to all that approached.
His face was swollen with passion, his eyes were starting from their
sockets, his long hair tossed wildly. The boys watched him with cold
extremities and hot cheeks and eyes. They were oblivious to the rest of
the battlefield. The fate of the indomitable chief, upon whose life the
freedom of a race perhaps depended, would have riveted the attention of
older and wiser brains. His movements were easy to follow; he was head
above all and shoulders above many.

Suddenly the boys gave a gasp. The head of Anastacio was no longer to
be seen above that surging throng. Had he been wounded in a vital part?
A moment later they gave a hoarse gurgling cry and clung together,
shaking like children in icy water. The head of Anastacio rose
again--above the crowd, then higher,--higher,--until it looked down
upon the squirming mass from six feet above. It was on the end of a
pole.

XI

The boys turned and fled, scrambling blindly upwards. Instinctively
they ran in the direction of the pueblo, and when they were finally
obliged to sit down and fight for their lost breath they realised the
course they had taken.

The horror was still in their eyes, but neither spoke of what for a
long while to come must be uppermost in his mind.

"I think we may as well go to the pueblo," said Roldan, as soon as he
could speak. "We must have food, and we are very tired. We can rest
there a few days, then take two of the horses--we can do nothing
without horses--and start out again. If any of the Indians escape and
come back, they will not have spirit enough left to touch us."

"Bueno," said Adan. "The Mission blankets are there and they are soft,
and that oven makes good cakes. I hope the Indians go all with the
soldiers. I never want to see another."

The boys resumed their flight, but more leisurely. They had no
difficulty in keeping to the trail, but it wound over many a weary
mile. Night comes early in the mountain forest, and before two hours
had passed they were groping their way along the narrow road cut
through the dense brush, and clinging to each other. They were brave
lads; but long fasting, and excitement, and a terrible climax to the
most trying day of their lives, had flung gunpowder among their nerves.

It was midnight when they reached the pueblo. The stars illumined
fitfully the deserted huts, black in the heavy shadows. A coyote was
yapping dismally, owls hooted in the forest. Both boys had a vision o