a lieutenant, with higher wages and a bigger share of the booty—a bigger share, mind you, amico,—he expects greater obedience from that man. But there; we will not quarrel, you and I. Thank the fates that you are not in my shoes, and learn to understand that I have always a reason for every action. I could have shot you like a dog a moment ago, but then I should have alarmed the fools who are riding into our net. A reason, you see, amico. Then you will gather that I have something in my mind which causes me to order that these men shall be unharmed. Listen! If they are shot down and killed, and if afterwards I am successful in slaying my enemy in the estancia over there, the deaths of so many gauchos will arouse a cry throughout the pampas. The owners are already attempting to combine. They would gather their forces at once, and it is likely that information would reach them that it was on this estancia that the trouble had commenced, for one of these men might escape. Now, do you see my meaning? You would raise a hornet's nest about us. Secure these gauchos, kill this Mr. Blunt, and I warrant that within a month our captives will take service with us. There, silence now! The fools are getting near."

Dudley and his men were indeed within a short distance of the forest line by now, and it looked as if they would ride right into the trap which had been set for them without taking any precautions. But, suddenly, as the rascals within stared out from the shadows, they saw our hero lift his arm above his head and bring the band to a standstill. Almost at the same instant a shrill whistle sounded away on the right, a signal which all knew came from Pepito.

"Something wrong, I think," said Dudley to Harold, who rode up to his elbow. "I called a halt here as I could see no easy way into the forest. Everything looks so black ahead that I thought it wise to send a man to search for an opening. And now Pepito gives a whistle. What can be the reason?"

They sat their horses there, uncertain how to act, and never dreamed that within a few yards of them, hidden beneath the dense shadow and the foliage, Antonio Sarvisti and his men lurked unseen. Not a whisper reached their ears, though a minute later one of the gauchos spurred his horse to our hero's side and warned him that he had heard movements in the forest.

"There are men there, señor," he said in low and warning tones. "I heard them as they moved. This owner whom we have come to watch is there with his following, and we are in danger of attack. There! That was a horseman. I heard the hoofs of the beast moving over the fallen leaves."

"And here is Pepito," said Dudley suddenly, catching sight of a band of horsemen riding towards him across the pampas. "You say you heard men moving. Perhaps Pepito has heard the same, and in that case there will be nothing left for us but to retreat as fast as possible. Give a whistle, my man."

An answering signal was sent, and very soon, spurring hard and galloping as fast as possible, Pepito and his men arrived on the scene.

"Your pardon, señor," he said, as he pulled his panting horse in within a foot of Dudley. "We were about to enter the forest through a gap, when sounds came to our ears. It may have been the wind, though I think myself that it was caused by horsemen. After that I did not venture to enter, but signalled so that you would be warned."

"We have found the same here. One of the gauchos declares that he heard horsemen moving over the fallen leaves, Pepito. If that is the case these men are watching us, and are prepared to attack us. I think we had better ride away on to the pampas, and make direct for the estancia."

"The señor is right," came the prompt answer. "It would be madness to enter now. Better collect in a ring and gallop away at our fastest pace. If men are there they will surely fire at us the instant we move away, and if we went slowly we should be killed."

"While if we ride in a bunch we shall as certainly make an excellent mark for their bullets," exclaimed Dudley, at a loss how to act, for he had never anticipated such evil fortune as to be discovered in the very first stage of his enterprise. Even now he could hardly believe that the actions of his little band had been watched, and that men were within the forest, ready to pounce upon his following when they entered. Nor did he even dream that Antonio Sarvisti, the evil-faced owner of the neighboring estancia, had already laid his plans to capture the whole party, and afterwards to fall upon Mr. Blunt and the remaining gauchos, and do his best to kill the former and wreck his estancia.

"We will gallop away now," Dudley said, after a moment's thought, "and as we ride we will separate. Pass those orders. Are all ready?"

He waited for a few seconds, so as to make sure that all understood, and was on the point of giving the signal for the retirement of the whole party, when suddenly a voice was heard from the forest, a voice the tones of which he and Harold instantly recognized.

"Ride if you will, señor, and be shot down by my men. But if you will take your orders from me you will at once throw down your arms and dismount, for I have sixty men here, and each one has a rifle trained on you. Dismount, señor, instantly!"

The words came like blows, so unexpected were they. In a flash Dudley saw himself and his men prisoners, and the task which he had set himself, and from which he had hoped for so much, turned into a terrible disaster. In a second he realized that all his suspicions of this Antonio Sarvisti were more than well founded, and that the capture of his little band would leave Mr. Blunt and his estancia open to instant attack. The forest was before him, black and forbidding, and sheltering beneath its deep shadow the ruffian whose movements he had returned to watch, while behind lay the moonlit pampas, and freedom if he could but escape. Then he thought of the rifles, which no doubt covered every member of his band, and realized that a movement of the horses would mean death for many of his men. Surrender alone seemed to be left, and then——

"Pepito," he whispered, "there is only one course. Will the men support me?"

"Try them, señor," came the crisp answer.

"Then let them dismount as if about to surrender. The instant they are off their horses they are to lie full length and wriggle forward into the forest. We will fight these fine fellows in their own cover."

"Well, the señor has thought it out?" came the jeering question from the forest. "He is about to surrender. That is well. Dismount and no harm shall come to you."

Without troubling to reply, Dudley flung his leg across the pommel of his saddle and slipped to the ground, each one of the party following his example. Then, in less time than it takes to tell, all were on their faces and creeping rapidly towards the cover.

"Treachery! Fire on them!" shouted Antonio, suddenly realizing that a trick was being played. "Call the flanks out into the open and let them surround these men as was arranged. Fire on them, or they will give us trouble."

The squat figure of the rascal showed up for one instant, as a gleaming ray from the moon penetrated through a break in the trees and fell upon him, then he, too, slid to the ground, and in a flash was hidden from view. A second later a volley spurted from the dense cover in front, the bullets ripping the leaves and hurtling out over the pampas. Then there came a solitary shot. Crash! A rifle, fired from a point some six yards away, suddenly lit up the dense darkness of the forest, while a ball whizzed over Dudley's head and thudded against the flanks of one of the horses. The poor beast rose high in the air and stood there poised on his hind legs; then he lost his balance and tumbled backwards with a crash. But he was up in an instant, and began to lash out in all directions, kicking the other horses till all were in a condition of terror.

Crash! Another shot startled the silence, and then came a cry, the sharp call of a man who has been wounded. It was Pepito, who lay just beside Dudley, and at that moment was creeping into the shadow of a bush on the very edge of the forest. But he was not the lad to make a fuss because a bullet had ripped a hole through the muscles of one of his thighs. One sharp cry of pain he gave, and then, setting his lips, and fixing his eyes on the spot from which the shot had come, he raced forward, bending low all the while and gripping his hunting knife in his hand.

"One to us, I think!" he heard someone exclaim in low tones. "Now for number two."

The gaucho's keen eyes could even penetrate the darkness of the forest, and as he sat on his heels, waiting for the man who had fired to show himself, he saw a barrel pushed through the fork of a trunk within three feet of where he sat. A white blotch behind showed where the man's face was, and gave Pepito all the information he required. With one bound he reached the tree and threw the muzzle of the weapon up just as the man pulled the trigger. Then, ere the flash had died down, he had reached behind the trunk, had dragged the ruffian who had fired closer to him, and with one stroke of his knife had sent him to his end.

"So let all robbers die," he murmured, as he stooped over the man. "We will speak to the others in the same way."

Assuring himself that the man was dead, he fell on all fours again, and crept back towards Dudley, narrowly missing a shot which one of his own gauchos fired at him as he came.

"A blow for a blow, señor," he said. "The ruffian hit me through the thigh and has been punished. The others have gone, I think, for they know well that here in the forest we are equal to them."

"Then get the men together and set a watch all round," was the sharp order. "After that we will place two men to cover the horses with their rifles, for it would never do to have them captured."

"And then, señor?"

"We will wait. There is nothing more that we can do, for if we attempt to move through the forest we shall certainly be attacked. Those fellows have a clever leader, who saw at once that in the darkness of this place we had as much chance as he and his men. But you may be sure that the rascals are all round us, ready to fire a volley into us the instant we move or rise to our feet. As to how long we shall wait I do not know; but if only the moon would go down our course would be open. We should rush to the horses and ride for our lives."

The predicament in which Dudley and his following found themselves was indeed by no means a pleasant one. It is true that they had escaped capture for the moment, but it was very doubtful if they were any the better off for that; for retreat across the pampas meant disaster, and the volley which had greeted them as they threw themselves on to the ground had told them plainly that they had an overwhelming number to deal with. The wonder was, in fact, that one only of their party had been wounded, and that the bullets had whistled over the heads of the others. A minute later the aspect of affairs was seen to be even worse, for no sooner had Pepito placed his guards on every side than he himself went to look at the horses, creeping like a snake through the forest as he made for the edge, for to have stood up would have meant to invite a bullet.

"Gone!" he exclaimed, with an exclamation of dismay, as he stared into the open. "Those robbers have been too quick for us. We are cornered, and can never escape."

He crept back to Dudley's side with his tale, and there for some few minutes lay at full length, whispering to him.

"Gone, señor," he said with a groan, "as if they had vanished into the night. There is no trace of them, though I looked to right and left. The rascals must have driven them into the cover. We are cornered. Escape is out of the question."

"Never say die!" answered Dudley stubbornly. "Things look nasty, I admit, but we are not taken yet. But there is something else which is worrying me. Listen, Pepito! We must send a warning to Mr. Blunt, for I can see the game which this fellow and his men are playing. We thought to take them unawares, and to find out all about them; while they must have seen that we suspected them. More than that, once they had heard from us of the intended combination of the owners of the estancias, they saw that instant action on their part was necessary, or we should soon be too strong for them. Our faces must have told them what we thought, and have warned them of the report we should give to Mr. Blunt. The rest is clear."

"Clear, señor. I do not understand," answered Pepito.

"Then I will tell you. The rascals decided to attack us at once and capture every one of our band. Then that report would never reach our estancia; while, instead of our arriving, this Italian—for that I think he is—would raid the place with his ruffians, and as likely as not kill our employer and those who attempted to defend him."

An exclamation burst from the gaucho spread full length at his side. "Then that explains their presence here, señor," he said. "They followed us, and were waiting in the forest to ride out and surround our camp. And we, thinking to watch their movements, raised the camp, and rode back here into their arms. Bah! It makes one's blood boil to think that we have had such evil luck. But you were saying, señor, that you had some trouble."

"I have," replied Dudley decidedly. "We have others to think of. There is Mr. Blunt; he must be warned. Someone must creep away from here and make for the estancia. I would go myself, but I am in command, and stand or fall with my men."

"Then I will go," came the prompt answer, while Pepito sprang eagerly to his feet, only to fall again the next moment; for now that the contest had slackened and active movement had not been necessary for some few minutes, the fact that he had been wounded was borne in on his mind. He had felt the stinging blow given by the bullet, and had at once determined on revenge, for this handsome and gallant gaucho had the hot blood of Spain in his veins, and to him a blow received demanded an instant return. But punishment had been given, the enemy had for the moment been forced to retire, and now the pain of his wound returned. The injury was not a very serious one, but sufficient to make the limb stiff and movement painful. It was clear at once that the task of reaching the estancia was, for him at least, an impossible one.

"More evil luck!" he groaned. "This wound would tire me before I had gone many miles, even on a horse. The task falls to some other man. If the señor will permit I will choose one who is crafty and brave."

A minute later, indeed, he had called one of his gauchos to his side, where he repeated the orders which his young leader gave.

"You will creep out into the forest and search for a horse, amigo," he said. "Take your pistol and knife only, and strike hard if you should meet one of the robbers. When you are through, ride for your life and warn them at the estancia. Let them gather the other owners and the gauchos and bring them, back here at the gallop. There, go. You are brave."

The man, a young fellow of Pepito's own age, merely grunted his assent, gripped Dudley and his comrade by the hand, and at once crept off into the cover like a snake. Behind him he left the remainder of the little band, crouched low amid the trees and brambles, listening, listening eagerly for a sound. Once they heard a sharp crack, the sound made by a man who has trodden on a dried stick, and a second later a low thud, a gurgling cry, and then a second's silence. But the stillness of the forest did not last for long, for once more the voice of the leader of the band of rascals was heard.

"Fire!" he shouted. "They are trying to move through the forest. Give them a volley."

Hardly had the words died down when from every point, from right and left, and from the pampas even, spurts of flame lit up the darkness, while bullets ripped through the leaves, sending a shower to the ground, ricochetting from the trunks of the trees, and singing through the air in a manner sufficient to awe the boldest. Some two minutes later the gallant gaucho who had made the attempt to slip through the hands of the surrounding enemy crawled to Dudley's side again.

"Alas, señor," he whispered, "the net is drawn too closely even for a snake to escape. By an evil chance I happened to tread on a dried stick, and in an instant one of the ruffians was upon me. He died, señor. My blade found a spot between his shoulders, and he dropped without a word. There were others near him, and for that reason, seeing it was impossible to advance, I returned to warn you. We are surrounded."

The news was only too true. Dudley and his men were now hemmed in on every side. Enemies surrounded them so closely that, as the gaucho had said, even a snake stood little chance of being able to crawl through. Their horses were captured, their retreat cut off, and the least that could be said of their position was that it was desperate. Surrender, a miserable ending to all their hopes and ambitions, stared them in the face, and, worse than all, perhaps—a fact which recurred time and again to Dudley,—the capture of his little party meant more even than imprisonment. He could see the matter very clearly now, and realized that once he and his men were caged there was nothing to prevent this rascal Sarvisti from riding down on the lands owned by Mr. Blunt and utterly annihilating all who lived there. As if in a dream he saw the comfortable house on the estancia in flames, and on the threshold the body of Mr. Blunt, done to death by this enemy who had so often and in so many ways attempted to kill him.

"It shall never be," he said aloud, clenching his fists. "While I live I swear that I will stop this ruffian. I will never surrender!"

CHAPTER XVII

FIGHTING IN THE FOREST

"I will never surrender! However hopeless matters look, I will fight these rascals, for to give in now means almost certain death to our employer."

Dudley gave expression to his thoughts aloud, and as he spoke brought one clenched fist down upon the root of a tree against which he lay, with a thud which all could hear. About him, spread full length in the grass and brambles, and separated here and there by the trunk of a tree, lay his little band of followers, the gallant fellows who stood between him and capture. Grim and stern they were too, and, if only it had been light, Antonio Sarvisti, could he have seen them, would not have been so confident. For Dudley had already proved his pluck to the gauchos. He had once before led them through fighting and difficulty, and for that very reason, now that matters looked so hopeless, they whispered to one another that their good fortune was not yet gone, that they still had their young leader, and that he would bring them out of this scrape just as he had done out of a former. At his words they edged a trifle nearer, strained their ears, and then, as the meaning of the words was interpreted to those who had but a poor knowledge of English, they set up a cheer which astounded the enemy.

"The dogs!" exclaimed Antonio Sarvisti, emerging from the cover of a tree some twenty yards away. "That cheer sounds as if they were full of confidence. They surely can have no hope of escape, and when the light comes they will have no other course but to surrender, for we shall be able to shoot them down like rabbits. Eh, amico?"

His sour-faced lieutenant, a gaucho who had been in the rascal's employ for many a year, and whose predatory life seemed to have embittered him, growled a reply, and he stood for a while beside him, listening to the faint sound of conversation which came from Dudley's party, while he chewed a leaf thoughtfully. It was clear that if his employer were sanguine as to the result of this contest, this rascal had many doubts, for he shook his head, tossed the leaf to the ground, and carefully sheltered himself behind a tree.

"A cheer is a cheer anywhere," he answered surlily. "We have been expecting a call to say that they wished to surrender, and now they set up a shout which proves that they are still of good heart. What if the cheer means that one of their number has escaped?"

The very idea of such a thing caused the Italian leader to grind his teeth. But a moment's reflection reassured him.

"Pshaw!" he exclaimed, with a somewhat feeble attempt at a laugh. "That, we know, is not the case. They have made the attempt, and have failed. True, the dog who tried to slip through killed one of our number; at least that is the report brought to me. But I swear that not even a mouse could break through. They are cooped in, and when the dawn comes, ah!"

"You will not be able to shoot better than they," exclaimed his right-hand man. "Think! We are here in the forest, which is as dense as can be. Can we see them better than they can see us? Are we under finer cover than they? Pooh! They have a smart leader, who took the only possible course, and for my part I believe that we have hard work before us. That young fellow who leads them will not give in too hurriedly. He has seen some fighting, you must remember, and he knows the value of his position as well as you do. Besides——"

"Besides what?" demanded Antonio, an oath escaping his lips, for the words of his lieutenant roused his smouldering anger. "What, man? You are ever the one to croak. What is the trouble now?"

"I was about to say that even if this youngster were inclined to surrender, for the sake of his own skin, there is something else which will keep him fighting."

"Something else? And that is something even more important than his own skin?" exclaimed Antonio with a sneer.

"More important still," went on the rascal beside him, seeming to take a delight in putting the dark side to his leader. "Something which you have often been troubled with yourself. This man Blunt is a Britisher you say. An Italian, a Spaniard, a man of any nation you please to pick, would perhaps have given in before now, and have slipped away from this country. Has this man Blunt shown a sign of doing that?"

"Not yet," came the curt answer, "and it would have been better for him had he done so, though I should have followed. The fool does not know when there is danger. He has wonderful fortune. Think, man! I have raided his estancia more than once, and set the house in flames, and yet the fellow has escaped owing to some unforeseen chance. My men have attacked him in Montevideo, he has been waylaid in Buenos Ayres, and of late on the river. The dog has a charmed life. But his fortune is gone now. This time it has come in Antonio Sarvisti's direction."

"With this alteration," said the man beside him, as if determined to snatch at every chance to belittle the prospects of his own employer. "I was saying that this man Blunt is British. This young fellow who commands in front of us is of the same nationality, and we have met many besides. They are dogs for stubbornness. They will often fight when even an imbecile would see that further struggle is out of the question and likely to lead to death, and worse than that——"

He waited for a moment, while Antonio Sarvisti ground his teeth and muttered beneath his breath.

"Worse than that!" he exclaimed with rising anger. "Why, have you nothing but croaks to give? What is this other matter?"

"Simply this. The youth who commands is bosom friend to this Mr. Blunt, and he knows well what surrender means to his employer. You follow, amico? It is not his own skin and his own safety which troubles him; it is the security of his employer. There! He is British, I repeat; and men of that nation stick fast to one another. He would rather be slain himself than let you ride over to the estancia unexpectedly and murder his employer."

Having given vent to all that was on his mind, and, incidentally, roused his own rascally employer to a condition of furious anger, the gaucho who had been speaking calmly plucked another leaf from the overhanging branch, and proceeded to chew it thoughtfully. In his heart the fellow was tired of this master of his. He himself was not so young as he had been, and the constant fear of a sudden death at the hands of his employer had already begun to prey on his mind and unsettle him. He had had a warning of what he might expect that very night, and he had seen many a man shot by the cold-blooded ruffian beside him.

There was another reason to promote his dissatisfaction with his present employment. This gaucho had been unusually careful. He had not spent all his ill-gotten gains, but had hoarded them; at that very moment his mind turned to the thought of his wealth and to the spot where it was securely hidden.

"Pah!" he exclaimed beneath his breath. "I shall wait till this matter is settled, and then this Antonio Sarvisti must look for another lieutenant."

There was silence for a while between the two men, while each was engaged with his thoughts, which in the case of the leader of this robber band were none of the pleasantest. For this lieutenant of his had opened his eyes a little, and the Italian was beginning to lose some of his confidence. He could see now that even sixty men might not be able to help him, and that his own position in the forest was not a whit better than Dudley's. For many minutes he pondered on the situation, and wondered whether he should order his men to make a rush and so capture the band. But all the conquests of this robber band had been made by sudden and unexpected attacks. Often enough their raids were met by single men alone, totally unprepared to defend themselves. In consequence it was seldom that they had cause to mourn the loss of one of their number. But on this night two had been killed, while the shots which Dudley and his men had sent in response to the volleys aimed at them had resulted in half a dozen wounds amongst the enemy. The lesson had not been lost, and Antonio Sarvisti knew in his own mind that if he gave the order some at least of his following would not respond. There would be disobedience to his orders, and such a thing would be fatal when matters were so critical.

"Pshaw! I will starve the brat and his men," he exclaimed aloud. "I will keep a close ring drawn round him, and leave him till he makes up his mind to surrender."

"And what of the attack on the estancia?" his lieutenant ventured to ask. "You will make that at once?"

"Not till these men are taken," was the short answer. "I have none to spare for a raid on the estancia. Wait a little, amico. When the dawn comes you will see that we shall be successful."

Even the astute Antonio could not think of everything, for had he been able to do so he would have seen at once that he still had the game in his own hands. He had captured the horses belonging to Dudley's party, and had some sixty men. Had he been the energetic and clever leader which he, in his vanity, fancied himself to be, he would have left only a few of his men in the forest, just sufficient to hold Dudley with their fire, and would have spurred straight for Mr. Blunt's estancia. Once he had raided the place successfully, what did it matter if this small party of stubborn men escaped him? Supposing they discovered that he had withdrawn a number of his following, they were still without their horses, and long before they could secure them Mr. Blunt and the estancia he held would have been attacked. True, other owners would soon know that it was from Antonio Sarvisti's estancia that the raids came, but then he, Antonio Sarvisti, could move to another part of the pampas.

"For years now I have been following this man Blunt," he said to himself, as he sheltered behind a tree. "I and my brothers slew his wife, and would have killed him had we had fortune. What matters it to me if all hereabout know that I hold a gang of raiders on my place, provided I carry out the end of this vendetta? The Englishman came to Sicily when he was not wanted. He married our cousin against our will, and flouted us when we would have prevented him. He made little of the quarrel which had even then existed for some years between the two families, and for that reason he was marked for death. He shall die! I, Antonio Sarvisti, have sworn it. As soon as I have dealt with this beggarly youngster I will ride to the estancia and burn the house. Yes, I will toss this man into his own flaring dwelling."

The darkness of the night and the deep shadows cast by the trees hid the ruffian's snarling features; but darkness did not cloak the sound of his voice, for he had spoken aloud. Indeed Dudley and his comrades could hear someone speaking, faintly, it is true, but sufficiently clear to give them the direction from which the sound came. It was Harold who calmly raised his rifle, held the muzzle low, and sent a shot swishing past the tree behind which the rascally leader of this band of robbers sheltered.

"Ah! Not frightened into surrender yet?" cried Antonio, shaking his fist with rage. "You shall see. I will teach you when the morning comes."

He stared out from behind the trunk of the tree, only to withdraw somewhat hastily, for Harold had reloaded, and a moment later sent another shot thudding against the tree, a second reminder to Antonio Sarvisti that matters were not so desperate for the small party hemmed in by the circle which he had drawn about them.

"Sixty was the number of the men he said he had with him," said Dudley a moment later. "Do you consider that he has as many as he says?"

He swung round to Pepito, who at that moment was engaged in fastening a long scarf about his wounded limb. The gaucho dropped the ends at once, stared out into the trees, and then nodded.

"He has as many, señor," he said with emphasis. "A ruffian out on the pampas can have as many men as he desires. This fellow has sixty, if he said so, and if I had been in command those men would long ago have rushed forward and made a capture. It is a good sign. Ruffians are often cowards. They fear to attack us. They wait for the dawn, when they hope to be able to shoot us down. Were I one of them, and the plan that you speak of had been formed, I would leave a few in the trees to fire, and make it appear that there were many, while I sent off the bigger half to raid the estancia."

"The very thing that I fear this Antonio Sarvisti may do," said Dudley, a note of anxiety in his voice. "Now, listen. I have said that I refuse to surrender."

"Hooray!" shouted Harold, gripping his hand. "That's what the men feel about the matter. I have been speaking to a few. They will fight to a finish."

"Then we must prepare. We have two matters to attend to. We have to decide how to defend ourselves, and we must send news to our employer. If he is warned in time, no danger can threaten him, and in addition he could, by collecting gauchos from neighboring estancias, relieve this party, and perhaps even surround this band of robbers. Those two points must be seen to."

There was silence for a while as Dudley and Harold and the gaucho leader considered the matter. To Harold and Pepito it seemed hopeless even to consider the question of sending a warning to their employer, for an attempt had already failed, and it was clear that the enemy were in a close ring round them.

"What food and ammunition have we?" asked our hero suddenly.

"Abundance!" came the prompt answer. "The señor gave orders that each man should ride to-night with rations for two days. Those rations will last, at a pinch, for four days."

"And water?" suddenly demanded Harold.

"We have none, señor, but I had not forgotten its need. Do not forget that a forest in this pampas region spells water, for otherwise there would not be trees. I have been here before, and know that there are wells. If those are out of our reach, as seems probable, then a hole dug only a little distance into the soil will soon be filled with fluid. As to ammunition, each man has many rounds. Given a good position, there is sufficient here to protect the party for many hours."

"Then we will make the position," said Dudley, "and now I will tell you what I am going to do. I cannot expect any of my men to undertake a task which I do not eagerly accept myself. I place Harold Joyce in charge of this party once I am gone, while I myself am determined to get through these men and ride for the estancia. Listen!"