rnor, the host replied:--

"Lieutenant Barr, that don't go here. Fall out of your saddles and
borrow all the razors and white shirts on the ranch, for we need you
for the dedication of a chapel to-day, and for a wedding and infare for
to-morrow. We don't see you along this river as often as we'd like to,
and when you do happen along in time for a peaceful duty, you can't
get away so easily. If you have any special report to make to your
superiors, why, write her out, and I'll send a vaquero with it to
Oakville this afternoon, and it'll go north on the stage to-morrow. But,
lieutenant, you mustn't think you can ride right past Las Palomas when
you're not under emergency orders. Now, fall off those horses and spruce
up a little, for I intend to introduce you to some as nice girls as you
ever met. You may want to quit rangering some day, and I may need a man
about your size, and I'm getting tired of single ones."

Lieutenant Barr surrendered. Saddles were stripped from horses, packs
were unlashed from mules, and every animal was sent to our _remudas_
under herd. The accoutrements were stacked inside the gate like
haycocks, with slickers thrown over them; the carbines were thrown on
the gallery, and from every nail, peg, or hook on the wall belts and
six-shooters hung in groups. These rangers were just ordinary looking
men, and might have been mistaken for an outfit of cow hands. In age
they ranged from a smiling youth of twenty to grizzled men of forty,
yet in every countenance was written a resolute determination. All
the razors on the ranch were brought into immediate use, while every
presentable shirt, collar, and tie in the house was unearthed and placed
at their disposal. While arranging hasty toilets, the men informed us
that when they reached Espontos Lake the redskins had left, and that
they had trailed them south until the Indians had crossed the Rio Grande
into Mexico several days in advance of their arrival. The usual number
of isolated sheepherders killed, and of horses stolen, were the features
of the raid.

The guests had been arriving all morning. The Booths had reached the
ranch the night before, and the last to put in an appearance was the
contingent from the Frio and San Miguel. Before the appearance of the
rangers, they had been sighted across the river, and they rode up with
Pierre Vaux, like a captain of the Old Guard, in the lead.

"Ah, Don Lance," he cried, "vat you tink? Dey say Don Pierre no rid