"It is our night to laugh," explained the guard.
"Your merriment is ill-timed, then," growled young Overton. "Wait until you have all your war stuff on Mexican soil before you laugh again!"
"My time to laugh is every time that I look at you seven brave soldados, tied up like so many chickens for the butcher," grinned the guard. "In the meantime, our boat must now be at the pier, and soon she will be laden. Then—ah, well, there will be rejoicing on the other side of the Rio Grande!"
"I'll wager there'll be rejoicing," thought Lieutenant Hal. "And, as for me, I'm an officer with a blasted reputation. I've failed with my first chance to do my duty!"
In sheer disgust with himself, though he was really little if any at fault, Lieutenant Hal Overton, U. S. Army, rolled further over that he might cool his hot face against the cool earth.
CHAPTER XIV
AFFAIRS TAKE A MILITARY TURN
AS he did so Hal's hands touched against the wrists of Private Simms, who lay next to him.
"Confound me, why didn't I think of that before?" the Army boy demanded of himself, a sudden, brief hope surging up in his breast.
Then he tried it, to see how well it would work.