saw, however,
that Nestor, who was becoming a good deal of a mystery to him, did not
care to talk, and so he held his tongue.

Long before noon on the following day, after a comfortless ride on a
bumping train, the boys found themselves at San Jose, a scraggly town
on the west shore of beautiful Lake de Patos. As they were both hungry
and tired, they secured rooms in a little hotel, ordered dinner served
there, and rested for a short time. The dinner was plentiful, but
thoroughly Mexican. The menu smelled of garlic, and the walls of the
room were decorated (?) with cheap colored prints wherein matadors
calmly awaited the onslaught of maddened bulls, while women, shrouded
in mantillas and smoking cigarettes, leaned out of their seats and
applauded.

After the siesta, provisions were brought and enclosed in neat packages
convenient for carrying on the back, and at dusk, after a swift row
across the lake, the boys were at the foot of a high range of mountains
which looked down upon the lake and the town.

On their way across the lake, and on the gentle slope of the foot of
the hills, they had frequently observed parties of roughly dressed men,
some with muskets and some without, making their way, by boat and on
foot, toward the mountain. Those on the water were in rude, makeshift
boats, of which there seemed to be an insufficient quantity at hand,
groups waiting on the shore for the return of conveyances in order that
they might in turn be carried across.

There was great excitement in the little town, and men, women and
children were huddled in the streets, looking apprehensively at the
rough men who were hurrying, for some unknown reason, to the east.
Finally two men who appeared to know something of the English language
asked Nestor for a ride in the rather swift boat he had secured for the
trip across the lake. This request was gladly granted, for Nestor was
anxious to talk with some one who might be able to tell him something
of the movement to the east. He had his own suspicions of the motive
of the march, and they were not agreeable ones.

The men taken into the boat proved to be ignorant, sullen fellows, and
so little information of the kind sought was gained from them.
Presently the boat was left behind and the boys, each with a typical
Boy Scout camping outfit on his back--the same including
provisions--were soon making their way up the slope.

"Jere!" cried Jimmie, throwing himself on the ground aft