"Looks mighty good to me!" commented Andy.
"Greatest thing that ever came down the pike!" exclaimed the delighted Tubby. And if a face that looked as beaming as a full moon might be taken as any indication of how the fat scout felt, he was certainly happy.
"It seems now as if we might go back with something to show for all our work, that's a fact," Merritt added.
"He did as much as say that he meant to take the cattle himself so as to feed his army and that he'd see you got good pay for them, all right, Tubby," Rob observed. "So it looks as though luck might be camping on our trail."
"And then, just think of all we've seen on this trip," added Andy. "A real battle on Mexican soil, with eight or ten rebels needing the assistance of the Boy Scout field hospital to keep them from bleeding to death! Am I sorry I came? Well, don't you believe it! Though I did want to take just a single crack at some of those crawlers up on the mountain, only Rob wouldn't hear of it!"
"Yes," Tubby said, with a sigh that seemed to well up from the very bottom of his heart, "I'll be pleased when this ride is over; because—well, I've got good reasons for thinking I'll be happier at home again. Fact is, I'm all hooped up astraddling that big plug you got for me, Rob. Makes me think of the bow-legged floor walker who waddled up to a lady entering the store, and said: 'Silks? Certainly, madam; walk this way, please,' and then ambled off. They say she nearly fainted, and complained to the management that she had been insulted. I expect to 'walk that way' for some time yet, till I get my proper shape back again."
"Oh! you'll be able to take it easy after this, Tubby," Merritt assured him.
"Yes," Rob added, "chances are that we'll be able to ride with General Villa all the way back to Juarez, where he seems to be bound right now. If they manage to get the engine of this train working again you might ride aboard if you don't feel like keeping to the saddle with the rest of us, Tubby."
"Didn't you notice that when he said so pompously that he'd pay for the cattle of his good friend Dr. Matthews, he slapped the side of his coat, as though he might have a pocket chuck full of greenbacks?" Tubby asked them.
"That's right, he did," assented Andy; "but let me warn you, brother, if it turns out to be rebel currency, don't you take it. And I'd likewise fight shy of real Mexican paper money; because if the other side wins, it won't be worth the paper it's printed on. Make him shell out in American cash or English coin stuff, but no pesos, Tubby."