d, after a most affectionate farewell,
Cuchillo and his braves left us, riding towards the south-west.

"There," exclaimed Jerry, as soon as they were fairly off, "ef there
don't go as sneakin' a varmint as there is in the whole Comanche nation,
I'll lose my guess. They'll go for that air camp to the southward,
expectin' to find some greenhorns; and I only hope they may find 'em. The
thing for us to do is to git our cattle into camp ez soon as possible. We
kin hurry 'em some, and I reckon we'd better do it."

We made good progress for a couple of hours; and, on reaching the top of
a "divide," saw a large emigrant wagon drawn by three yoke of oxen,
slowly making its way through the tall bottom grass of the valley beneath
us, surrounded by quite a number of men on horseback.

"Hurrah!" cried Jerry, "there's friends. This is the fust party we've
seen out on the plains since we left San Antonio. We mustn't let 'em go
by without overhaulin' 'em."

We soon came up with them; and they proved to be Capt. Blodget and four
companions from Missouri, on the way to Fort Davis, accompanied by an
Arapahoe Indian as guide.

We were, of course, delighted to meet with Americans, and eagerly
questioned them as to their adventures on the road; but they had seen no
Indians; having, by the advice of their guide, kept a few miles away from
the main travelled route, on account of there being less liability of
meeting the prowling bands, who generally followed the course of the
road, in expectation of more successfully conducting their thieving
operations.

We soon parted with our new friends, and set out once more on our way to
the Nueces.

[Illustration: The Missourians.]

CHAPTER III

Our arrival in camp, during the afternoon, was the signal for a general
rejoicing among the men, who loudly applauded the determination and pluck
shown by Jerry in pursuing and overtaking the thieves.

My first inquiry was for Hal and Ned, and was told that they had gone out
after a flock of wild turkeys that had been heard clucking in the pecan
trees, not far from camp. They had taken their guns with them, and
expected to be back by noon.

Thinking they would soon return, I went over to consult with Don Ignacio
about resuming our journey; but, as the water and grass were much better
where we then were than at the next stopping-place, the California
Springs, it was decided to remain encamped until morning.

Accepting an invitation to dine wit