eapon in his hand, ready
to fight on; but one of the rancheroes threw his lasso over his
shoulders, and, with a jerk which, had it been round his neck, would
have dislocated it, brought him again to the ground.

"We will bring him along with us," said Captain Driscoll; "the poor
wretch has shown great courage, and deserves to live. Perhaps we may
learn from him something about his tribe."

The captive Indian was dragged along; and, finding that at present he
had no chance of escape, he came on quietly. No less than eight of the
Mexicans had lost their lives, so sudden had been the attack of the red
men, and most of the bodies had been deprived of their scalps. As it
was impossible to carry the corpses with us, and we had not time to bury
them, they were left to afford a banquet to the birds of the air and the
beasts of the forest--a common occurrence in this country. Some of
those who had run away now came back, and by degrees the whole party was
once more collected together. It was already late in the afternoon, and
we were anxious to find some place where we could rest for the night.
There was a village, we heard, at no great distance, and by riding
pretty hard we might reach it by nightfall. After what had occurred,
this we were all well disposed to do, for we could not tell at what
moment the Comanches, when they found that our numbers were smaller than
they had supposed, might come back and attack us. It was amusing to
hear the vapouring and boasting of the Mexicans, as our friends, with
their own comments, translated it to us. The greatest boasters were the
greatest cowards. Not one but could offer an excellent reason for
having run away. Several were going to procure help; others to get
behind the Indians, to attack them in the rear; others were heroically
making a diversion, to draw off their attention from their friends. It
was nearly dark when we reached the village, but not a sign of living
beings was there--no dog barked, no child's cheerful voice was heard,
not a cock crew. Alas! there were blackened roofs and walls, and
charred door-posts. The Indians had been there; all the inhabitants
must have been slain or had fled. We rode through the hamlet; not a
human being was to be found. One house--the largest in the place--had
escaped entire destruction. It had two stories; a ladder led to the
upper one. It would afford us shelter during the night, which gave
signs of being a tempestuous one.