CHAPTER XII.
A CALL AND A REPLY.
Mendez brought momentous tidings indeed. Addicted as he was to silence and with no disposition to talk, he had to do considerable of it now. His imperfect knowledge of English made it necessary for his friends to ask many questions, but it did not take them long to learn all that he had gathered and which has been told in its proper place to the reader.
“Captain,” said the lieutenant, “you have been uneasy all along because I insisted upon our staying here. I could see that you were on the point of making a break for your home; are you sorry now that you did not?”
“No; I will admit that I served my family as well and perhaps better by staying here, but it was hard to believe so at the time.”
“It is rather curious, and I was doubtful myself more than once.”
“Geronimo has the reputation of being a shrewd leader, but I can’t see wherein he shows it by staying in this part of the country, when he could make a dash into the Sutra Valley and be far on his return before we knew anything about it.”
“It is not to be supposed that he holds us in any fear, but it is the other scouts that he knows are somewhere in the neighborhood. He doesn’t wish to move until he learns where they are.”