e that he did not know. More likely he did not want
to tell. But there was no way of forcing him.

"Oh, we've got to ride those horrid knife-backed ponies!" half groaned
Rosemary, as she saw led out for the use of herself and her brother the
steeds on which they had been carried thus far into the mountains.
"They're so bony I'm afraid their backbones will cut through the
saddle."

"They look as though they might," agreed Floyd. "Gee, but I'm dirty
and I'd like a shave and this is perfectly rotten altogether!" he
completed with a sigh.

"Don't mention such a thing as a bath tub!" wailed Rosemary. "I don't
believe these heathen know what water means for washing in."

Certainly the appearances of the Yaquis bore out that assertion. They
were dirty, grimy and greasy to a degree--and a high degree at that.

Rosemary wore bloomers under a short skirt, an attire eminently suited
to women folk in the west. For Rosemary was a rider of no small
ability, more at home in the saddle than on the seat of an auto, and
she and Floyd counted on much riding once they reached their uncle's
ranch which now, alas, seemed far away.

Thus attired the girl found no difficulty in getting into the saddle,
and her ability provoked murmurs of admiration from the Yaquis.

"Oh, if I only had a chance I'd show you how to ride!" declared
Rosemary, when she understood that her skill as a horsewoman was being
commented on. "Let me set out in the open once, with a good horse
under me instead of a specimen of crow-bait, and I'll open your eyes!"

But this was not to be--just yet.

Floyd, too, was a good rider, but his sister had more of a natural
knack with ponies, and often bested him in a race. He too, now swung a
leg over the saddle and mounted. With Mike in the lead, and several of
the Yaquis bringing up in the rear as a guard against a retreat on the
part of the captives, they were urged forward out of the rocky defile
into which they had come the night before.

Eagerly Rosemary and Floyd looked about them for some indication as to
the cause of the sudden excitement, and the movement among the Indians.
Anxiously the captives scanned the horizon for a sight of some rescue
party, the approach of which might have sent the Indians scurrying for
cover. But nothing was to be seen--at least of that nature, though
Rosemary and her brother did see something that caused them great
surprise.

This was a sight of the main body of the Yaquis