he narrow way with clamor.
Sprinting at top speed behind it came barefoot soldiers: And then a
human avalanche burst from a pitch dark passage-way. The Dearborn rocked
on and turned a corner; the soldiers groped like blinded, half-stunned
swimmers and as the secretive moments passed, they stumbled to their
feet and staggered back again with garbled tales of prowling monsters,
and crossed themselves continuously. About the time the frightened
soldiers reached the house they had set out from, four Indians crept
along an adobe wall and knocked a signal on the studded planks of a
heavy, warehouse door. There came no creaking from its well-oiled hinges
as it slowly opened, stopped, and swiftly shut again, and left the dark
and smelly courtyard empty.

CHAPTER XIX

THE RENDEZVOUS

Enoch Birdsall stared in amazement at the four he had admitted, despite
the remembrance of the names they had whispered through the crack of the
partly opened door, the light from a single candle making gargoyles of
their hideously painted faces. Alonzo Webb was peering along the barrel
of a newfangled Colt, his eyes mere pin-points of concentration, his
breathing nearly suspended.

Hank's low, throaty laughter filled the dim building and he slapped Tom
on the shoulder. "Didn't I say I could fix us up so our own mothers
wouldn't know us?" he demanded.

"God help us!" said Enoch in hopelessly inadequate accents as he groped
behind him for his favorite cask. He seated himself with great
deliberation. "When Turley's man Allbright brought aroun' yer rifles in
a packload o' hay, I knowed we'd be seein' ye soon; an' he told us plain
that four Injuns had left 'em with him. But; h--l!"

Alonzo had cautiously put away the Colt and was readjusting his facial
expression to suit the changed conditions. Then he suddenly leaned back
against a bale of tobacco leaf, jammed an arm tightly against his mouth,
and laughed until he was limp.

Zeb Houghton glared at him in offended dignity, not knowing just what
to say, but determined to say something. He felt embarrassed and
slightly huffed. "Caravan have airy trouble arter we left it?" he asked.

"Trouble?" queried Enoch, a wise grin wreathing his face. "Some o' us
made more profits this year than we ever did afore. Soon's we found thar
warn't no custom guard ter meet us at Cold Spring, thanks ter them
Texans, we sent some riders ahead from th' ford o' th' Canadian, an'
Woodson held th' caravan thar i