id Juanita look as tickled as he did, and he
come at me wid his phists, so he did; but he'll be aisy about sthriking
me the nixt time. Dye'r moind that, noo, yer honor!"

"He'd no business to call her Juanita," angrily exclaimed Hal.

"Phat would I call her, thin?" asked Patsey.

"Call her by her proper name, the Senorita Ortiz," said Hal, with much
dignity.

"And phat, would I be givin' her that jaw-crackin' name fur, when her
name's Juanita?"

"But her name isn't Juanita to her inferiors, only to her intimate
friends," explained Hal.

"Infariors, sure! Ain't an Irishman as good as a Mexican, any day? An',
if yez think I'm your infarior, jest come out here and thry it, sure;
that's all, Master Hal."

I stopped the controversy at once, by telling Hal that Patsey had no
intention of offending, and there was no occasion for his attempt to
chastise him.

"Oh, he won't thry it again, sur, niver fear," interrupted Patsey. "If he
does," declared he in a tone intended only for Hal's ear, "I'll break
ivery bone in his body, so I will."

After Patsey had gone, I did not reprimand Hal, only sent him to his
tent; for, judging from his crestfallen air, he had suffered physically
as well as mentally in the encounter.

CHAPTER XII.

We remained in camp the next day, visiting the officers at the fort, and
taking our farewell of them, with many regrets. Nor did we forget a
generous reminder to Tom Pope, to whose keen observation, quick wit,
daring bravery, and perseverance we owed, in so large a degree, the
success of our expedition.

The following morning, we crossed the Rio Grande and found ourselves in
the celebrated Mesilla valley, one of the most fertile and productive, in
the Territory of New Mexico.

The town itself has a population of about one thousand souls, and was
first settled in 1850, by colonists from Chihuahua. All land in this
portion of the territory is cultivated by irrigation; and, as this was
the first time Hal had ever seen it practiced to any extent, he asked
permission to remain behind in town a little while, to witness the
operation. Ned also expressed a desire to see it, and, after consulting
Jerry, I assented to their request, believing with him, "that they'd find
mighty hard work to git inter any scrape in such a God-forsaken town as
that was, anyhow."

We crossed the valley, and then ascended the high lands west of the town,
through which our road lay, expecting to make our camp about s