"They'll be all right; but if we capture the Zapatistas we'll have horses enough any way."
"And if we don't," remarked Billie grimly, "there'll be some riderless horses any way."
"Let us hope that they will not be the ones we have left behind," said Donald gravely.
CHAPTER II.
A STRANGE MIX-UP.
While the train was gathering headway the conductor and the guards rounded up all the men they could find on the train who were armed. There were more than a dozen, so that in point of numbers, the force on the train nearly equalled the Zapatistas. These were so stationed at the windows that they could give the would-be robbers a warm reception.
"We must use some strategy," declared Adrian, "or we will simply succeed in killing a few and scaring away the others. That will not be a very brilliant deed."
"No," from Donald, "but it will save the bullion. What's your plan?"
"Well, I was thinking it would be a good plan to separate the train."