es of the Olla the ragged
soldiery swung west to the shelter of the low hills that ran parallel
to the Olla line, while Ortez and his men rode directly to the Olla
fence and entered a coulee near the big gate, where they waited the
arrival of Brent and the herd.

About two hours before sundown one of Arguilla's lieutenants appeared
on the edge of the coulee where he could overlook the country. At his
signal the soldiers were to join the Ortez riders, but not until Brent
and his men had the cattle delivered.

Arguilla, who was to keep out of sight, had told Ortez to pay the
amount stipulated by Brent--and at the old established rate of twenty
dollars a head--which meant that upon receipt of the cattle Ortez would
give the foreman of the Olla four thousand dollars in gold. Ortez knew
that Arguilla contemplated killing Brent and his men and recovering the
money. Although his sympathies were with his own people, Ortez felt
that such treachery was too black, even for a leader of guerillas.

He realized that the first word of warning to Brent would mean his own
doom and the death of his men in the battle which would follow, for he
knew the Gringo cowboys would fight to the last man. Against this he
weighed the probability of a fight if he did not speak. In either
event he would be dishonored in the eyes of the powers who had trusted
him with handling the finances of the cause. It was in this state of
mind that he waited for the arrival of the men whom he considered
doomed, never imagining for a moment that Brent himself anticipated
treachery.

The sun had almost touched the western sky-line when a solitary rider
spurred out from the great gate of the Olla and up to Ortez, who
recognized in him one of the young vaqueros that had escaped from
Arguilla's guards the preceding night.

"Here's our tally." Pete handed Ortez a slip of paper. "Two hundred
and three head. My patron says to call it two hundred even, and to
give you a receipt for the money when you turn it over to me."

Arguilla's lieutenant had expected to see the herd turned over to Ortez
before the payment of any moneys. He hesitated as to whether or not he
should ride to the rim of the coulee and signal his company to
interfere with the transaction then and there in the name of his
superior officer. The lieutenant did not believe that Ortez would turn
over the money for a mere slip of paper. But Ortez, strangely enough,
seemed only too eager to clo