CHAPTER XVIII.
AT THE BURNING BRIDGE.
It was really only the bad marksmanship of the men among the rocks somedistance away, and the fact that the boys were now strung out in adisorganized line as they drew near the stalled train that saved thescouts from disaster, just as they saw a haven of refuge at hand.
The bullets continued to whine around them in a most disagreeablemanner; while some, falling short, tore up the ground, causing littlepatches of dust to leap upward where they struck.
Tubby must have lived hours during those few but exciting minutes. Then,to his great satisfaction he found himself riding behind the cars of thetrain, where there were scores of people hiding, men, women andchildren, fugitives from the city that had fallen into Villa's handsonce more. Some may have fled for fear that the rebel leader wouldconfiscate all their possessions, because they had been on friendlyterms with the troops of Huerta when the Government forces held thecapital of Chihuahua State.
No one could say with what relief Tubby checked the onward rush of hischarger; Rob did not have to come to his assistance this time, for theexhausted boy actually fell from the saddle, being caught by severalgrim rebels, who had come crowding around to find out who these partieswere, and how it came that American soldiers dared invade the sacredsoil of Mexico,--which, had it been an actual fact, would have served tounite both hostile factions against Uncle Sam's boys in khaki.
But Lopez had unlimbered his tongue by now, and was rattling off thegreatest lot of jargon in Spanish the boys had ever listened to. Theycould only understand a word here and there; but that did not matter,for as he talked the guide made many gestures, and it was possible totell what he was saying from these alone.
Many of the rebels crowded close around them, forming a circle, tendeep. Others had hurried to exchange shots with the late pursuers of theboys, and opened such a warm fire that the Regulars quickly turned andfled, doubtless to join later on with their comrades among the rocks,and plot to overwhelm the defenders of the stalled train.
When the name of General Villa was mentioned several times, and alwayswith a grand sweep of the arm in the direction of the four scouts, Robknew that Lopez was surely "spreading it on pretty thick." He must betelling the crowd that these gringo lads were great friends of thecommanding general, and that they had come all the way down here,hundreds, yes, thousands of miles, just to see him, and tell him what agreat patriot he was. And if this were so, then they must be looked onas comrades by every man who fought under Villa the Great; who would bevery angry with any wretch so unlucky as to raise a finger to offendthose whose friendship he valued so highly.
Of course such talk created no end of a sensation among the rough menwho were enlisted in the cause of the revolutionists. They feared theircommanding general more than any man on earth; and after hearing whatLopez had to say about these American boys, they were ready to give thema wild cheer; especially when told that the newcomers stood ready tocast their lot in with them, and help disperse the enemy.
When the guide, turning to Rob, told him about what he had promised therebels in return for the protection they were giving the fugitives, thepatrol leader looked a bit grave.
"Of course we're willing to do all we can, you understand, Lopez, tohelp our new friends out; and if anybody is wounded, we know a whole lotabout how to take care of bad hurts; in other ways, too, we'll do all wecan; but except as a very last resort, I wouldn't want to shoot directat those men over there. We're not soldiers, even if we do wear auniform that seems to say we are; and the last thing a Boy Scout wantsto do is to fight. But wait and see how things turn out. There are lotsof ways we can assist without actually using our guns against theRegulars; though if it came to the worst, and they were charging thisfort, you'd soon see how we'd pitch in and do our part."
After that Rob and his three chums noticed that they were being observedwith even more curiosity. Later on it turned out that the cunning Lopez,meaning to do things wholesale while about it, had hinted that theseyoung fellows might be secret messengers to Villa coming fromWashington; and that there was a strong chance that the AmericanGovernment was meaning finally to befriend the rebels, even allowingthem to get arms at will from across the border. In this way they mightbe helped to hasten the fall of Huerta, who had never been recognized aspresident by the new administration.
Meanwhile, the fire of the Federals up there among the rocks hadentirely ceased. Tubby, not being versed in such things, believed thatthe coming of reinforcements, in the shape of four boys and one man,must have given the Federals what he chose to call "cold feet," and thatthey had betaken themselves off. Rob, however, knew differently, for byusing that convenient field glass of his, he could see that there wereseveral men still up there. Evidently some sort of new scheme was beingfigured out by those who were besieging the train; and unless thedefenders managed to learn its nature in advance, they might be given adisagreeable surprise shortly.
This gave Rob an idea.
Just as he had told Lopez, while the scouts would not like to be askedto fire on the enemy, unless the defenders of the train were hardpushed, there were plenty of ways whereby wide-awake young chaps, suchas they were known to be, might make themselves useful.
He saw such an opening right then, and quickly began to look into itmore closely to find out if it were indeed practicable.
Examining the topography of the country through his glasses, Rob foundthat it was possible for a smart fellow to climb up to a certain point,where he could observe all that was going on beyond, and doubtless findplenty of chances to transmit his discoveries to the other scouts belowby means of a signal flag and the wigwag code. There was Tubby, who haddone himself more credit with signal work than along any other lineconnected with scout activities; why should he not keep himself inreadiness to receive whatever news the vidette on the pinnacle of rockchose to send?
After speaking about this idea to Lopez, and asking him to pass it alongto the rather fierce-looking individual who seemed to be in command ofthe rebels, Rob sought out the fat chum.
As more than a full hour had passed since their arrival at the stillburning railroad bridge, it was to be hoped that Tubby had, in somemeasure at least, recovered from his state of exhaustion, and that hewould be in fit condition to manage his end of the receiving line.
As he drew near the spot where he had discovered Tubby squatted like abig bull frog on the ground, Rob had to smile to notice how carefullythe fat scout had folded his blanket several times and used it as aseat; for Rob knew the reason why.
"Now I wonder what he is looking at so seriously," he said to himself ondrawing closer. "It can't be either the magic ring that's going to makeGeneral Villa fall on our necks and embrace us, nor yet that paper UncleMark gave us for his old time friend; because I happen to have both onmy person right now."
His curiosity aroused by Tubby's seeming fit of abstraction, Rob creptsoftly up behind the other and peered over his shoulder. What he sawcaused him to chuckle, as though more amused than ever.
Tubby had something in his hand, at which he was staring, all the whilemuttering to himself; and Rob could even catch what he was saying. Itran something like this:
"That's a bully clew, all right, all right. Rob says so, and he ought toknow. And you needn't think that I'm going to let the whole thing drop,just because I've been too busy with other jobs to follow it up. Justyou wait till I get back, and see if I don't find the identical braceand bit that coward used to bore a hole in the bottom of Rob's sailboat,and make this creased shaving in the shape of a curl. And say, bet youthat when I happen to mention the name of Max Ramsay I'm not very faraway from the guilty party; though I ought not to accuse anybody tillI'm dead sure.
"Oh! hello! that you, Rob? What's new? I was only making sure that Ihadn't gone and lost that marked shaving we found in your boat, youremember, and which some fine day is going to make some feller I knowstart to shivering in his shoes. Sit down with me, won't you? I'd offeryou a bit of my cu
shion, but seems like I can't spare it just now; youunderstand why."
"Yes, that's all right, Tubby, and small blame to you if you do feelbadly. It was a tough ride for us all; and yet we ought to thank ourlucky stars that we found a chance to give our pursuers the slip withouta fight. But I wanted to ask if you thought you could bother taking afew short messages with the wigwag flags?"
Tubby became interested at once, and almost forgot how tired and sore hefelt.
"Sure I can, and only too glad to be doing something in my particularline, Rob," he hastened to remark. "And it's just fine of you to come to_me_, when there's Merritt and Andy around. But what's doing? Have theFeds been sending messages, and do you want me to intercept what theysay? Is that the game, Rob?"
"You're away off there, Tubby," replied the patrol leader; "but if youlisten I'll try to explain. The idea struck me that perhaps I mightmanage to climb to that high rock you can see up there, and watch whatthe enemy is doing; because they must be up to some mischief, they keepso quiet lately. And after I get there you must stand by to take what Isend and write it down. Have the other boys around to help, becausethree heads are better than one in receiving. If you should get allmuddled up one of the others may carry the message through."
"Whee! that's a mighty clever scheme of yours, Rob; and if I wasn't sobeastly tired and lame I'd ask to be allowed to go along with you. Butp'raps it's better not, for the climbing would be tough, and I'm nearlyall in for one day. But please don't go off alone that way, Rob, withoutcarrying your gun along. Some of the tricky Regulars might manage tocut you off from us. And then wouldn't you be in a nice scrape withoutsome means for defending yourself? You will, Rob, won't you?"
"Why, yes, I had thought it might be a bit foolish not to, with a chancealways hanging over my head that I'd need something like a gun. But youcan keep right on sitting here if you like, only turn around so you willhave that crag in full view. Of course I don't know just how long itwill take me to climb up there, because if they glimpse me they'll aslike as not keep firing every time I show my head. But I ought to knowhow to creep, scout fashion. I've practiced it enough, goodness knows.Is it all understood, and have you the other flags handy? I want to taketwo along with me, after I've fastened them to a couple of sticks so Ican wave them the right way, though I may only need one."
Tubby told him that all was clear, and Rob promised to send Merrittaround to fix the other flags.
"When the time comes for you to send the first signal, guess I'll beable to get on my feet," the fat scout said as Rob moved away; "and ifI can't make it alone, I reckon the boys'll give me a boost. You putyour faith in me to get whatever you wigwag, Rob; but take mighty goodcare of yourself, hear?"
So the patrol leader went away, bearing the two white and red flags,which he meant to rig out with short staves before he started on hisperilous mission to the crag that jutted out far up the slope. Fromthere a splendid view could undoubtedly be obtained, not only of thestalled train and the burning bridge, but also of the Federal cavalrymenwho were keeping out of sight among the small _arroyos_ along thehillside.