Cimarron and the
Arkansas.

"Th' greasers in this hyar train air plumb lucky," said one of the
Texans, who called himself Jed Burch. "Ain't that so, Buck?"

Buck Flint nodded sourly. "They kin thank them d----d dragoons o' yourn,
friend," he answered.

"How's that?" asked Tom. "An' what about th' fight we saw signs of, a
couple o' days back?"

"It's all part of a long story," replied Jed, gloomily. "Reckon ye might
as well have th' hull of it, so ye'll know what's up, out hyar." He
looked around cautiously. "Don't want no d----d greasers larnin' it,
though. Who air these fellers comin' now?"

"Good friends o' ourn," said Hank. "Couple o' hunters that hang out,
most o' th' time, at Bent's Fort."

Jim and Zeb arrived, were introduced and vouched for, and the little
circle sat bunched together as the strangers explained some recent
history.

"Ye see, boys," began Burch, "us Texans air pizen ag'in greasers,
'specially since Armijo treated McLeod's boys wuss nor dogs. So a passel
o' us got together this spring an' come up hyar ter git in a crack they
wouldn't fergit. Me an' Buck, hyar, was with th' first crowd, under
Warfield, an' we larned 'em a lesson up on th' Mora. Thar warn't more'n
a score of us, an' we raided that village, nigh under th' nose o' Santer
Fe, killed some o' th' greasers, didn't lose a man, an' run off every
hoss they had, ter keep 'em from follerin' us. But we got careless an'
one night th' danged greasers an' settlement Injuns come up ter us an'
stampeded all thar own hosses an' ourn, too, an' didn't give us a lick
at 'em. That put us afoot with all our stuff. Thar warn't nothin' we
could do, then, but burn our saddles an' what we couldn't carry, an'
hoof it straight fer Bent's. We was on U.S. soil thar, so Warfield
disbanded us an' turned us loose; but we knowed whar ter go, an' we
went.

"Colonel Snively war ter be at a sartin place on th' Arkansas, an' he
war thar. We jined up with him an' went along this hyar trail, larnin'
that Armijo war a-lookin' fer us somewhar on it. Hell! He warn't
a-lookin' fer us: he had a powerful advance guard out feelin' th' way,
but _he_ warn't with it. We come up ter that party and cleaned it up,
nobody on our side gittin' more'n a scratch. But we couldn't git no news
about th' caravan that war due ter come along 'most any day, an' some o'
th' boys got discouraged an' went home. Th' rest o' us went back ter th'
Arkansas, campin' half a day's ride below th' Ca