l; and after he had
accidentally discharged one of my pistols, which he had picked up to
examine, so that the ball went singing by my ear and actually cut
through the brim of Young's hat, there was a general disposition to
admit that the less this godly man had to do with carnal weapons the
safer would it be for all the rest of us. Young's hat was a battered
Derby, and about as unsuitable a hat for wear in Mexico as possibly
could be found; but for some unknown reason he was very much attached to
that hat, and he was so wroth over having a hole shot through it in that
unprovoked sort of way that he manifested a decided coolness towards
Fray Antonio for several days.

In the matter of armament, the happiest member of our party was Pablo.
He was a handy boy, and when he had demonstrated his ability to manage a
revolver by doing some very creditable shooting with mine (at mark that
I had stuck up in the corral, in order that I might gain ease in the use
of this unknown weapon), I delighted him inexpressibly by buying him a
pistol for his very own. I think that Pablo, upon becoming the possessor
of that revolver, at once grew two inches taller. The way that he
strutted as he wore it, and his eager thrusting forward of his left hip,
so that this gallant piece of warlike furniture might be the most
conspicuous part of him, were a joy to witness. For a time his
mouth-organ was entirely neglected; and coming quietly into the corral
one day, I found him engaged in exhibiting the revolver to El Sabio; who
regarded it with a slightly bored expression that I do not think Pablo
took in good part.

Rayburn decided that our expedition could be made more effectively with
a small force than with a large one. He argued that unless we took into
the Indian country a really powerful body of men, we would be safer with
a very few: for a few of us would feel keenly the necessity of keeping
constantly on guard; could be more easily managed and held together in
running away; and in case a fight was forced upon us we would fight more
steadily because each of us would know surely that he could rely upon
the support of all the rest. Which reasoning we perceived to be so sound
that we promptly accepted it.

Rayburn added to our company, therefore, only three men: two Otomi
Indians of whom Fray Antonio gave a good account, and Dennis Kearney,
who had served as axeman on the recently disbanded engineering corps.
He was a merry soul, this Dennis, w