CHAPTER XXI.
THE RETURN OF THE SCOUT MASTER.
The acting scout master of the Eagle Patrol was meanwhile making his waydown the ragged face of the slope pretty much as Merritt had picturedhim.
After giving that last "all right" wave of his flag, Rob had apparentlystarted down toward the plain, and his course was, as nearly as could beseen, just the same as that he had taken in order to reach the crag fromwhich he had wigwagged the news to his chums alongside the stalledtrain.
But this was only a "blind," intended to deceive the lurking Federals,if it happened that they were watching his movements. They would feelconfident that, as he meant to retrace his steps, he would follow theline of least resistance. Then all that they would have to do in orderto ambush him, would be to remain secreted in the cunningly arrangedhiding-place where the other three scouts had seen them take theirpositions.
When Rob had reason to believe that he was safe from observation, heset about changing his downward course. It was not very difficult to runacross some other descending gully or miniature _arroyo_, where in rainyweather doubtless copious streams of water flowed, but which now wasquite dry. The face of the elevation was fairly scarred with suchindentations.
The scout slipped along cleverly, stooping all of the time, andoccasionally even dropping flat on his hands and knees, in order tocrawl past a suspicious point, where the chances of exposure seemedgreater.
Rob had practiced this sort of thing many a time just for the fun of it,when he and the other Eagles were camping out. Such tactics came wellwithin the scope of actual scout work, for boys are expected to exertthemselves while indulging in games that pertain to the open. They couldimagine themselves Indians in the old days, when the copper-skinnednatives of American forests had to depend on their skill as hunters, inorder to secure their daily rations of food, because at that time therewas no generous-handed Uncle Sam to issue such to them once in so manymonths as the wards of the nation.
This creeping game had always appealed to Rob so strongly that he hadtaken particular pains to perfect himself in it, not dreaming how atsome future day his knowledge of it might come in handy, as it was nowdoing.
There was no particular hurry, he decided, as he picked his waycautiously along among the rough rocks, always surveying the prospectahead before actually trusting himself to move on a little distance. TheFederals who were lying in ambush and waiting for him to come alongwould hardly get impatient enough to start to meet him, he concluded.And besides, there was another reason why he should allow some littletime to elapse before trying to reach the foot of the descent.
He had tried to picture in his mind just what his three comrades wouldbe doing in the matter, and he came to the conclusion that Merritt mustcertainly appeal to Lopez, in order to have the rebels try to raise thesiege.
This they could easily do by dislodging the Federals who were in hidingon the return trail awaiting his approach.
Several times, when an opportunity occurred, Rob took occasion to raisehis head slowly and peer over the top of some friendly rock. He movedcarefully so that he might not draw attention to the spot; and hismotive was more to take a peep at the stalled train than any desire tofind out what the enemy might be doing. In this way, then, he saw thedozen rebels finally make a sortie and run headlong for the foot of theheight, just about as he had done; only they failed to take advantage ofthe chances there were for concealment, which he had utilized.
And he could also see that those at the train had gathered in a throngon that side toward the scene of action, as though deeply interested inthe outcome.
Yes, there were Tubby, Merritt and Andy; he could plainly make them outwith his naked eye, and knew that they must be very anxious concerninghis safety. Rob was almost impelled to wave his signal flag, so that itsfamiliar white and red combination would catch their watching eyes andtell them that thus far all was well, but he decided not to do it. Howwas he to tell but that enemies might be close by who would takeadvantage of his indiscretion to send a pattering shower of lead abouthis ears?
Once he half raised his field glasses, being tempted to make use of themin order to see better what the boys were doing and whether they woreanxious expressions on their faces, as he believed would be the case.But again Rob's scout training held his hand, and he quickly decidedthat he would be taking too much risk. Then, too, the sun chanced to beshining in just such a way that if he moved the glasses it would be aptto flash a warning ray, very much on the order of the heliograph signalshe was used to making with the aid of a broken piece of mirror, and sucha slight thing might catch the suspicious eyes of those who lay in wait.
So Rob contented himself with taking another observation, and notingthat the advancing rebels showed all the evidences of being very much inearnest.
All at once, even as he looked, he heard the quick detonation of a gunnot far away from him. And at the same instant he saw a puff of whitesmoke burst out from a clump of rocks, showing that one of the Federalsmust be in hiding there.
Undoubtedly he was firing at the advancing rebels, understanding thatthey meant to dislodge himself and companions from their hiding-placeson the hillside.
Derisive shouts answered the shot, and, so far as Rob could see, it hadaccomplished nothing save to let the rebels know that their intentionswere understood, and that the concealed Federals would not run awaywithout a fight.
Then came other shots. The second and third of those men who were lyingin ambush had taken up the gage of battle, and were trying to wing someof the leaping, running rebels before they gained the shelter of theoutlying rocks at the foot of the hill.
Nor were the men of Villa slow to return the fire, since they seemed tohave an abundance of ammunition. And for a short time the guns poppedmerrily around that region.
It was rather fascinating to crouch there and watch the curls of smokeshooting up, telling Rob that he was looking upon a real battle on asmall scale. Presently, however, when the bullets coming from variousquarters below began to whine about his ears, the patrol leader decidedthat he had better draw in his head, very much after the manner of atortoise, and make himself scarce, since he seemed to be in the line offire.
Once, a little later, when he took another cautious observation as theshooting slackened, he was thrilled to see a creeping soldier, clad ina dirty white uniform, not more than thirty yards away from him! Indeed,Rob could watch him carefully raise his head and look downward, asthough marking the advance of the foe, so as to calculate on his line ofretreat, and the expression on his swarthy face was plainly visible.
"How easy it would be for me to pick that fellow off, if I were a rebelright now," the boy told himself with something like a chuckle, as heslowly advanced his rifle under cover of the sheltering rock and drew abead on the skulking figure in the Federal service uniform. But ofcourse this was only a little act of boyish bravado, for Rob did nothave the least temptation to fire and injure one of these men. Hebelieved that Americans could as yet have no particular interest in thiscivil warfare that was going on south of the Rio Grande; and that theMexicans would be all the better for settling their differences amongthemselves.
Of course, if it went too far, doubtless Uncle Sam, in his character ofpoliceman for the Western Hemisphere, might have to intervene and try torestore peace to the harassed country of the dons.
Seeing which way the Federals were retreating, Rob changed his owncourse again. Of course he wanted to avoid any collision with the threewho had been lying in ambush, and at the same time keep clear, as wellas he could, of the advancing rebels until such time as he could letthem know that he was a friend, and not an enemy. These fellows wereonly too ready with their guns to open fire on the slightestprovocation, and Rob did not yearn to be made an object lesson.
"As like as not," he was saying to himself as he shifted his positionagain and again skillfully, "they'd bang away if they saw so much as thecrown of my campaign hat, and then apologize in their Mexican way afterthey'd riddled m
e with bullets. But an ounce of prevention is a heapbetter than a pound of cure, and I guess I'll keep out of the way tillthe right time comes along to speak up."
And having thus made up his mind as to what his course of action wouldbe, Rob began to hold back. He fancied that before long the advancerebels must be coming up, when he could get in touch with them, so as tolet them know that the enemy had slunk away after the manner of abeaten cur.
Five, ten minutes passed. There had not been a shot exchanged for allthat time, and Rob was really beginning to grow impatient, when hefancied he caught the mutter of voices. Taking another careful peep, hediscovered several men, whom he recognized as rebels, for they werearmed, alert, and wore no uniforms whatever.
So the scout waved his signal flag above the rock, and at the same timecalled out in a loud voice a word that he knew stood for "friend."
"_Amigo! amigo!_"
Quickly he saw that they understood, because they were making motionsfor him to come forth. And, feeling that there was no longer anything tofear, Rob proceeded to emerge from his place of concealment.
Of course he could not converse in the Mexican lingo, which is supposedto be a corruption of Spanish, but then, knowing a few words and beingable to gesticulate fairly well, Rob managed to give them theinformation that the Regulars had taken themselves off, so that it wasreally useless to remain up there on the hill, when the presence ofevery man would soon be needed down by the train.
Accordingly the party started downgrade and soon came to the level.Their appearance in the open was greeted by vociferous "_Bravos_" by allthe assembled Mexicans; and from the racket one might fancy that thosegallant fighters had utterly annihilated a whole army of the enemy.Spanish-American dispositions are ever excitable, and whatever they dois generally accomplished with much noise and confusion.
It thrilled Rob to the heart, though, to hear the shouts of his threechums above all the rest of the noise; and he knew that they werefeeling better satisfied than all the rest to see him come out of thelively little engagement unscathed.
He believed that he had some news for them later on that would bolsterup their faltering spirits; but first of all preparations must bestarted toward meeting successfully this coup on the part of theRegulars.
Tubby could not wait for Rob to reach them, but in his customarywarm-hearted manner he pushed away beyond the border of the throng andmet the returning scout.
"Let me tell you we're mighty happy to see you back without a scratch,after all that cannonading along the side of the mountain!" Tubbyexclaimed, as he pounced on Rob's hand and wrung it "like a pumphandle."
"And I'm a bit glad myself to get back in good shape, believe me," Robtold him. "After I've had a chance to shake hands all around we ought toget busy doing something to better our conditions here; because in halfan hour or so the Federals calculate to open on us from both sides, inwhat is called an enfilading fire. Hurrah, boys! Well, Merritt, I guesswe're showing the natives what Boy Scouts can do, eh?"