The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-08-14

use or little money, he replied, with a
chuckle
And this fellow who is with you.
who is he and where did you get him p
I asked. mOtioning to one of the men
who stood near. The other man / had
recognized as Pedro.
''Oh, Jose, you mean! l bought him.
In this country men nave their price.
Money is a moving factor.
Are you sure that you know what
Don Carlos plan is about sending Sc
no-ita Teresa to convent" 1 inquired.
Il am sure that / know what was his
PLAN he replied. AT least that she
was to go this way You can depend
upon 1t that I have not been idle. and
that l played a shrewd game. Now ]
have discovered for you the informal
ton you wanted. may / inquire what
you are going to dor
4 expect to rescue her" I said w,
must take the guard by surprise and
overpower it. What do you say?''
1T is not for me to say" he re-
piled. but you can count on me 70
stand by you whatever you do
He had fallen in with my plans with
readiness that I had not expected
To one not acquainted with frontier life
and unaware of the success with which
stage robbers and highwaymen often
operate. the plan would have seemed i'm
practicable. In Mexico. especially. high
waymea and bandits were an institu-
ton of the country. and they piled their
business almost with impunlty.
Martin, as / knew, was inclined to be
little reckless, especially as fortune
seemed to favor him az it had done of
late. think. to him, the adventure
was more in the nature of an escapade
than anything else.
As for myself. there seemed to be no
alternative now 1 had got into the
business. and / entered upon 1t with
firm determination to see it through.
In truth. K was almost what I had ex-
pecteG-Mr. Melrose had told me t,Iat
1 might have 10 kidnap the senorita.
But the idea Of doing this did not at
all please ne.
Coming 20 a convenient place for halt
ting. we drew our horses aside under
the shelter of the trees. ! discussed
matters with Martin, and we agreed on
a course of action.
l was a little afraid of the man ne
had hired. but after talking with him /
discovered no reason why j should not
place reliance upon him. Martin said
that he had bought him. and / think
he had, for il was evident that he was
serving for pay; and the prospect of re-
ceiving a nice little sum of money with
out having 70 work for it pleased him.
He had been in the army. he told me,
and had seen a little Of guerrilla war
fare. and was not frightened at the
prospect of a little brush with the
guard.
The peon, Pedro, had become greatly
attached to me during the time he had
been in my service. and l doubted not
would fight TO the death If need be.
laid my plans carefully, as a general
would have designed some sdroit move
ment. However, the unexpected hap
pened. as it often does. and they were
destined 10 some modification.
While we were talking We discovered
a small party Of horsemen coming down
the road. They appeared to come from
the fortress Of Chapultepec. and natur-
ally inferred that they belonged to the
garrison there.
We retired further under the shadow
OF the trees so as not To be seen, and
TO allow them to pass. To our surprise
and embarrassment, they did not go on,
but halted nearly opposite 10 US, as II
waiting for some one.
I was greatly Disconnected by their
presence. for It was inauspicious. 20 say
the least We waited. but they did not
move on. I began 10 fear that We had
fallen into a trap. and questioned Mar
tin as 10 what il meant; but ne was at
as much Of a loss to give an explana-
,,vaaavoa 7 v-as r7x-geIF
We could not be seen on account of
the deep shadows OF the trees. though
we could see them as they stood in the
open road. But / was constantly APP
prehensive that we would be discovered
from the movements Of our horses, or
from their whinnying TO the other ami
mails. At last, when 1 had almost de-
termined a flank movement 10 attempt
to reacn the road ahead of them, they
moved away. We followed them eau
tiorsIy, but only 10 see them halt again
little distance off, and then separate
three going to the right and three tc
the left side of the road.
This is an ambuscade, and We will
do vel to keep out of il, suggested
Martin.
I was Of the same opinion. but whether
II was TO effect our capture, or waylay
some other party. I had no way OF dis
! covering. They blocked the way com
plcteIv, preventing me both from pass
! ing thcm OF executing flank move
ment 10 get around them.
Martin was in favor of falling back
/ but l decided that there would be time
enough to retreat when we were com
| PEELED TO do so.
While we were yet undecided what tc
do nv ear caught the sound OF car
riage coming up the road. and. by NOV
| ing a little into the open l could see
| that there were outriders also. The car
! riaga was one Of those heavy closed AZ
| fairs such as were used 10y the wealth.
! Ter class Of MeXicans.
| As il came opposite the place wner'
the men had disappeared from sight We
were witnesses Of a little drama which
u,as something after the order we might
ha,-o instituted ourselves had NOTHING
i,tarfered with our plans. hOrsema'
| - into the middle Of the road. AND
otbcrs advanced on either side. VIVA
MS said. we could not hear but m
dri,er of the carriage drew his horse
up suddenly
| either the guard was taken com
plctelv by surprise. or the men wer'
Lacking in courage. for they offered n
roststancC The whole business of hold
inc M the party was seemingly accom-
nlished so easily that l could hav