d been driven together, and their packs
made fast again, the convoy set off southward; for the capture had
been made in the State of Nuevo Leon, and the _contrabando_ would be
turned into the custom-house at Monterey. Under the hot sun the
train moved slowly along the valley; so slowly that Pedro's horse,
out-walking the short-stepping _burros_, carried him far in advance of
his command. He was too deeply buried in his own thoughts to perceive
his loneliness, and it was only when he reached the town of Salinas
that he roused himself and found that his convoy was almost out of
sight down the dusty, winding road. On the bluff above the Salinas
River he tethered his horse to a tree, and sat down in the shade
of the ferry-man's hut to wait for his men to overtake him. The
_barquero_ speedily slunk away; but Pedro, heavy with his own heavy
thoughts, took slight notice of his movements, save that he was glad
to be left alone.

A quarter of a mile from where he sat the road dipped into a recess
behind a shoulder of the mountain, and for a little space was lost to
view. He watched the train until it entered this recess, and then,
while waiting for it to reappear, he bowed his head upon his hand. His
heart was very full of bitterness. There was but little comfort for
him in the fact that the train that he had captured had not been
commanded by Pepe in person; for he knew that the precautions taken
made the capture, either in the mountains or in Monterey, of the other
two trains certain; and not less certain was the capture or the
killing of Pepe himself. Certainly Pepe's fortune, probably his life,
already was as good as forfeited; and with this forfeiture Pancha's
hope of happiness was gone! And the cruel part of it all was that
Pancha ever must believe that he, willfully, revengefully, because she
had kept back from him her love, had brought upon her this great
misery. In the darkness that beset him he saw no way of hopeful light.
He had saved his honor, but he had wrecked his heart.

A rattle of rifle-shots snapped short his dismal revery. As he sprang
to his feet he saw a squad of his own people, a dozen or so, galloping
up the road, and a moment later four times as many men came out from
behind the shoulder of the mountain in sharp pursuit. The pursued were
bent low over the necks of their horses; from the crowd of pursuers
there came each instant a puff of smoke followed by the sharp crack
of the report; and each instant