re. There's a horse for
you, Bob, and the best one I ever owned. He is a present from Mr.
Gilbert, who bought him in Kentucky for his own private use, but when he
found that I was going into the army he gave him to me, with the
assurance that Fletcher and his band could never make a prisoner of me
while I was on his back. I lost my old horse, Ranger, at the time I was
captured by the Greasers, and he was killed at the battle of Queretaro.
Now, what are you doing so far away from the fort?" asked George as he
picked up his picket-pin and led the horse around the station to find a
good place to stake him out. "How did you come to go into the army,
anyway, and what have you been doing to win those stripes?"

"It would take a long time to answer your last two questions," answered
Bob, "and so we will leave them until the rest of the boys have gone to
bed. I came here in pursuit of seven men who deserted last night."

"You did? Well, Bob, your superiors must have a good deal of confidence
in you to send you off on such an expedition. Where do you expect to
find them?"

"I have found them already, and arrested them too; that is, I have
caught six of them, and I know where the other one is. I intend to take
him in hand to-morrow, though, to tell the truth, I don't know just how
I am going to do it. I could have arrested him to-day if I had had
authority to take him out of a house; but I wasn't sure on that point,
and so I let him go until I could have time to make up my mind to
something. I got _that_ about fifteen minutes before you came up," said
Bob, directing his friend's attention to the hole in his coat that had
been made by Bristow's bullet. "My men returned the fire and slightly
wounded one of the deserters, who is now laid out on his blanket in the
sleeping-room. By the way, do you know Gus Robbins?"

"I should say I did," replied George, after he had followed the course
of the bullet through Bob's clothing and expressed his surprise at his
friend's narrow escape. "He ran away from his home in Foxboro', and came
down here to visit my cousin, who was at that time living with his
father at my ranche. He and Ned, who were constantly pluming themselves
on the numerous scrapes from which they had narrowly escaped, could not
rest easy until they kicked up a row in the settlement, and they did it
by shooting Mr. Cook's cattle. The consequence was, that I had to show
them the way out of the country. Don't you remember I to