se I don't wish to stay! The children have the mumps and the poor
old lady is nearly wild."

"Come. Give me that bag. So--I thought all Americans were sensible
people!" And before Polly could object she found herself seated in the car
with Juan Pachuca driving silently at her side.

CHAPTER IV

JUAN PACHUCA

About half an hour after his conversation with Mrs. Van Zandt, Marc Scott
drove the buckboard with its two lively horses out on the Conejo road.
Beside him sat a blond dog of mixed genealogy answering to the name of
"Yellow." Scott had put on a coat over his flannel shirt, tucked his
trousers into a pair of riding boots, and replaced his sombrero with a
soft cloth hat. These changes having been made in honor of the visitor, he
felt that his duty had been fulfilled and he addressed Yellow
ruminatively:

"Well, I expect we got to brush up a bit on our manners if we're going to
have a young lady around, eh, Yellow? Going to be some strain on us both,
I'll say. Funny idea to run off to a place like this just because you've
quarreled with your young man! Got the temper that goes with red hair, I
guess. I remember a red-haired girl I used to know in Detroit----" A grin
succeeded the worried look on Scott's face; evidently the adventure with
the red-haired girl had had its humorous side.

"Well, get up, Romeo, we've got to reach that girl before Mendoza dumps
her in the ditch and gets her mussed up or the boss'll fire us both."

Romeo, a good-looking gray, with an excitable nature, snorted as he felt
the touch of the whip and dragged his gentler mate into a lively trot. A
new moon, clear cut and beautiful, was rising behind them, over the tall
mountains, making the valley--so bare by day--lovely and mysterious in its
half light.

"No kind of a night to be driving around with a dog, Yellow," remarked the
driver, reproachfully. "Men and moonlight are made for better things."

The horses trotted briskly; they were covering ground rapidly. They ought,
Marc figured, to meet the machine this side of Junipero Hill, a steep and
cruel grade which he would be glad to spare his horses if he could. If
Mendoza was making any sort of speed he ought to have come that far. He
began to watch for the lights of the machine. The girl must be plucky,
even if she was foolish, to dare a trip like this with a strange Mexican.

Well, he was glad Bob's sister was nervy; he liked nervy girls and he
liked Bob. Usually fellows who c