trung out
after Nell in a thunderin' troop.

"Say, I wish you fellers could see the lane that bunch of hosses left
in the greasewood an' cactus. Looks like there'd been a cattle
stampede on the desert.... Blanco Sol stayed out in front, you can
gamble on that. Right into Rojas's camp! Sabe, you senors? Gawd
Almighty! I never had grief that 'd hold a candle to this one of bein'
too late to see Nell an' Sol in their one best race.

"Rojas an' his men vamoosed without a shot. That ain't surprisin'.
There wasn't a shot fired by anybody. The cavalrymen soon found Thorne
an' hurried with him back on Uncle Sam's land. Thorne was half naked,
black an' blue all over, thin as a rail. He looked mighty sick when I
seen him first. That was a little after midday. He was given food an'
drink. Shore he seemed a starved man. But he picked up wonderful, an'
by the time Jim came along he was wantin' to start for Forlorn River.
So was Nell. By main strength as much as persuasion we kept the two of
them quiet till next evenin' at dark.

"Well, we made as sneaky a start in the dark as Jim an' me could
manage, an' never hit the trail till we was miles from town. Thorne's
nerve held him up for a while. Then all at once he tumbled out of his
saddle. We got him back, an' Lash held him on. Nell didn't give out
till daybreak."

As Ladd paused in his story Belding began to stutter, and finally he
exploded. His mighty utterances were incoherent. But plainly the
wrath he had felt toward the wilful girl was forgotten. Gale remained
gripped by silence.

"I reckon you'll all be some surprised when you see Casita," went on
Ladd. "It's half burned an' half tore down. An' the rebels are livin'
fat. There was rumors of another federal force on the road from Casa
Grandes. I seen a good many Americans from interior Mexico, an' the
stories they told would make your hair stand up. They all packed guns,
was fightin' mad at Greasers, an' sore on the good old U. S. But shore
glad to get over the line! Some were waitin' for trains, which don't
run reg'lar no more, an' others were ready to hit the trails north."

"Laddy, what knocks me is Rojas holding Thorne prisoner, trying to make
him tell where Mercedes had been hidden," said Belding.

"Shore. It 'd knock anybody."

"The bandit's crazy over her. That's the Spanish of it," replied
Belding, his voice rolling. "Rojas is a peon. He's been a slave to
the proud Castilian. He loves