re were only twelve of them. But last night they were scared out of
their wits so they wired to the town beyond for help. I don't know how
many of them there are now. Even if there are a hell of a lot of them,
it doesn't cut any ice! Most of them aren't soldiers, you know, but
drafted men; if just one of them starts mutinying, the rest will follow
like sheep. My brother was drafted; they've got him there. I'll go
along with you and signal to him; all of them will desert and follow
you. Then we'll only have the officers to deal with! If you want to
give me a gun or something...."

"No more rifles left, brother. But I guess you can put these to some
use," Anastasio Montanez said, passing him two hand grenades.

The officer in command of the Federals was a young coxcomb of a captain
with a waxed mustache and blond hair. As long as he felt uncertain
about the strength of the assailants, he had remained extremely quiet
and prudent; but now that they had driven the rebels back without
allowing them a chance to fire a single shot, he waxed bold and brave.
While the soldiers did not dare put out their heads beyond the pillars
of the building, his own shadow stood against the pale clear dawn,
exhibiting his well-built slender body and his officer's cape bellying
in the breeze.

"Ha, I remember our coup d'etat!"

His military career had consisted of the single adventure when,
together with other students of the Officers' School, he was involved
in the treacherous revolt of Feliz Diaz and Huerta against President
Madero. Whenever the slightest insubordination arose, he invariably
recalled his feat at the Ciudadela.

"Lieutenant Campos," he ordered emphatically, "take a dozen men and
wipe out the bandits hiding there! The curs! They're only brave when it
comes to guzzling meat and robbing a hencoop!"

A workingman appeared at the small door of the spiral staircase,
announcing that the assailants were hidden in a corral where they might
easily be captured. This message came from the citizens keeping watch
on housetops.

"I'll go myself and get it over with!" the officer declared impetuously.

But he soon changed his mind. Before he had reached the door, he
retraced his steps.

"Very likely they are waiting for more men and, of course, it would be
wrong for me to abandon my post. Lieutenant Campos, go there yourself
and capture them dead or alive. We'll shoot them at noon when
everybody's coming out of church. Those bandit