horse side
by side with Bart, watching their train go slowly by, "I think we can
laugh at the Apaches now, my lad; while, when the Sharp-Toothed Beaver
joins us with his dark-skinned fighting men, we can give the rascals
such a hunting as shall send 'em north amongst the Yankees with fleas in
their ears."

"It's grand!" cried Bart, rousing himself up, for he had been feeling
rather low-spirited at parting from Maude, and it had made him worse to
see the poor girl's misery when she had clung to her father and said the
last good-byes. Still there was the fact that the governor and his lady
were excellent people, and the poor girl would soon brighten up.

And there sat Bart, on his eager little horse, Black Boy, which kept on
champing its bit and snorting and pawing the ground, shaking its head,
and longing, after weeks of abstinence, to be once more off and away on
a long-stretching gallop across the plains.

There were men mounted on horses, men on mules, greasers driving cattle
or the baggage mules, some in charge of the waggons, and all well-armed,
eager and excited, as they filed by, a crowd of swarthy, poncho-wearing
idlers watching them with an aspect of good-humoured contempt and pity
on their faces, as if saying to themselves, "Poor fools! what a lot of
labour and trouble they are going through to get silver and become rich,
while we can be so much more happy and comfortable in our idleness and
dirt and rags!"

A couple of miles outside the town the mob of idlers to the last man had
dropped off, and, bright and excited, the Doctor rode up in the cheery
morning sunshine.

"I'm going to ride forward, Bart," he cried, "so as to lead the van and
show the line of march. You keep about the middle, and mind there's no
straggling off to right or left. You, Joses, take the rear, and stand
no tricks from stragglers. Every man is to keep to his place and do his
duty. Strict discipline is to be the order of the day, and unless we
keep up our rigid training we shall be in no condition to encounter the
Indians when they come."

"What are these coming after us?" cried Bart, looking back at a cloud of
dust.

"Lancers," said Joses.

"Surely there is no trouble with the governor now," exclaimed the
Doctor, excitedly, as a squadron of admirably mounted cavalry, with
black-yellow pennons to their lances, came up at a canter, their leader
riding straight up to the Doctor.

"Don Ramon sends me to see you well on the ro