"

"Aha! I thought you'd spring that last one on me," declared Thorne,
wagging his head. "Well, you just forget it. Say, old boy, there's
something doing in Mexico. The United States in general doesn't
realize it. But across that line there are crazy revolutionists,
ill-paid soldiers, guerrilla leaders, raiders, robbers, outlaws,
bandits galore, starving peons by the thousand, girls and women in
terror. Mexico is like some of her volcanoes--ready to erupt fire and
hell! Don't make the awful mistake of joining rebel forces. Americans
are hated by Mexicans of the lower class--the fighting class, both
rebel and federal. Half the time these crazy Greasers are on one side,
then on the other. If you didn't starve or get shot in ambush, or die
of thirst, some Greaser would knife you in the back for you belt buckle
or boots. There are a good many Americans with the rebels eastward
toward Agua, Prieta and Juarez. Orozco is operating in Chihuahua, and
I guess he has some idea of warfare. But this is Sonora, a mountainous
desert, the home of the slave and the Yaqui. There's unorganized
revolt everywhere. The American miners and ranchers, those who could
get away, have fled across into the States, leaving property. Those
who couldn't or wouldn't come must fight for their lives, are fighting
now."

"That's bad," said Gale. "It's news to me. Why doesn't the government
take action, do something?"

"Afraid of international complications. Don't want to offend the
Maderists, or be criticized by jealous foreign nations. It's a
delicate situation, Dick. The Washington officials know the gravity of
it, you can bet. But the United States in general is in the dark, and
the army--well, you ought to hear the inside talk back at San Antonio.
We're patrolling the boundary line. We're making a grand bluff. I
could tell you of a dozen instances where cavalry should have pursued
raiders on the other side of the line. But we won't do it. The
officers are a grouchy lot these days. You see, of course, what
significance would attach to United States cavalry going into Mexican
territory. There would simply be hell. My own colonel is the sorest
man on the job. We're all sore. It's like sitting on a powder
magazine. We can't keep the rebels and raiders from crossing the line.
Yet we don't fight. My commission expires soon. I'll be discharged in
three months. You can bet I'm glad for more reasons than I've
mentioned."