hen without further words, he swung his horse around and at a
command from Gonzales, the whole crowd swept furiously down the hill.

"Henry, they've gone! Actually gone--and taken that vile gray horse with
them!" gasped Clara, faintly.

"It looks like it," responded Hard. "But unless I'm a lot mistaken, they
didn't mean to go until that boy came with his message."

"Well, blessings on the head of Juan Pachuca who sent him!" murmured
Clara, wearily, as she started for the cabin.

"Do you want to stay outside or go in?" asked Hard, pulling a chair
forward on the veranda.

"Outside, please, as long as we can stand it," said Clara, with a little
shiver. "I don't believe I'd care for Grandmother Soria's housekeeping."
She peeped into the family _olla_ hanging on the side of the house. It was
full. "Oh, well, Henry, things might have been worse," she smiled as she
sank into the chair.

"You can bet your dear life they might," replied Henry, with a glance in
the direction taken by Angel Gonzales.

"See if they've left anything to eat--anything that looks fairly clean."

Hard emerged a few moments later empty-handed.

"Not a thing," he said. "We evidently arrived at the psychological moment
for this little family. That ten dollars Scott gave them will tide them
over till Carlotta finds another beau."

"But wasn't there anything to eat?"

"Not a bone. Mother Hubbard's cupboard was a cafeteria compared to
Grandmother Soria's. Draw in your belt and forget it."

"Why did we eat so much this afternoon? They left us the biggest part of
the luncheon. Henry, we are pigs," moaned Clara, wanly.

"I know. We're not the sort to be cast on a desert isle, I'm afraid. If
the Sorias get back to-night----"

"They won't. They'll stay and make a night of it."

"Perhaps the hungry feeling will wear off after a while," said Hard,
hopefully.

"I wonder? I've often thought I'd like to try a fast. One hears of people
doing it and having such odd and fascinating sensations," said Clara,
thoughtfully.

"My sensations are odd," replied Hard, "but they are distinctly not
fascinating."

They sat quietly for a while, watching the clouds hovering over the
mountains, sometimes over the peaks, sometimes nestling in fleecy patches
half-way up.

"The trail they took crosses about where that gap in the mountains is,"
said Clara. "Under that first cloud, so Mr. Scott said."

"Pretty high."

"Yes, they'll have to do some climbing." Clara