"My father advised that we go well armed," said Merritt; "not that we would expect to use our guns against anybody, unless in the last pinch; but he says there are ferocious wild beasts down in that country, and he wouldn't feel easy to have us there with just a camp hatchet and our staves along for defense."
"How about that, Tubby? Did you happen to ask Uncle Mark whether we'd be likely to run across any grizzly bears or panthers or big game like that?" inquired Andy.
"Just what I did, because you know my mother said she was worried about my being gobbled up by a pack of hungry wolves," replied the fat scout.
"Guess they would pick you out first pop!" struck in Andy, chuckling.
"Which would show their good taste," Tubby informed him, without hesitating a second. "But uncle admitted that we might run across wild beasts of prey if we had to make much of a detour to avoid the Federal troops that are combing the country back of Ciudad Juarez, on the Rio Grande just opposite El Paso on the Texas side."
"Did he happen to say what kind of animals?" asked Rob.
"Oh! any old kind. There are wolves and coyotes on the plains, and in the desert; jaguars among the hills; and sometimes even a bear is run across, though not often. But my opinion is we'll have ten times as much worry about rebels and Federal soldiers and some of the Mexican bandits like that Castillo crowd we've read so much about in the papers the last few months."
"I think myself that you hit the target in the bull's-eye that time, Tubby," was Merritt's way of expressing his opinion.
"Well, it's settled then," added Rob, "that we go armed. Every fellow will have to carry some sort of a gun; and if you don't happen to own one, borrow it. Be sure to have some ammunition along, because we mightn't be able to get the kind we need down there. Now, let's make out a list of things we'll want with us. Of course we wouldn't think of carrying a tent, because we don't mean to have a pack train along, and we'll have to move in a hurry lots of times."
"But what if it rains like all get-out?" questioned Tubby, who did not altogether like the idea of getting his brand new khaki suit water-soaked the first thing.