nprepared for them. He had stationed the best marksmen of the party
behind the walls of the enclosure and at the windows of the house.
There was little time, however, to make the arrangements, but each man
seemed to know pretty well what he had to do. Not a shot was fired, not
a word was uttered. The Indians, expecting an easy victory, galloped
along the road, flourishing their lances, or holding their rifles ready
to fire as soon as any one appeared to fire at. They got close up to
the walls of the house, and there halted, fancying apparently that we
had already decamped. Some got off their horses, to examine the ground
for our trail.

"_Tira! tira_!--fire, my lads, fire!" shouted our leader in Spanish and
English. Every one of us obeyed the order, with such effect that fully
a dozen savages were knocked over, and many more wounded. We lost not a
moment in loading again. The savages, firing their rifles at us, rode
desperately up to the walls, as if intending to jump off their horses
and climb over them. Had they succeeded in so doing, they might have
overwhelmed us with their numbers. They were, however, received with
another volley, delivered with such good effect that their courage
failed them, and, wheeling about, they galloped away down the road as
fast as they could tear. Two Mexicans only were wounded, and not very
seriously. As may be supposed, no one went to sleep again that night;
and as soon as day broke we were all in our saddles, that we might reach
Durango before dark. We now proceeded with something like military
order, to avoid a surprise; for it was thought probable that the Indians
might have formed an ambush on the road, with the intention of attacking
us. In the afternoon, as we rode along, we caught sight of a body of
horsemen winding their way down a hill on the opposite side of the
valley. They might be Indians. Each man examined the lock of his
musket or rifle, and felt his side for his sword. They approached, and
we then saw that they were a troop of cavalry. They were very ragged,
and their horses were very miserable, and certainly they did not appear
as if they could contend with the well-mounted Indians we had
encountered. These Comanche Indians, as the Mexicans call them, succeed
in their forays by the rapidity of their movements. They will
accomplish a hundred miles in the day, driving several horses before
them. When one is tired, they mount another. If any are killed