All the while his eyes kindled with growing admiration for these brave lads, who were ready to take such great risks in order to save Uncle Mark's cattle, if it so happened that they had not been already seized by one side or the other of the contending forces.

"I suppose it would do no good for me to try and discourage you, boys,"

he said heartily, after the whole story had been told; "because I can easily see that you would try to carry out your plans at any rate. And that being the case, I might as well give you what advice I can, and help you in that way."

His words caused every boyish face to be wreathed in smiles.

"That is very kind of you, General," said Rob; "and we will try to act on the advice you give us, you may be sure. All we want is to meet General Pancho Villa; and from what Uncle Mark told us about his being a man of his word, we think the rest will be easy."

The experienced officer smiled grimly. Possibly he had opinions of his own about whether one who had been a lawless bandit for years would remember a kind deed to the point of throwing protection about the ranch of his former friend; but he did not venture to disturb the belief of the sanguine scouts.

"First of all you must have horses. I'll put you in touch with a man who can supply those, for I understood you to say you had plenty of money to pay for an outfit. Then you must take enough supplies along to do you for a week; because you may be that long getting to the town of Chihuahua, where we have reason to believe Villa is at present. He has forced many rich Mexicans and trades people there to pay tribute; and hundreds have made a pilgrimage across the desert with the two thousand Federal soldiers who were forced to leave Chihuahua when the Const.i.tutionalists, as Villa's men call themselves, captured the place.

And last of all, I know the very man you will need to serve you as a guide. He is a Mexican, but I have always found him entirely trustworthy; and he will be glad to favor me. So I will give you a few lines to Mardo Lopez, and tell you at what inn you can find him."

It was certainly cheering to hear the general say such kind things; and later on, when he shook hands all around again and told them to come and see him if he could do them any further favor, the four boys felt that they had indeed great reason to rejoice, because "all things seemed to be coming their way," as Andy put it.

They soon found the man called Mardo Lopez. While he did not impress them very favorably, because he seemed to have what they thought to be a dark, crafty face, he readily agreed to do everything in his power to oblige the general, and to prove that he could be trusted.

After that they took the guide with them to pick out the horses, knowing that his judgment would be better than their own; for Mardo was accustomed to traveling across the desert lands that stretched in many places between the river and the capital of Chihuahua, some two hundred miles and more from the border, and almost due south.

By the middle of the afternoon they had bought everything needed, and had their mounts, together with equipments for the same, safely housed at the tavern where they put up. Then, at Andy's suggestion, the Mexican took them for a little stroll, meaning to ask many questions concerning the organization to which they belonged; for Mardo had, it seemed, heard about the scouts, but up to that time had never been told what they stood for.

Rob, it may be set down as certain, was only too glad to pa.s.s the word along; for he himself believed so thoroughly in the uplifting power of the Boy Scout movement, that he wanted everybody to understand it in the same light.

The four boys and their new guide were walking along close to the bank of the river, the latter telling them many things that they would have to run up against once they found themselves on Mexican soil, when far away across the river there came the dull report of a gun; and then, just over their heads something cut through the air, making a whining sound that gave them all a thrill.

That was the first time they had really been under fire; but even Tubby seemed to know instinctively what the queer whistle meant, and that a bullet had pa.s.sed within a few yards of their heads.

CHAPTER XIII.

CROSSING THE FORD.

"Whee! hunt cover, fellers! Somebody's making a target of us!" exclaimed Tubby, looking wildly around for a convenient tree or adobe hut behind which he might hide his ample form.

But the Mexican guide showed them how they could quickly find shelter back of the bank; and, possibly, all of the boys breathed easier when a.s.sured that they were no longer exposed to the fire of the unseen marksman far back on the other side of the narrow river.

"But what does it mean?" asked Rob. "I thought the rebels were in force across the bridge, and that they did all in their power to make Uncle Sam look on their side with favor."

"It is so, young senor," the guide replied; "but often have the bullets come across here when the Federals and the rebels, they have fight it out over there. But now it is that some man thinks if Americans are shot it must come that the soldiers in El Paso will have to cross the international bridge, and that would mean what they call intervention."

"Oh! I see what you mean," Rob told him. "Then that was only some crazy man with a gun who wanted to bother Uncle Sam and make him real mad so he would send his soldiers across to punish him. And once they stepped on Mexican soil it would mean we'd have a war on our hands."

After that they were careful not to expose themselves more than seemed necessary as they continued their walk; and coming back they kept further away from the river so as to avoid a repet.i.tion of the bombardment. There was not much chance of the wretched marksman hitting them; but then, even bullets fired at random have been known to find a lodging place, as Rob had been told.

One of the first things the guide had a.s.sured them was that it would never do for the scouts to think of trying to enter Mexico by openly crossing the bridge. It was closely guarded on the one side by Uncle Sam's soldiers, and across the line by squads of rebels. The latter examined every one wishing to come or go, in many cases forcibly preventing the exit of some promising subject who might be made to yield tribute to the cause of the revolutionists, as well as refusing to allow others to enter Mexico, whom they believed might have some object contrary to the interests of their side.

But then the guide had informed them that he knew a ford where they might with perfect safety cross the river, now at a low stage. Once on the opposite sh.o.r.e they must depend on the fleet heels of their horses to take them inland, and in this manner avoid a meeting with any hostile force.

It was all arranged that they start early on the following morning.

Mardo was ready to do whatever they asked; and Tubby expressed himself as decidedly anxious to meet General Villa with as little delay as possible. He felt just as Uncle Mark had declared it might be, that the rebel commander in Chihuahua would by now believe he had done all that could be expected of him in serving the man who years before had saved his life, and who had been also a friend of the lamented President Madero. And as Villa's army needed rations and money desperately, possibly he would be planning either to kill off the fine steers on the Matthews Ranch, or else sell them to some enterprising American speculator for shipment across the line.

Perhaps none of the boys expected to sleep any too soundly that night, thinking of what a novel experience was before them; though all of them were tired after their long train ride.

Not a great while after supper, however, a soldier came to the inn and asked for Rob. He bore a message from the commandant to the effect that he would be pleased to have another little chat with the young a.s.sistant scout master to hear how his plans were coming on.

This decided interest which the general seemed to take in their enterprise gave Rob considerable pleasure. He eagerly availed himself of the privilege of meeting the soldier once more, and only regretted that his three chums had not been included in the invitation.

And Rob spent a very satisfactory half hour with the general, to whom he confided all his plans. He told so much about the previous experiences of the Eagle scouts, also, that the interested soldier felt reluctant to terminate the interview.

"I could go on chatting with you for hours, my son," he said, shaking hands as he dismissed the boy, "because I am so deeply interested in your ambitions and in what you have already gone through, you and your fine comrades. But I have appointed a meeting with some of my officers to plan for the new emergencies that are continually arising. Believe me, you have my best wishes, and if I do not see you again on your return--for something tells me you _will_ return, and after successfully carrying out your mission, too,--let me hear from you. It will give me great pleasure to reply."

This sort of talk was encouraging, to say the least. It gave Rob renewed ambition to push on along the course he had mapped out.

Of course, when he arrived at the inn he found the other boys still sitting up waiting for him; so that by degrees everything that the general had said had to be repeated before they consented to go to bed.

With the coming of morning they were all up. Tubby kept declaring that he did not have a wink of sleep all night on account of the hard bed and the various strange noises that came from without. But Andy returned that every time _he_ waked up, and it must have been in the neighborhood of a dozen separate occasions, he had particularly noticed that Tubby was sprawled over two-thirds of their bed, and snoring "to beat the band." After that Tubby closed up, possibly under the impression that the others would call him a fake.

As soon as they had had breakfast they found the guide waiting, mounted on his own horse; and then the bustle of preparation began. Tubby had to be helped more than a few times, for he became so excited that he could not remember where he had left a number of important things. Andy finally declared that it was lucky that the fat scout's head was firmly attached to his body, for otherwise he would be losing that also!

"Well," answered Tubby, grinning, "even if that did happen, I wouldn't be the first feller who'd gone and lost his head, would I? I'd like to have ten dollars for every time you have, Andy Bowles."

Finally everything was in readiness, and they started; but there were no cheers wafted after them on this occasion. The boys, acting under the advice of the general, had been very careful not to tell a single person other than Mardo Lopez what they intended doing. The rebels had many secret sympathizers on that sh.o.r.e of the Rio Grande; and perhaps one of these might think it worth while to transmit the news across that a little party of gringo boy soldiers contemplated invading the sacred soil of Mexico.

Leaving the lively town of El Paso behind, the little party struck along the river, and continued to gallop for several hours, until they came to the place where the ford mentioned by Lopez lay.

The cautious native guide was very careful to keep a bright lookout, not wishing to have his charges fired on from either bank of the stream while crossing.

"Better you wait here, young senors," he observed, as they pulled up in the shelter of some scrub trees that grew on a rise; "as for me, I will go over and take a look around on the other side. When you hear me call, and I wave my hand, it is a sign that you cross safely."

"All right, Lopez, we're on to what you mean," Andy told him.

They watched him crossing the stream, taking note of what he did, so as to keep the current from pushing his mount from the shelf that made the water so shallow.

"We must copy exactly that way of doing," Rob directed the rest. "I never crossed a river at a ford in my life; and certainly not on horseback. But it seems easy enough once you've got the hang of things."

"Huh! won't be any trouble at all," Tubby a.s.sured him, being confident of his ability to keep his horse headed right; and Andy also declared that it looked "just as easy as falling off a log."

Lopez, after pulling out on the other side, rode some distance up and down, as well as back from the river, in order to make sure that there might not be a party of natives, whether Federals, rebels, or bandits, lying in ambush. Should such a party open fire upon the boys while they were in the middle of the stream, they would be next to helpless to return the shots.

"There, he's waving his hat, now, and beckoning to us to come on!"

exclaimed Merritt, as the guide came galloping down close to the edge of the river. "That means the coast is clear, and we can cross over in peace. Rob, after you!"

Rob started in, and so well had he taken note of his landmarks, that he was able to follow exactly after the guide. At the same time he kept his horse's head turned partly up-stream, so that it could resist the sweep of the swift current. Had the flank of the animal caught the full force of the rushing water the crossing would have been more difficult.

Merritt came after Rob, then Andy, and last, but far from least, Tubby.