“Yes.”
“Then I feel bound to perform the duty you desire.”
“You need not,” said the Lieutenant.
“Whether I need, or not, I do. When I’m paid
for doing a job I expect to do it. Of course,” he added, “we’d do whatever you want us to anyway; but the telegram is personal with me.”
“I admire your spirit,” said the Lieutenant earnestly, “and I am now more than ever convinced that you are the very ones to perform the service.”
The Lieutenant opened a drawer in his desk and took therefrom a large map, which he spread out upon a table. It was drawn so as to show, not only the boundaries of the different counties and districts, the watercourses and highways, but was also shaded so as to show the topography of the country on both sides the Rio Grande.
“Now look,” he said to the boys, placing the point of his pencil on the map, “and listen carefully. Here is where you found the guns the other day. Here is the beach where you captured the boat. Back here, half a mile, you strike the trail leading to the little town of Alamito. There you come upon the line which has been surveyed by the Orient road and which strikes the Southern Pacific at Alpine. The reason why this spot has been selected for gun-running is that arms can be unloaded at Alpine and brought down here over these trails. Do you understand?”
The boys nodded their heads.
“Perfectly,” they exclaimed.