wn. Callie was already on his way
to the door.

"Wagon train's comin'!" he cried as he ran out.

Drew lingered by Shadow's box. The filly was resting in the straw, her
match-stick legs folded under her, and the mare was munching the extra
feed of oats the Kentuckian had tipped in for her. He could hear the sound
of other running feet outside. It would seem that all Tubacca was turning
out to welcome the wagon train of traders from the south. Drew's curiosity
got the better of him. He went on out to the plaza.

3

Only a well-armed and convoyed set of wagons with a highly experienced and
competent master could dare travel the Apache-infested trails these days.
The first of the freighters, pulled by a sixteen-mule team, fairly burst
into the plaza, outriders fanning about it. One of the mounted men was
dressed in fringed buckskin, his shoulder-length hair and bushy black
beard the badge of a frontier already passing swiftly into history. He
rode a big black mule and carried a long-barreled rifle, not in the saddle
boot, but resting across the horn as if even here in Tubacca there might
be reason for instant action.

The mule trotted on to the middle of the plaza. Then the weapon pointed
skyward as its owner fired into the air, voicing a whoop as wild as the
Rebel Yell from the throat of a charging Texas trooper.

He was answered by cries and shouts from the gathering crowd as five more
wagons, each with a trailer hooked to its main bulk, pulled in around the
edge of the open area, until the center of the town was full and the din
of braying mules was deafening.

Drew retreated to the roofed entrance of the Four Jacks. The extra step of
height there enabled him to get a good look at two more horsemen pushing
past the end wagon. Both wore the dress of Mexican gentlemen, their short
jackets glinting with silver braid and embroidery; their bridles, horse
gear, and saddles were rich in scrolls and decorations of the same metal.
Navajo blankets lay under the saddles, and serapes were folded over the
shoulder of one rider, tied behind the cantle of the other.

They pulled up before the cantina, and one man took the reins of both
mounts. If the riders' clothing and horse furnishings were colorful, the
horses themselves were equally striking. One was a chestnut, a warm,
well-groomed red. But the other ... Drew stared. In all his years about
the stables and breeding farms of Kentucky, and throughout his travels
s