soundly, he might have heard what two men were saying, in half-whispers,
close to the door of his tent.

"Colonel," said Zuroaga, "we are well-hidden in here. The bushes are
very thick along the edge of the road."

"Hark!" interrupted Tassara. "Do you hear that? There they are!"

"I hear them," replied the general. "It may be so. If it is, they have
followed us well. But there cannot be more than half a dozen of them. It
is not any mere squad like that that we need be afraid of."

"This may be only an advance party, I think," said his friend,
thoughtfully. "A larger force may be on our trail before to-morrow
night. But they must not take us. They might merely arrest me, to have
me shot at Vera Cruz, but they would cut down you and poor young Carfora
at once. He is an American, and they would show him no mercy."

There had been a sound of horse hoofs on the road, and it had gone by,
but before Zuroaga could make any response to so gloomy a prophecy, his
own man, Pablo, stood before him. Pablo had been running fast, but he
had breath enough left to say, quite coolly and not loudly:

"Lancers, general. Officer and four men. They have been running their
horses, and they won't travel far to-morrow. I was in the bushes."

"All right, Pablo," said Zuroaga. "It was kind of Colonel Guerra to
order them to use up their horses. We shall not hear of that squad
again. Put Andrea on watch, and go to sleep. Our first danger is over."

Pablo bowed and turned away without another word, and Zuroaga resumed
his conference with Tassara, for those two were brave men, and were
well-accustomed to the peril-haunted lives they were leading.

"Colonel," he said, "it is evident that my young friend Carfora must go
with you. He is not fit for a swift ride of three hundred miles.
Besides, he must have any chance which may happen to turn up for
getting home. Will you take care of him? He is a fine young fellow, but
he cannot ride."

Therefore the pony and that saddle had done something good for Ned, and
Colonel Tassara cheerfully responded:

"With great pleasure, my dear general. I shall be glad to make American
friends. I may need them. He will be safe enough with me, but I fear it
will be a long time before he can get out of Mexico. As for me, I shall
meet more than a hundred of my own men at Orizaba, ready to escort me
across the sierra into my own State of Puebla. After that, my reputation
for loyalty will soon be reestablished by rai