For several moments the two let their eyes wander over the vast stretch of country before them. Tom was the first to speak.
“Don’t you know any other words of English?” he inquired.
The answer was a shake of the head. By means of expressive gestures, however, the Mexican very easily conveyed to Tom’s mind a desire to know in which direction he was bound. This information being supplied, a look of much surprise came over his sunburned face, as though he could not understand why the lad should travel as far as the river only to turn right back.
Tom, realizing the hopelessness of attempting oral explanations, wisely concluded to confine his efforts to communicate to the clumsy, though useful medium of gestures, and in this way signified his intention of starting off at once. The Mexican with a benevolent smile made it known that he should like to accompany him, to which request Tom at once assented.
He reflected that there was nothing at all unusual about this. The man might be on his way to visit some of the ranches that lay to the east. At any rate he found his company a most agreeable change after the long hours of solitude and silence.
He soon discovered, too, that the horseman possessed an intimate knowledge of the surrounding country, for, acting as guide, he conducted him over a route much easier than the one by which he had come. And this resulted in their reaching the undulating prairie far sooner, and with much less fatigue than would otherwise have been the case.
“This is something else to talk about,” mused Tom. “I guess Cranny will wish to thunder he had come along with Bob and me. Honest, I’d give a lot to know who this chap is, and where he’s bound.”
As the two for mile after mile jogged along side by side across the prairie, all sorts of ideas concerning the Mexican ran through Tom Clifton’s head. He hadn’t yet managed to dismiss the thought that there was something decidedly mysterious about him.
“Perhaps he’s a Mexican general, who has come over to the United States on some mission,” he reflected, “or he may be seeking safety from his enemies.”
The depths of patriotism expressed both in the man’s face and actions, when he had looked upon the land of his fathers, made Tom feel that somehow the rustler theory was rather untenable, though he was still not yet prepared to dismiss it altogether from his mind.