rest a wagon laden with cords, which the Mexicans,
in the fullness of their confidence, had made ready for tying the
American prisoners.

Doniphan's volunteers, who gained this victory, passed up with the main
army; but Price's soldiers, whom we now met, were men from the same
neighborhood, precisely similar in character, manner, and appearance.
One forenoon, as we were descending upon a very wide meadow, where
we meant to rest for an hour or two, we saw a dark body of horsemen
approaching at a distance. In order to find water, we were obliged to
turn aside to the river bank, a full half mile from the trail. Here we
put up a kind of awning, and spreading buffalo robes on the ground, Shaw
and I sat down to smoke beneath it.

"We are going to catch it now," said Shaw; "look at those fellows,
there'll be no peace for us here."

And in good truth about half the volunteers had straggled away from the
line of march, and were riding over the meadow toward us.

"How are you?" said the first who came up, alighting from his horse and
throwing himself upon the ground. The rest followed close, and a score
of them soon gathered about us, some lying at full length and some
sitting on horseback. They all belonged to a company raised in St.
Louis. There were some ruffian faces among them, and some haggard with
debauchery; but on the whole they were extremely good-looking men,
superior beyond measure to the ordinary rank and file of an army. Except
that they were booted to the knees, they wore their belts and military
trappings over the ordinary dress of citizens. Besides their swords and
holster pistols, they carried slung from their saddles the excellent
Springfield carbines, loaded at the breech. They inquired the character
of our party, and were anxious to know the prospect of killing buffalo,
and the chance that their horses would stand the journey to Santa Fe.
All this was well enough, but a moment after a worse visitation came
upon us.

"How are you, strangers? whar are you going and whar are you from?" said
a fellow, who came trotting up with an old straw hat on his head. He was
dressed in the coarsest brown homespun cloth. His face was rather sallow
from fever-and-ague, and his tall figure, though strong and sinewy was
quite thin, and had besides an angular look, which, together with his
boorish seat on horseback, gave him an appearance anything but graceful.
Plenty more of the same stamp were close behind him. Their compa