Dick think
of the abundant feasts that were spread for these carrion birds all over
Mexico. And just then as he rounded a curve in the road, his heart
leaped into his throat and his hands went up in response to a quick,
sharp word of command.

"Fool, fool," he groaned to himself. Then he rose to the emergency. He
took a grip on himself. And his cool gray eyes gave no sign of his
inward tumult as he looked steadily at his captor and returned gaze for
gaze. And as he gazed, the conviction grew that his life was not worth a
moment's purchase.

Before him, surrounded by his followers, stood a man of medium height,
but evidently possessed of great muscular strength. He wore a
nondescript costume of buckskin, studded with silver buttons and
surmounted by a serape that had once been red, but now was sadly faded by
wind and weather. A murderous machete was thrust into a flaunting sash
that served as a belt and a black sombrero overshadowed his face.

That face! Dick had never seen one so hideous except in nightmare. A
sword cut had slashed the right cheek from the temple to the chin. The
mouth from which several teeth were missing was like a gash. His eyes,
narrowed beneath drooping lids, were glinting with ferocity. They were
the eyes of a demon and the soul that looked through them was scarred and
seamed by every evil passion. So the old pirates might have looked as
they forced their victims to walk the plank. So an Apache Indian might
have gloated over a captive at the stake. Dick's soul turned sick within
him, but outwardly he was as cold as ice and hard as steel, as he stared
unflinchingly into the cruel eyes before him.

Perhaps that level gaze saved his life. The bandit's hand was trembling
on the trigger. One dead man more or less made no difference to him and
he could rob as easily after shooting as before. Something told Dick
that, had he weakened for a moment, a bullet would have found lodgment in
his heart. He braced himself for the strange duel and as he looked, he
saw the savage eyes change into a half-resentful admiration. It had been
a case of touch and go, but Dick, by sheer nerve had won a brief
reprieve. Without lowering the revolvers, the bandit called to one of
the scoundrels, of whom twenty stood near by with carbines ready:

"Search him, Pedro," he commanded.

The fellow come forward quickly. Every movement showed the awe and fear
in which the chief was held. He went through e