r
bodies, but to keep their firearms dry as well. Then they tethered their
horses among thorn bushes about a mile from Urrea's camp, and advanced
on foot.

They saw the camp fire glimmering feebly through the night, and they
advanced boldly. It was so dark now that a human figure fifty feet away
blended with the dusk, and the ground, softened by the rain, gave back
no sound of footsteps. Nevertheless they saw on their right a field
which showed a few signs of cultivation, and they surmised that Urrea
had made his camp at the lone hut of some peon.

They reckoned right. They came to clumps of trees, and in an opening
inclosed by them was a low adobe hut, from the open door of which a
light shone. They knew that Urrea and his officers had taken refuge
there from the rain and cold and, under the boughs of the trees or
beside the fire, they saw the rest of the band sheltering themselves as
best they could. The prisoners, their hands bound, were in a group in
the open, where the slow, cold rain fell steadily upon them. Ned's heart
swelled with rage at the sight.

Order and discipline seemed to be lacking. Men came and went as they
pleased. Fully twenty of them were making a shelter of canvas and thatch
beside the hut. Others began to build the fire higher in order to fend
off the wet and cold. Ned did not see that the chance of a rescue was
improved, but the Panther felt a sudden glow when his eyes alighted upon
something dark at the edge of the woods. A tiny shed stood there and his
keen eyes marked what was beneath it.

"What do you think we'd better do, Panther?" asked Obed.

"No roarin' jest now. We mustn't raise our voices above whispers, but
we'll go back in the brush and wait. In an hour or two all these
Mexicans will be asleep. Like as not the sentinels, if they post any,
will be asleep first."

They withdrew deeper into the thickets, where they remained close
together. They saw the fire die in the Mexican camp. After a while all
sounds there ceased, and again they crept near. The Panther was a
genuine prophet, known and recognized by his comrades. Urrea's men,
having finished their shelters, were now asleep, including all the
sentinels except two. There was some excuse for them. They were in their
own country, far from any Texan force of importance, and the night could
scarcely have been worse. It was very dark, and the cold rain fell with
a steadiness and insistence that sought and finally found every openin