ied until he has hurt you worse than
you hurt him."

"And perhaps Don Luis may be behind the rascal, urging him on
and offering to protect him from the law? What do you think about
that, Nicolas?"

"I cannot say," Nicolas responded, with a slight shrug. "I am
Don Luis's servant."

"Pardon my forgetting that," begged Harry. "I should not have
spoken as I did."

"For more than one reason," Tom muttered, "we shall do well to
get out of this unfriendly stretch of country. Harry, we're pining
for the good old U.S., aren't we?"

"Just a glimpse of the American side of the border--that's all
we want," laughed Hazelton.

"And, if we're to be killed, we'll at least be killed while trying
to reach the border," Reade proposed.

"Do you intend starting now, senor?" asked Nicolas, in a low voice.

"Not before dark," Tom murmured.

"Then why do you two not sleep for a while?" begged the servant.
"You will need some strength if you are to travel through these
mountains all night. Sleep! You can trust me to keep awake and
to warn you if danger gets close."

"Thank you, old fellow; I know we can trust you," Tom replied.
He stretched himself out on the ground, pulling his hat down
over his eyes. Within two minutes he was sound asleep. Not more
than a minute after that Harry, too, was dozing.

It was still daylight when Tom awoke. He sat up. Harry was sleeping
soundly, and Nicolas was not in sight.

"Abandoned?" thought Reade. "No; that's hardly likely. Nicolas
rings true. Hiding close to here, undoubtedly, that he may keep
better watch. A call will bring him here."

Tom rose, to look about.

"Be cautious, senor," came the whispered advice from an unseen
speaker. "If you expose yourself you may invite a bullet."

Tom promptly accepted the advice. Going toward the sound of the
voice, he found Nicolas crouched in a trough of rock not far from
where they had lain down.

"Now, Nicolas, it's your turn," whispered Reade.

"My turn for what, senor?"

"Sleep!"

"I am but a servant, senor. I do not need rest."

"Nicolas, you go in and lie down near Hazelton, and go to sleep."

The Mexican grumbled a little, but all his life he had been taught
to obey orders. Within sixty seconds the servant was sound asleep.

An hour later it began to darken.

Harry Hazelton awoke with a start, to find Tom with his finger
on his lips.

"Nicolas is asleep," whispered Reade. "Don't make any noise that
will awaken