“Yes, and there were always plenty of snakes,” laughed Adrian, who never had forgotten Billie’s aversion to reptiles since his visit to the snake dancers.
Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the peon’s wife, who proceeded to make a fire in the Mexican range, as the boys called the few bricks set up on edge. From a little earthen dish she produced a few thin corn cakes, which she toasted over the fire. When they were properly done, she put them on a dish and poured over them
a couple of spoonfuls of black beans. These she offered to the boys to eat.
Billie looked at it askance.
“I thought I was glad to eat a woman’s cooking at Presidio last night,” he said. “If this is a sample of Mexican women’s cooking, I’d rather get my own meals.”
However, they were all hungry, and the beans and tortillas soon disappeared.
“How much are you going to pay him for this, Don?” queried Adrian. “You said you would pay him well.”
“I don’t know. Do you think fifty cents is enough?”
“Try him and see.”
Donald took a silver half dollar from his pocket and held it out toward the man, who had been watching the boys in silence. He looked stupidly at it, but made no move to take it.