over an accident. Following up the temporary advantage, I
inquired for the cook and horse-wrangler, and intimated clearly that
there would be other dead Mexicans if the men were not fed and the herd
and saddle stock looked after; that they were not worthy of the name of
vaqueros if they were lax in a duty with which they had been intrusted.

"But Pablo is dead," piped one of the vaqueros in defense.

"Yes, he is," said G--G Cederdall in Spanish, bristling up to the
vaquero who had volunteered the reply; "and we'll bury him and a
half-dozen more of you if necessary, but the cattle will not be
abandoned--not for a single hour. Pablo is dead, but he was no better
than a hundred other men who have lost their lives on this trail. If you
are a lot of locoed sheep-herders instead of vaqueros, why didn't you
stay at home with the children instead of starting out to do a man's
work. Desert your employer, will you? Not in a country where there is no
chance to pick up other men. Yes, Pablo is dead, and we'll bury him."

The aliens were disconcerted, and wilted. The owner picked up courage
and ordered the cook to prepare dinner. We loaned our horses to the
wrangler and another man, the remuda was brought in, and before we sat
down to the midday meal, every vaquero had a horse under saddle, while
two of them had ridden away to look after the grazing cattle. With order
restored, we set about systematically to lay away the unfortunate man.
A detail of vaqueros under Cederdall prepared a grave on the nearest
knoll, and wrapping the corpse in a tarpaulin, we buried him like a
sailor at sea. Several vaqueros were visibly affected at the graveside,
and in order to pacify them, I suggested that we unload the wagon of
supplies and haul up a load of rock from a near-by outcropping ledge.
Pablo had fallen like a good soldier at his post, I urged, and it was
befitting that his comrades should mark his last resting-place. To
our agreeable surprise the corporal hurrahed his men and the wagon was
unloaded in a jiffy and dispatched after a load of rock. On its return,
we spent an hour in decorating the mound, during which time lament was
expressed for the future of Pablo's soul. Knowing the almost universal
faith of this alien race, as we stood around the finished mound,
Cederdall, who was Catholic born, called for contributions to procure
the absolution of the Church. The owner of the cattle was the first to
respond, and with the aid of my boys