dy place in the road. I drove on without
noticing that I was leaving the other teams far behind. A wagon stuck
fast in the mire, which caused my companions a great deal of labor and
much delay. At last I halted to await the coming of the other teams.
Suddenly there fell a shot from the dense growth of a wild sunflower
copse. It missed my head by a very close margin and just grazed the ear
of one of the mules. I believe that if I had attempted to rejoin the
train then I would have been killed from ambush. Instead, I quickly
secured the brake of my wagon, then I unhooked the trace chains of the
mules and quieted them and lay down under the wagon, ready to defend
myself. I was, however, not further molested and my companions came
along after a while. They had heard the shot and thought it was I who
had fired it.

CHAPTER IV.

A STRANGE LAND AND STRANGER PEOPLE

We were now within the boundaries of the Territory of Colorado and
approaching the northern line of New Mexico. When we passed through
Trinidad, which was then a small adobe town, we met Don Emilio Cortez
again. He was at home in this vicinity and came for the express purpose
of persuading me to come with him. "My good wife charged me to bring
her that little gringo," he said; "she longs for an American son." "Our
daughter, Mariquita, is now ten years of age, and has been asked in
marriage by Don Robusto Pesado, a very rich man. But the child is
afraid of him, as he is a mountain of flesh, weighing close on twelve
arrobas. Now we thought that two years hence thou wilt be seventeen
years old and a man very sufficient for our little Mariquita, who will
then, with God's favor, be a woman of twelve years. She will have a
large dowry of cattle and sheep, and as the saints have blessed us with
an abundance of land and chattels, thou art not required to provide."

I thanked Don Emilio very kindly, but was, of course, too young then to
entertain any thought of marrying. I was really sorry to disappoint
him, as he seemed to have formed a genuine attachment for me and was
seriously grieved by my refusal.

Rumor spreads its vagaries faster among illiterate people than among
the enlightened and educated. Therefore, it was said in New Mexico long
before our arrival there that Don Jose Lopez's outfit brought a young
American, the like of whom had never been known before. He was not
ignorant, as other Americans, for he not only spoke the Spanish, but he
could also re