ed at once. In a moment the murmur
swelled into an unmistakable Indian war-whoop. It was plainly evident
the Dominicans had arrived before us.

As soon as I heard the war-whoop I told Sergeant Cunningham to bring
up the men as rapidly as possible, sticking to the travelled road,
and, accompanied by the agent and Corporal Frank, I put spurs to my
horse and dashed towards the town.

Our route was through the cultivated land, while that of the soldiers
was on the hard ground along the foot-hills. Ours was in a direct
line, over deep, soft earth, frequently crossed by irrigating ditches,
while theirs, although nearly treble the distance, was over firm soil
without a break. We struck directly for the church spires, which I
knew rose from the central plaza.

Often we plunged down the banks of _acequias_, carrying avalanches of
soil with us into two or three feet of water, to make a difficult
scramble up the crumbling wall of the opposite side; and as we neared
the pueblo, the louder grew the discordant yells of the Dominicans.

As I reached the border of the plantation I found between me and the
road, which here entered the town, a cactus hedge about five feet
high, with no passage through it except at a considerable distance to
the right. The agent veered away to the opening, but Corporal Frank
kept Sancho close behind me, and I gave my good thoroughbred his head
and rode sharply at the hedge, cleared it at a bound, receiving but a
few scratches from the cactus spines. Turning my head as I came into
the road, I saw Frank come through like a trooper and join me.

Clear of the hedge, I found myself at the foot of a narrow street
which passed between two tall adobe buildings and entered the plaza
near the centre of its western side. I took it at a run, and when
half-way through saw directly before its inner end, facing the north,
a group of old, gray-haired Navajos standing alone with their arms
folded, and holding their blankets firmly about their breasts, while
in their immediate front were some one hundred mounted Indians,
painted and ornamented in true aboriginal warrior style.

On the terraced fronts of the houses and their flat roofs, and along
the three sides of the square, seemed to be gathered the entire
population of the town, looking passively on.

Before I had more than taken in the situation, a rattling discharge of
rifles came from the direction of the Dominicans, and the old men fell
in a heap to the grou