“Carrajo!” exclaimed some one near him, in muffled tones.
Ned looked up and was almost ready to drop back into the manger again, when he saw a Mexican standing in the open part of the shed; but a second glance reassured him, for it was nobody but the cook. The man was probably sneaking back to the house after seeing his friends off, and had approached so noiselessly that Ned had not heard his footsteps. “I have learned one thing to-night,” said the boy, following out the thoughts that were in his mind, “and that is, that you are a rascal, Mr. Philip.”
“What are you doing out here?” demanded the Mexican, who was so amazed that he could not speak immediately.
“I was treed out here, and couldn’t get into the house,” replied Ned. “I have been out here ever since those strangers went away, and I saw all that passed between you and the raiders. I wouldn’t give much for you if the settlers should find out what you have been about to-night.”
When Ned had said this much, he paused and looked at the man. He was sorry he had spoken his mind so freely, for if he made Philip angry there was no telling what might come of it.
“And I wouldn’t give much for you if the settlers should find out that you stole that horse,” retorted Philip, after he had said something angry in Spanish.
“I didn’t steal him. I traded my own horse for him.”
“Then why didn’t you give him up when the owner came for him?” asked the Mexican.
“Well, he’s gone now,” said Ned, who did not know how to answer this question, “and the owner is welcome to him if he can find him. I can tell why you kept my secret: You knew the raiders were coming here to-night, and you intended to tell them about the horse, so that they could steal it. I didn’t know before that you were a thief, but I have often told myself that you looked like one.”
The Mexican was on the point of replying, and had already prefaced the remarks he intended to make, by a Spanish oath, when the rattling of a chain and the sudden opening of a door in the rancho, put a stop to the conversation. Ned at once jumped out of the manger and started toward the house, and the Mexican, instead of hiding himself, as the boy thought he would, followed close behind him.