ted, "you are
quite enthusiastic. Do you know Corporal Owens?"

"Yes, sir. He is the one who pulled me out of the river on the night the
old Sam Kendall was burned."

"Oh yes; you told me about that the first time you were here. Where did
the corporal find Bristow and his party?"

George answered this question by giving the colonel a circumstantial
account of the pursuit, as he had heard it from Bob's lips, and the
manner in which he had gone to work to secure the deserters after he had
discovered their place of refuge. His description of Bryant's arrest
amused the officer, who declared that it was a very neat piece of
strategy.

Having placed Bob's case in the most favorable light possible, George
then went on to tell the colonel about Springer's unexpected visit to
his ranche, and described in detail the intended movements of Fletcher
and his band. The officer said he had done right in sending the
cattle-thief to warn the commandant at Eagle Pass, and had no doubt that
that officer would take measures to assist the civil authorities at Rio
Grande City in protecting the jail and giving Fletcher and his men a
warm reception when they came across the river; but, in order to explain
what happened afterward, we must here say that he did nothing of the
kind. Unfortunately for Springer, he was recognized by some ranchemen
who happened to be hanging about the post, and in spite of his
protestations he was arrested and turned over to the marshal, who locked
him up. No attention whatever was paid to his warning, and so positive
was the marshal that there was "something back of it" that he would not
even permit the prisoner to tell his story.

The cattle-thief remained in jail until the next full moon, and then
Fletcher and his men suddenly made their appearance, just as Springer
said they would. As no precautions had been taken to guard the prison,
the raiders had an easy victory, and before assistance could arrive from
the Pass, Springer and the murderers of the cowboy had been released and
Fletcher was safe across the river. Springer, of course, was much too
sharp to tell how he came to be an inmate of the jail, and the boss
cattle-thief, believing that he had been arrested while trying to carry
out his instructions, treated him with the greatest consideration.

"What did you mean by saying that you would give me a taste of army-life
by sending me out on a scout to-morrow?" asked George after he had
finished his story.