the man down too. I knew it was all over with
him. I was quite mad to join in and help; but though I tugged and
strained at my thongs till they cut right into my wrists, I could not
succeed. For a while they lay in a struggling mass on the ground, and
then Rube shook himself free of them for a moment and got to his feet. A
dozen men were upon him in a moment; but he was blind with rage, and
would not have minded if it had been a thousand. Those who came in front
went down, as if shot, before the blows of his fists; but others leapt
on him from behind, and then the struggle began again. I never saw such
a thing before, and never shall again. It was downright awful. They
could not hold his arms. Their weight, over and over again, got him upon
the ground, and over and over again he was up on his feet; but his arms,
somehow, they could not hold, and the work he did with them was awful.
Anything he hit went down, and when he could not hit he gripped. It was
like a terrier with rats: he caught 'em by the throat, and when he did,
it was all up with them. Some of them made a grab for their knives, but
they had no time to use them. In a moment their eyes would seem to start
from their heads; and then, as he threw 'em away, they fell in a dead
lump. How long this went on I can't say,--some minutes, though,--when a
Mexican snatched the lasso, which every Mexican carries, from the saddle
of El Zeres' horse, and dropped the noose over Rube's neck. In another
moment he was lying half strangled upon the ground, and a dozen hands
bound his hands behind him and his feet together with cowhide thongs.
Then they stood looking at him as if he was some devil. And no wonder.
Seven Mexicans lay dead on the ground, and many more were lying panting
and bleeding around. The Mexicans are an active race of men, but not
strong--nothing like an average American,--and Rube at any time was a
giant even among us scouts; and in his rage he seemed to have ten times
his natural strength. El Zeres had never moved; and except shouting to
his men not to use their knives, he had taken no part whatever in
it--watching the struggle with that cruel smile, as if it had only been
a terrier attacked by rats. When it was over he mounted his horse, and
said to one of his lieutenants who was standing near: "I must go now. I
leave these men in your charge, Pedro. Fasten that one's hands behind
him; then take them inside. Put them in the inner room. Clear my things
out. Ta