CHAPTER XVI.
IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.
"Don't shoot!" Rob called out hastily, fearing that Lopez might think ithis duty, as the guardian of the little party, to open fire on theRegulars; and this was not in accordance with the designs of the BoyScouts, who were bound to exhaust every peaceful effort beforeproceeding to any violence.
Andy had by this time come to his senses, and started to crawl over towhere he had stacked his rifle. Shooting at coyotes was one thing,however, and being compelled to fire upon human beings quite another;and the boy looked pretty white "about the gills," as Merritt afterwardput it, as he clutched his weapon. But he had also heard what the patrolleader said, and did not make any hostile demonstration, beyond pullingback the hammer of his gun with his trembling thumb.
Of course, if the two Mexican soldiers made any attempt to run off theirmounts, Rob knew very well that they could not stand for that; since tobe forced to foot it all the way to Chihuahua, across burning desertsands, and rough hilly country, was a prospect that did not appeal tohim at all.
Fortunately the pair of cavalrymen did not dream of attacking nearlythree times their number. They just took it out in staring, and possiblysaying things back and forth. Then, as though they had decided thatretreat was the best play, since they were plainly outnumbered, suddenlyboth men wheeled their horses and went galloping swiftly away, sittingtheir saddles with that grace that seems to be a natural heritage of allMexicans.
"Good riddance of bad rubbage!" called out Merritt; though the boy wasundoubtedly relieved to see the cavalrymen depart without a fight.
Whether the men heard what he said or not, they turned and shook theirfists in the direction of the scouts; and from the threatening gesturesthat followed this action it was plainly to be seen that they did notmean this to be the last time they expected to meet the little party.
Rob turned to Lopez when the pair had vanished from view, and he couldno longer catch the heavy thud of their horses' hoofs on the hardground.
He found the guide frowning, and this fact told Rob what to expect.
"That spells trouble for us, doesn't it, Lopez?" he asked; while Tubby,Merritt and Andy hung upon what was passing between guide and patrolleader.
The Mexican shrugged his shoulders.
"If they can make it so, we will be followed, young senor," he remarked."You saw for yourself they were Federal cavalrymen, the same thatGeneral Salazar he have send out to cut the railroad between Chihuahuaand the river. All men who fight for Huerta hate Yankee gringoes; andthey see these uniforms, so they understand you are Americano soldiers.That is bad!"
"So that's the way the land lies!" remarked Merritt. "Well, we do notintend taking off these good old suits and wearing anything else, not ifwe know it. But see here, Lopez, what if those fellows should take anotion to sneak around on us, and try a shot from the rear?"
"Not much chance of that, with all these thickets around, which Lopezcalls the chaparral," Rob told him; "but I'll just wander off a bit,and see if I can glimpse them going. If that fails, I'll keep watchwhile the rest of you eat breakfast. Get busy, Andy and Tubby, so we'llhave that agony over in a hurry."
"Agony!" repeated Tubby indignantly. "Well, I like that, now, don't you,Andy? As if eating could ever be a task!"
Passing out of the hidden camp, Rob found a place where he could get anuninterrupted view of the lower country. And it was not long before hediscovered two mounted men, whom he easily recognized as their unbiddenvisitors, spurring away as fast as their horses could take them. Whenthe scout saw them look back several times, he no longer doubted thatthey were positively the men he had come to watch.
It made Rob a trifle uneasy to note the fact that the cavalrymen haddeparted in almost a southerly direction; because that might indicatefuture trouble for the little expedition.
When he showed up in camp again breakfast was just ready.
"Hello! changed your mind about not wanting to eat, have you, Rob?"hailed Tubby.
"Oh! you mistook what I said," replied the other laughingly, as hethrew himself down, selected a pannikin, and proceeded to slide severalslices of fried bacon out of the skillet. Then as he accepted the tincup of fragrant coffee which Merritt hastened to pour for him, he added,"Guess I like to eat when I'm hungry as well as anybody."
"But you draw the line there, don't you, Rob?" demanded Andy. "You don'twant to eat any old time, whether you're hungry or not, like somefellows we know?"
"Yes, we know a few, Andy," Tubby hastened to thrust in, realizing thatthis was meant for his especial benefit; "and I notice that you'recopying after me in great shape, so that soon I'll have to take a backseat."
"But what about those two cavalrymen, Rob?" asked Merritt, more deeplyinterested in seeking information along these lines than in learningwhich of the two disputing scouts could boast of the greater appetite.
"They've kicked the dust of this part of the country from their boots,and are riding pellmell away to the south," Rob answered. "I reckonthere must be a big bunch of hard riders over there somewhere. All Ihope is that we don't run foul of them during the day and findourselves pursued."
Tubby, at that, forgot all about his controversy with Andy.
"What, us chased by a lot of greaser cavalry?" he exclaimed. "Jiminycrickets! I hope that don't happen! I am not in the best shape going todo any tall riding; though if I'm hard pushed, you'll find me stickingto my horse like a mustard plaster. Mebbe you'll have to take acrowbar next time, Rob, to pry me loose from my saddle."
"Well, let's get through eating as soon as we can," Rob told him;"because this isn't any time to take things easy."
"Huh! always rushing me when I just get settled down to enjoy a littlebite of grub which I've helped cook," grumbled Tubby. But seeing thatthe others were making haste, he set his jaws to working at double pace;and when no one was looking he even managed to slip some of the hardtack into his pocket. If they did force him to shorten his breakfasthour to ten minutes, he wanted something to set his teeth into duringthe long hours that must elapse before they found another chance tobreak their fast.
The horses were soon saddled and packed, so that the camp in the thicketcould be abandoned. Of course, as usual, they had to wait for Tubby,because something was always wrong with his bridle, or else the girthneeded shortening so that his saddle would not turn with him as it hadthreatened to do many times the day before.
Finally the start was made.
The morning was fresh and clear; and while the day might turn out to behot enough toward noon to "fry an egg on a stone in the sun," as Andyexpressed it, the boys certainly enjoyed that first hour's gallop.Tubby, who soon found his former troubles coming back, did not haveunalloyed pleasure, although he did not complain.
It was a fine stretch of country, and yet Rob knew that they were reallynot far from the dreary desert. At times, when they had a chance to lookoff to one side, they could see a vast level territory with not a singletree to break its monotony, nothing but the dry sand that each windwould send scurrying along to form new hillocks and valleys.
But they had also discovered something else that pleased them more.This was an occasional glimpse of the railroad that ran betweenChihuahua and Juarez, being long known as the Mexican Central. In otherdays, before revolutions came again to vex Uncle Sam's southernneighbor, it had run without interruption all the way from the RioGrande to Mexico City, many hundreds of miles.
For some time past this road had been first in the hands of the rebels,and then in the possession of the Federals. As each in turn tried todestroy as much of the track and rolling stock as possible beforevacating, it can be understood that conditions were pretty bad all alongthe road at this time.
It was the intention of Rob later on in the day to seek this line ofrusty rails and keep following it south. He anticipated meeting with aparty of Villa's men, perhaps before dark set in. Making friends withthem, he would demand to be taken into the presence of the commandinggeneral, whether he happen
ed to be in far-off Chihuahua, or at somepoint nearer by. He might even be chasing the marauding bands ofFederals that were playing fast and loose with the railroad, on which hedepended to move his men and munitions of war from Juarez south, on theway to Mexico City.
They kept on riding constantly for several hours. Even Merritt and Andyfelt the strain, which must have been unusually severe on poor Tubby;but no one heard the gamey fat scout give even a groan. Often, when Robwould turn his head to look over his shoulder, he could not help but seethe look of "never-say-die" that was imprinted on Tubby's glowing face,and notice how he kept mopping his streaming forehead.
But they were covering considerable distance, and that was a greatcomfort. Tubby had much more at stake than any one of his three chums,and he must, as the boys always said, "grin and bear it." In fact, therewas nothing else that could be done, since going back now was out of thequestion; nor would Tubby have allowed any one to mention such a thingto him.
Once when Rob dropped back to ask him how he felt, Tubby knew that theleader was really solicitous about his welfare and had not made theinquiry merely in fun.
"I can stand it, Rob!" was all he said between his closely shut teeth;and knowing Tubby as well as he did, Rob felt sure that the fat boywould hold out, unless he actually fell from his saddle.
At noon they halted in order to rest the horses, and at the same timethemselves have a bite. Again did Rob have to assist Tubby to alight,though the other began to frisk around shortly, as though grimlydetermined on showing them all that he had only been stiff from sittingso long, and was far from being done up.
It took a whole lot of grit for Tubby to mount when the time came tomake a fresh start; but he seemed to feel that curious eyes werewatching all he did; so summoning his reserve strength, he clamberedinto his saddle, and tried to look as happy as though he did not feelthat he was sitting on an inverted pincushion.
Just one hour later they noticed a dense smoke rising ahead, whichLopez, on being asked, told them could only come from some burningbridge. That would seem to indicate that they must now be getting intothe danger zone where Regulars and rebels were engaged in a game of tag,one side doing the chasing now, and the other presently turning thetables on them.
The little party had come down to more level ground and were heading forthe railroad, when Rob, chancing to look back, meaning to see how Tubbywas coming along, made a discovery that gave him an unpleasant feeling.
"We're being pursued, boys!" he called out, thinking it best that all ofthem should know the truth at once, however unpleasant it might prove.
Of course there was an immediate craning of necks, and startledexclamations from the other chums.
"Two dozen, if there's a man!" cried Merritt.
"And Mexican Regulars, too, for they wear uniforms, which the rebelsdon't!" added Andy. "Looks like we might be in for a lively run, doesn'tit, Rob? And with our horses anything but fresh into the bargain!"
"Ginger snaps and pop guns!" Tubby was heard to say; "that settles myhash all right!"