CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | Border Land | [ 9] |
| II. | Unexpected Guests | [ 21] |
| III. | Refugio | [ 34] |
| IV. | What Serves, Serves | [ 43] |
| V. | A Little Excursion | [ 58] |
| VI. | The Norther | [ 66] |
| VII. | At the End of Seven Days | [ 76] |
| VIII. | Botanist and Mineralogist | [ 86] |
| IX. | Pablo, the Dancer | [ 95] |
| X. | A Picture in the Sky | [ 103] |
| XI. | Friends in Need | [ 114] |
| XII. | The End of a Noble Life | [ 122] |
| XIII. | By the Captain’s Orders | [ 129] |
| XIV. | A First Ride on the Railway | [ 137] |
| XV. | Getting Acquainted | [ 145] |
| XVI. | The Next Morning | [ 154] |
| XVII. | The Burnhams | [ 166] |
| XVIII. | A Rough Knight Errant | [ 178] |
| XIX. | Happenings by the Way | [ 194] |
| XX. | The Siege of Cork | [ 204] |
| XXI. | Follow Your Leader | [ 212] |
| XXII. | The Snarer Snared | [ 221] |
| XXIII. | In the Darkness | [ 228] |
| XXIV. | The Evening and the Morning | [ 233] |
| XXV. | An Irish-Indian Onslaught | [ 244] |
| XXVI. | Conflicting Emotions | [ 252] |
| XXVII. | By Different Tongues | [ 263] |
| XXVIII. | At the Point of Death | [ 278] |
| XXIX. | Camp Burnham | [ 288] |
| XXX. | The Blue Flower and the Black Rock | [ 296] |
| XXXI. | In the Hospital | [ 305] |
| XXXII. | In My Lady’s Chamber | [ 313] |
| XXXIII. | Refugio Once More | [ 321] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| Carlos and Carlota | [ Frontispiece] |
| “Adios! Adios!” | [ 48] |
| She Startled the Maid | [ 83] |
| “The Captain Said We Were to Wait” | [ 138] |
| “He Often Caught a Wild Horse” | [ 261] |
CARLOTA OF THE RANCHO
CHAPTER I
BORDER LAND
“My head is in the United States and my feet are in Mexico!” cried Carlos sprawling at ease upon the sun-warmed grass.
Whereupon Carlota, not to be outdone in anything, promptly rolled her plump little person over the sward until its length lay along a lime-line running due east and west across the plain. Her yellow curls touched her twin’s yet her body formed a right angle to his. Then she remarked:
“Pooh! I’m better than that! My heart is in my own country and my—my— What is it that’s on the other side of you from your heart, brother?”
“I don’t know. Maybe gizzard.”