earney called his friends together during the afternoon to
consult as to whether any possible means of escape was before them. He
could see none. He had sent three scouts to Commodore Stockton at San
Diego, asking for immediate help, but the three were captured by the
Mexicans on their return. Kearney had succeeded in exchanging a Mexican
lieutenant, whom he held prisoner, for one of the scouts, but nothing
was gained thereby. The messenger reported that they had been unable to
reach San Diego, and Commodore Stockton, therefore, was in ignorance of
the peril of his countrymen not far distant.

When every one expressed himself as unable to see the first ray of
hope, Carson in his deliberate, modest way said that it was clear only a
single possibility remained--that was by procuring relief from Commodore
Stockton at San Diego. Though the other scouts had failed to reach
him, Carson expressed his belief that he could succeed. At any rate, he
desired to make the attempt to pass the Mexican lines.

Lieutenant Beale, since Minister to Austria, and favorably known
throughout the country, immediately seconded the proposition,
volunteering to accompany Carson. General Kearney gladly and gratefully
accepted the offer, and the arrangements were instantly made. These
arrangements were of the simplest nature. The beleaguered Americans
were surrounded by three cordons of sentinels, and it was necessary
for Carson and Beale to make their way past them in order to reach San
Diego.

When night was fully descended, the two left the rocks and approaching
the first line, sank upon their hands and knees, and crawled forward
with the silence and stealth of Indian scouts. Despite the utmost care,
their shoes made a slight noise now and then, and to avoid it, they took
them off and shoved them in their belts.

The exploit of Lieutenant Beale and Kit Carson was a most remarkable
one in every respect. Frequently through the gloom they would catch the
faint outlines of a sentinel, pacing back and forth. Instantly the two
would lie flat on their faces until the man moved away, when the painful
progress would be resumed.

The slightest forgetfulness was certain to prove fatal, for the
Mexicans, knowing the desperate straits of the Americans, must have
been expecting some such attempt and were therefore more than usually
watchful.

Once a mounted Mexican rode close to the prostrate figures, sprang off
his horse and lit his cigarette. He was s