After a while
the traveler rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. Next he
walked to the ashes of the fire and looked down at them, stirring
them with his toe. Apparently satisfied, he lit a cigarette.
Could it be that something had gone wrong with the Ranger's plan?
Had something happened to him? Alaire was startled by the
possibility; this delay was beyond her comprehension.
Then, as if in answer to her perplexity, a second horseman
appeared, and the woman realized how simply she had been fooled.
III
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE WATER-HOLE
The new-comers exchanged a word or two in Spanish, then the second
rider flung himself from his saddle and made for the water. He was
lying prone and drinking deeply when out of nowhere came a sharp
command.
"Oiga! Hands up, both of you!"
The first arrival jumped as if a rattlesnake had buzzed at his
back, the second leaped to his feet with an oath; they stared in
the direction whence the voice had come.
"Drop your gun, companero!" The order was decisive; it was
directed at the man who had first appeared, for the other had left
his Winchester in its scabbard.
Both Mexicans cried, as if at a cue, "Who speaks?"
"A Ranger.
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