wonderful land of Anahuac and its people. The now peaceful and rapidly
improving republic of the South is, in fact, only a kind of younger
brother of the United States. Mexico has no more sincere well-wisher
than

William O. Stoddard.

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CONTENTS
Page

Far-away Guns 11
The Race of the Goshawk 22
The Fortune of War 47
Completely Stranded 69
The Work of the Norther 84
Forward, March 99
The Land of the Montezumas 119
Out of the Tierra Caliente 136
Leaving the Hacienda 157
Pictures of the Past 167
Ned's News 181
A Storm Coming 193
The Revolution 207
The Despatch-bearer 221
Under Fire 240
General Scott and His Army 254
The Mountain Passes 267
Senor Carfora Trapped 281
The Stars and Stripes in Tenochtitlan 294

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ILLUSTRATIONS
Page

It was severe work, but it was done with eager enthusiasm Frontispiece
"Do you see that? What does it mean?" 30
"We have orders to take care of you" 114
Ned saw a long, bright blade of a lance pointed at his bosom 286

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AHEAD OF THE ARMY

CHAPTER I.

FAR-AWAY GUNS

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The long