e moon's rays,
unobstructed, fell upon him. Then, although he became smaller and
smaller, Ned saw him more clearly. The boy was so much absorbed now in
the story that was unfolding before him that he did not have time to
wonder.

Urrea went up as high as the stem would sustain him. Then he rested his
feet on a bough, wrapped his left arm around the tree, and, with his
right arm, began to whirl the burning stick rapidly. The spark leaped
up, grew into a blaze, and Ned saw a wheel of fire. He had seen many
strange things, but this, influenced by circumstances of time and place,
was the most uncanny of them all.

Far above his head, and above the body of the forest revolved the wheel
of fire. Urrea's own body had melted away in the darkness, until it was
fused with the tree. Ned now saw only the fiery signal, for such it must
be, and his heart rose in fierce anger against Urrea. Once he lifted his
rifle a little, and studied the possibilities of a shot at such range,
but he put the rifle down again. He would watch and wait.

The wheel ceased presently to revolve, and Ned saw Urrea again, torch in
hand, but motionless. He, too, was waiting. He did not stir for a full
quarter of an hour, but all the while the torch burned steadily. Then he
suddenly began to whirl it again, but in a direction opposite to that
made by the first wheel of fire. Around and around went the burning
brand for some minutes. When he stopped, he waited at least ten minutes
longer. Then, as if he had received the answer that he wished, making
the claim of communication complete, he dropped the torch. Ned saw it
falling, a trail of light, until it struck among the bushes, where it
went out. Then Urrea began to descend the tree, but he came down more
slowly than he had gone up.

Ned slipped forward, seized Urrea's rifle, and then slipped back among
the bushes. He put the Mexican's weapon at his feet, cocked his own and
waited.

Urrea, coming slowly down the tree, stopped and stood there for a few
moments as if in contemplation. A shaft of moonlight piercing through
the foliage fell upon his face illumining the olive complexion and the
well-cut features. It was hard for Ned to believe what he had seen. What
could it be but a signal? and that signal to the enemies of the Texans!
And yet Urrea did not look like a villain and traitor. There was
certainly no malevolence in his face, which on the other hand had rather
a melancholy cast, as he stood there