The general issued an order and the room was quickly cleared.
“Now, then,” said he, “you may talk to me like I was your own father! That is the way I feel toward you.”
[CHAPTER XXI.—JOINING THE REVOLUTIONISTS.]
Fifteen minutes later, just as the last rays of daylight were fading away, three horsemen were seen to dash out of the Federal lines and head straight for the intrenchments which the revolutionists had hastily thrown up around Presidio del Norte.
A minute later a band of at least a dozen cavalrymen followed in hot pursuit.
But that one minute had been sufficient to give the three horsemen enough of a lead to make it a stern chase, which everyone knows is a long chase; and although the cavalry were plainly well mounted, the three horsemen gradually ran away from them.
When this became evident, the pursuers opened fire upon the trio, but their shots failed to reach their mark. In a couple of minutes more, the cavalrymen were obliged to draw rein to prevent them from coming within range of the revolutionists’ rifles, while the fleeing horsemen rode directly into the trenches and later into the town.
The three horsemen were the Broncho Rider Boys and the chase was a ruse determined upon by the boys and General Sanchez when they told him their mission, for of course General Sanchez was as anxious to thwart the revolutionist plot as was Lieut. Grant.
So well was the ruse carried out, however, that it completely deceived the revolutionists; and as the boys came inside the revolutionary lines, they were cheered loudly.
They approached the first officer they met and asked the way to the commander of the city. He was not only glad to direct them, but even offered to accompany them—an offer which they were glad to accept.