enough to obey. His hands, one dripping blood, were raised over his
head, and he called something in Spanish to his followers, as yet
unseen by the boy ranchers and their friends.

Instantly the scattered firing on the part of the outlaws ceased, and,
catching this air of silence, Yellin' Kid gave an order that silenced
his guns.

"Now, what's the game?" demanded Snake, holding the whip hand as it
were. "What do you mean by firing on us?"

"I did not know it was you," declared the half breed. "We set out to
look for the Yaquis--"

"The Yaquis?" interrupted Snake.

"Sure! They have risen, it is said, and I and my men are on their
trail!"

This was news indeed--another surprise, in fact. That Del Pinzo was
speaking the truth could scarcely be believed. In the first place this
was almost an unknown accomplishment with him, and in the second place
the Yaquis were of his own kind--reckless outlaws who would stop at
nothing to get booty, either in cattle or money. It was more likely
that Del Pinzo and his gang were seeking an opportunity to join forces
with the band of up-rising Yaquis.

"Oh, you're after the Yaquis; are you!" asked Snake.

"Sure, senor Purdee!" Del Pinzo spoke fairly good English, and he could
be polite when it suited him. "We saw that some one was encamped in
the rocks, and I took them for the Yaquis. So we opened fire--it is
with sadness that I know now it was your friends whom I shot at."

"Um! Maybe so--maybe not," grimly retorted the cowboy. "Anyhow it's
us, and it seems to be you. I thought you were somewhere else," he
added referring to the fact that Del Pinzo had been arrested. It was
not the first time the half breed had been in the toils of the law,
following cattle raids on Diamond X or other ranches.

In the previous books of this series I have related some of Del Pinzo's
outrages. He was concerned in the water fight that so nearly ended
disastrously for Bud and his cousins.

"Oh, I get out!" said Del Pinzo, easily, and with a shrug of his
shoulders which might mean that coming forth from a jail was nothing in
his life.

"So I see," observed Snake with a grin. "By hook or crook, I reckon.
Well, I don't know as we have anything against you and your bunch just
at present. If you're after the Yaquis you're on the same errand as
us. But, if you'll excuse me sayin' so, I'd rather travel my own road."

This was a delicate hint to which Del Pinzo was not oblivious.

"