[CHAPTER II.—A WILD CHASE AND ITS RESULT.]
The hacienda which Billie had discovered in his search for the lost pack mule was located about a mile from the Rio Grande on the Mexican side of the river, and appeared to be part of an estate of considerable size. The house itself was a good-sized dwelling, built in true Mexican style, with a great wall surrounding it, and the yard, or patio, as it is called, inside the walls. It was of dazzling whiteness, and, situated upon a little knoll that rose almost abruptly out of the otherwise level plain, made quite a pretentious appearance.
“Looks as though it might belong to people of quality,” remarked Donald, as the boys approached it, after a sharp gallop of twenty minutes.
“Yes, or a fort of some kind, with that high wall all around it.”
“The wall, as you call it, is part of the house,” explained Donald. “However, it serves the purpose of a fortification. Father told me they got into the habit of building their houses in this way
during the days when revolutions were of almost daily occurrence.”
“A habit from which they haven’t yet recovered,” laughed Billie.
Riding up to the great front door, or gate, which they found closed, they knocked loudly. A sharp-eyed Mexican lad answered the summons and ushered them into the patio, where they sat quietly upon their horses until the owner appeared. He was a little, weazened old man—Don Pablo Ojeda, by name, as the boys afterward learned—but he received them with a great show of friendliness.
“Welcome, strangers,” he said, by way of greeting. “What can I do for you today?”
“We are travelers,” replied Donald, “and one of our pack mules strayed away. Being unable to find it, we thought perhaps some of your servants might have come across it, and, not knowing to whom it belonged, have driven it to this place.”