o die under any and all circumstances was fatal to a
Ranger, and in course of time they got the _moral_ on the bad man. Each
one furnished his own horse and arms, while the State gave him
ammunition, "grub," one dollar a day, and extra expenses. The enlistment
was for twelve months. A list of fugitive Texas criminals was placed in
his hands, with which he was expected to familiarize himself. Then, in
small parties, they packed the bedding on their mule, they hung the
handcuffs and leather thongs about its neck, saddled their
riding-ponies, and threaded their way into the chaparral.

[Illustration: 06 HOW THE LAW GOT INTO THE CHAPARRAL]

On an evening I had the pleasure of meeting two more distinguished
Ranger officers--more modern types--Captains Lea Hall and Joseph Shely;
both of them big, forceful men, and loath to talk about themselves. It
was difficult to associate the quiet gentlemen who sat smoking in the
Deacon's rooms with what men say; for the tales of their prowess in
Texas always ends, "and that don't count Mexicans, either." The bandit
never laid down his gun but with his life; so the "la ley de huga"
[Mexican law of shooting escaped or resisting prisoners.] was in force
in the chaparral, and the good people of Texas were satisfied with a
very short account of a Ranger's fight.

The most distinguished predecessor of these two men was a Captain
McNally, who was so bent on, carrying his raids to an issue that he paid
no heed to national boundary-lines. He followed a band of Mexican
bandits to the town of La Cueva, below Ringgold, once, and, surrounding
it, demanded the surrender of the cattle which they had stolen. He had
but ten men, and yet this redoubtable warrior surrounded a town full of
bandits and Mexican soldiers. The Mexican soldiers attacked the Rangers,
and forced them back under the river-banks, but during the fight the
_jefe politico_ was killed. The Rangers were in a fair way to be
overcome by the Mexicans, when Lieutenant Clendenin turned a Gatling
loose from the American side and covered their position. A parley
ensued, but McNally refused to go back without the cattle, which the
Mexicans had finally to surrender.

At another time McNally received word through spies of an intended raid
of Mexican cattle-thieves under the leadership of Cammelo Lerma. At
Resaca de la Palma, McNally struck the depredators with but sixteen men.
They had seventeen men and five hundred head of stolen cattle. In a