oone had said, and that
man had seemed in a silent way a friend of my uncle. I wondered what
would happen next. It soon happened. My uncle Esmond came inside the
wagon and called, softly:

"Gail, wake up."

"I'm awake," I replied, in a half-whisper, as alert as a mystery-loving
boy could be.

"Slip over to Jondo and tell him there are Mexicans in town, and I'm
going across the river to see what's up. Tell him to wake up everybody
and have them stay in the wagons till I get back."

He slid away and the shadows ate him. I followed as far as Jondo's
wagon, and gave my message. As I came back something seemed to slip away
before me and disappear somewhere. I dived into our wagon and crouched
down, waiting with beating heart for Uncle Esmond to come back. Once I
thought I heard the sound of a horse's feet on the trail to the
eastward, but I was not sure.

All was still and black in the little camp for a long time, and then
Esmond Clarenden and Rex Krane crept into the wagon and dropped the flap
behind them.

"Krane, have you decided about this trip yet?" Uncle Esmond asked. "If
not, you'd better get right up into town and forget us. You can't be too
quick about it, either."

"Ain't we going to stay here a few days? Why do you want to know
to-night?"

Rex Krane, Yankee-like, met the query with a query.

"Because there's a pretty strong party of Mexican desperadoes here who
are going on east, and they mean trouble for somebody. I shouldn't care
to meet them with our strength alone. They are all pretty drunk now and
getting wilder every minute. Listen to that!"

A yell across the river broke the night stillness.

"There is no telling how soon they may be over here, hunting for us. We
must get by them some way, for I cannot risk a fight with them here.
Which chance will you choose, the possibility of being overtaken by that
Mexican gang going east, or the perils of the plains and the hostility
of New Mexico right now? It's about as broad one way as the other for
safety, with staying here for a time as the only middle course at
present. But that is a perfectly safe one for you."

"I am going on with you," Rex Krane said, with his slow Yankee drawl.
"When danger gets close, then I scatter. There's more chance in seven
hundred miles to miss somethin' than there is in a hundred and fifty.
And even a half-invalid might be of some use. Say, Clarenden, how'd you
get hold of this information? You turned in before I did."