“D’you mean that the crowd that was fighting up here in the hills were soldiers?” broke in Scott, eagerly. “Federal soldiers?”
“No, no, the soldiers of the revolution—Sonora troops. They march south against Sinaloa.” Carlotta had crept nearer and was taking part in the conversation.
“I don’t get you. Who was doing the fighting?” demanded Scott.
The old woman burst into rapid speech, leaving Scott in the lurch immediately. Clara came to his rescue.
“The poor old thing is more Indian than Mexican and she doesn’t talk very clearly,” she said. “She says that the party which came along the road last night was a regiment of cavalry from up north. They saw the barn burning and thought that the bandits were on the march; so they started over that way. They fell in with the stragglers of the Yaqui crowd and started to fight. As near as I can tell, each party seems to have thought that the other was Angel Gonzales’ band. The Yaquis had been rooted out of their village by Gonzales and were on the warpath, poor creatures.
“Fortunately, there were a lot of Yaquis in the troop and by the time the fellows who were trying to loot us came along they began to understand the situation and the lot of them joined the troops. This old lady’s son, Manuel, joined too, and his wife and babies went along. That explains why they let us alone last night.”
“It does,” said Scott. “And it shows that Angel is around somewhere bent on deviltry. Here, old lady, is something to buy chow for the babies for a few days—better luck to you!” He handed her some money and they drove away amid loud thanks and happy smiles.
“What in the world do you mean by the wife and babies going, too?” demanded Polly, excitedly.
“Why, here in Mexico war is a family affair,” replied Scott. “There’s no such thing as the girl I left behind me. The Missus goes along and so do the youngsters. She does most of the foraging for food on the march.”
“The Mexican believes in equality of the sexes,” said Hard. “He believes that the woman has just as much right to do manual labor, to provide a living for the family, to fight, and to perform all the other unpleasant functions of living as he has. If there are not enough to go around, he generously allows her to do his share.”