I
The children, meanwhile, were sleeping soundly in their hard bed. They were so tired that they did not wake up even when a tiny stream of water broke through a crevice in the rocks and splashed down on Tonio’s head. It ran off his hair just as the rain ran off the thatched roof of their little adobe hut.
About nine o’clock the rain stopped and the moon shone out from behind the clouds. An owl hooted; a fox ran right over the roof of their cave, making a soft pat-pat with his paws that would have frightened them if they had heard it, but they slept on.
At last, however, something did wake Tita. She sat up in terror. A flickering light that wasn’t moonlight was dancing [p 134] about the cave! It was so bright that she could see everything about them as plain as day.
She clutched Tonio, shook him gently, and whispered in his ear, “Tonio, Tonio, wake up.”
Tonio stirred and opened his mouth, but Tita clapped her hand over it. She was so afraid he would make a noise. When he saw the flickering light Tonio almost shouted for joy, for he was sure that his father had found them at last.
The flickering light grew brighter. They heard the crackling of flames and men’s voices, and saw sparks. Very quietly they squirmed around on their stomachs until they could peep out of the opening of their cave.
This is what they saw!
There on the ground a few feet in front of their hiding-place was a fire, and two men were beside it. Their horses were tied to bushes not far away. One of the men was broiling meat on the end of a stick. The [p 135] smell of it made the children very hungry. The other man was drinking something hot from a cup. They both had guns, and the guns were leaning against the rocks just below the cave where the children were hidden.
The man who was standing up was tall and had a fierce black mustache. He had on a big sombrero, and under a fold of his serape Tonio could see a cartridge-belt and the handle of a revolver.
“It’s the Tall Man that Father and Pedro were talking to in front of the pulque shop,” whispered Tonio.
Tita was so frightened that she shook like a leaf and her teeth chattered.
Pretty soon the Tall Man spoke. “The others ought to be here soon,” he said. “They’ll see the fire. Put on a few more sticks and make it flame up more.”
The other man gave a last turn to the meat, handed it stick and all to the Tall Man, and disappeared behind the bushes to search for wood.
He had not yet come back, when there was the sound of horses’ feet, and a man rode into sight, dismounted, hitched his horse, and joined the Tall Man by the fire.
One by one others came, until there were ten men standing about and talking together in low tones. Last of all there was the thud-thud of two more horses and who should [p 137] come riding into the firelight but Pancho on Pinto, and Pedro on another horse!
When they joined the circle, Tonio almost sprang up and shouted. He did make a little jump, but Tita clutched him and held him back. He loosened a pebble at the mouth of the cave by his motion and it clattered down over the rock. The man who had gone for the wood was just putting his load down by the fire when the pebble came rattling down beside him.
“What’s that?” he said, and sprang for his rifle.
Tonio hastily drew in his head. The men all listened intently for a few minutes, and looked cautiously about them.
“It’s nothing but a pebble,” said the Tall Man at last. “No one will disturb us here. And if they should,”—he tapped the handle of his revolver and smiled,—“we’d give them such a warm welcome they would be glad to stay with us—quietly—oh, very quietly!”
The other men grinned a little, as if they [p 138] saw a joke in this, and then they all sat down in a circle around the fire.