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eyed the latter whose gaze wandered many times to the slender, graceful figure of

the girl ahead of them.

Billy was thinking as he never had thought before. It seemed to him a cruel fate

that had so shaped their destinies that his best friend loved the girl Billy loved.

That Bridge was ignorant of Billy's infatuation for her the latter well knew. He

could not blame Bridge, nor could he, upon the other hand, quite reconcile

himself to the more than apparent adoration which marked his friend's attitude

toward Barbara.

As daylight waned the fugitives realized from the shuffling gait of their mounts,

from drooping heads and dull eyes that rest was imperative. They themselves

were fagged, too, and when a ranchhouse loomed in front of them they decided to

halt for much-needed recuperation.

Here they found three Americans who were totally unaware of Villa's

contemplated raid across the border, and who when they were informed of it were

doubly glad to welcome six extra carbines, for Barbara not only was armed but

was eminently qualified to expend ammunition without wasting it.

Rozales and his small band halted out of range of the ranch; but they went

hungry while their quarry fed themselves and their tired mounts.

The Clark brothers and their cousin, a man by the name of Mason, who were the

sole inhabitants of the ranch counseled a long rest--two hours at least, for the

border was still ten miles away and speed at the last moment might be their sole

means of salvation.

Billy was for moving on at once before the reinforcements, for which he was sure

Rozales had dispatched his messenger, could overtake them. But the others were

tired and argued, too, that upon jaded ponies they could not hope to escape and

so they waited, until, just as they were ready to continue their flight, flight

became impossible.

Darkness had fallen when the little party commenced to resaddle their ponies and

in the midst of their labors there came a rude and disheartening interruption.

Billy had kept either the Chinaman or Bridge constantly upon watch toward the

direction in which Rozales' men lolled smoking in the dark, and it was the crack

of Bridge's carbine which awoke the Americans to the fact that though the border

lay but a few miles away they were still far from safety.

As he fired Bridge turned in his saddle and shouted to the others to make for the

shelter of the ranchhouse.

299

The Mucker