as mounted upon his fine black horse,
and, muffled in a strong serape, rode in front to pilot the way. His
beautiful manga had been left behind, partly to save it from the rough
wear of such an expedition, and also that it might not excite the
cupidity of the prairie Indians, who, for such a brilliant mantle as it
was, would not hesitate to take his scalp. Besides the manga, the
embroidered jacket, the scarlet scarf, and velveteen calzoneros, had all
been put off, and others of a coarser kind were now worn in their place.

This was an important expedition for Carlos. He carried with him the
largest freight he had ever taken upon the prairies. Besides the three
carretas with four oxen each, the atajo consisted of five pack-mules,
all loaded with merchandise--the carretas with bread, pinole, Spanish
beans, Chile peppers; and the packs were made up of serape blankets,
coarse woollen cloth, and a few showy trinkets, as also some Spanish
knives, with their pointed triangular blades. It was his bold luck on
the day of the fiesta that had enabled him to provide such a stock. In
addition to his own original onza and the two he had won, the young
ranchero, Don Juan, had insisted upon his accepting the loan of five
others towards an outfit for this expedition.

The little troop, having safely forded the Pecos, headed towards the
"ceja" of the Llano Estacado, that was not far distant from the crossing
of Bosque Redondo. A sloping ravine brought them to the top of the
"mesa," where a firm level road lay before them--a smooth plain without
break or bush to guide them on their course.

But the cibolero needed no guide. No man knew the Staked Plain better
than he; and, setting his horse's head in a direction a little south of
east, the train moved on. He was striking for one of the head branches
of the Red River of Louisiana, where he had heard that for several
seasons past the buffalo had appeared in great numbers. It was a new
route for him--as most of his former expeditions had been made to the
upper forks of the Texan rivers Brazos had Colorado. But the plains
around these rivers were at this time in undisputed possession of the
powerful tribe of Comanches, and their allies, the Kiawas, Lipans, and
Tonkewas. Hence, these Indians, uninterrupted in their pursuit of the
buffalo, had rendered the latter wild and difficult of approach, and had
also thinned their numbers. On the waters of the Red River the case was
differ