on.

He had gone back to report to the bandits their coming, and after Jim
had returned, they had prepared the nicest trap imaginable near where
Jim had been hiding. They had had numerous experiences in that line and
were perfectly qualified experts. The spider and the fly was nothing to
the arrangements they had made to receive their supposably unsuspicious
guests.

You can imagine the surprise and disgust of the bandits and their scout
when they saw the three horsemen ride in an entirely different direction
than that they had looked for. Talk about convulsions, you should have
seen these desperadoes express their disappointment. It was terrific.
Not a saint in the long calendar was left unscathed.

How Jim would have enjoyed the performance. But entirely oblivious to
this, Jo, Jim and the Spaniard were riding rapidly towards the sea.
Before an hour had passed, they had ridden between the rounded sand
dunes and then out upon the hard, smooth sand of the beach.

"This is splendid going, Senor Sebastian," exclaimed Jim.

"It is all right," he replied, "if the sea does not get hungry too
soon." But the sea appeared to be in a very pleasant mood and the white
breakers had withdrawn as far out as it was possible to get. It was such
a smooth smiling sea with the laugh of its little sparkling waves that
it seemed that there could be no possible harm in it.

"I never saw a road that was better than this!" exclaimed Jo in
delight. "It is perfectly springy and no dust or mud."

It deserved all of Jo's praises, this broad, firm California beach. The
brown sand, that had been pounded down by the force of the great rollers
some hours before, showed scarcely a sign of the shoes of the horses.

There was plenty of width and the three horses pressed on abreast, the
powerful sweep of the gray Caliente and the chestnut Don Fernando, and
the snappy, nervous leaps of the little bay that Jo was riding. With the
bracing sea air and the exhilarating speed, the three musketeers were
invigorated.

The Spaniard hummed a gay ballad, while at times Jim's heavy bass and
Jo's lighter treble were joined in a rollicking American song. They
laughed without reason, for the simple joy of being alive and on the
move; but as pride sometimes goes before destruction, so happiness often
goes before disaster.

It was a small matter too, but it made for trouble. The Spaniard's horse
stepped between two small rocks that were close together and wrench