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Show ' ( l}6 ) of respect for eight C'n douhle- barre~led rifles. and .as many pairs· ol ditlo pistols; for, in lead of answenng Martwcz m the sarr1e tanc he humbly bei!:ged his pnrdon,~nd added; "My nnrnc is Don Malec, ~rcat chief of the Camanche·, of whom I h:lVe abOLtl five hundred not far from h re, all ready to fight.; anJ il wa not mere curio~ity on my part whieh induced me to ask th3£ question. but bcean~e I ha ·e a me. sa~' to deliver lo a eompany of cabnlleros, whom 1 ~uppo:~c d you to be." , "By whom and to whoru i., that m sn~c written?" asl~ed 1\Iartinc?., whose companion ~ kept silent, and Mateo replied: "By Ad3rn to the eaballcros of the C;•.Iif'ornia Phalanx." HiR voice lwgnn to falter, and his rcatures bc~Jpokc the consciousness of a criminal as wel'l as that of a coward.. Martinez rec;llmed: "We nre that company, and that caba~let·o," pointing to Carrel, "is our chief; J:!;ive the me~sa~e to him." l\1ateo did o, and posted himself again at the head of h~s hand. who formed a single line in front of Carrel, whu~c companions rod'· al o up, withoilt command, into one line opposite, while Hector took his place by Carrel's side, who at length read with a loud v01ee: '· Companionfi-- Pay one thousand piastres to Don 1.\tiateo, a nohle and eslimnble Mexican, captain of five hundred Cam:1nches, whose c2ptivc I am here t~l Don Valerio's habitation. Give Don MateO> al!-~o thirty-six nwle ·,for the Jifc and liberty of ADAM. "Saturday evening, J anuary 27. "No copy." Scarcely had Carrel s-nid the last two word~, when !'Je tore at once the paper· in two, at.U at the snme instant Mateo fell dead from Yonka'. pony, his forehead being hit by two balb, not one inch from each other, fired by Hector. The . ix maraudin~ fellows of lVlateo were sirnult:tne u. ly shot wit.h him, as none of th 'm had ti.me ~o think of shootinl!; or fi~hting offcn, i·ve!./ and defensively. 1 he SIX mules and the two ponie • frightened by the reports of so many rifles, and without riders, ran away in full gallop tow;lrds the for(. ''.We cannot follow the antmals," said Carrel, with a feigned saug frozd, " but we mu~t hurry on towards V a.lerio's habitat ion t.o rescue our hrothers and sisterR there. Let us hide in this· bush the anr~s of these dead robbers, whom we were forced, in self-preservatwn, to shoot into eternity.' even guns and six tomahawks, with Mateo's sword were co-ncealed i.n the l~oll?w stump of an old tree, after doing' which and rechargmg therr nfles, the cavalcade ~ontinued trottino- on westward ta I~ 1. 11g a1 o ng ~orne powd r· horns, partly filled with p°o wder, as tro-' phles, from the dead mar:~nders. They came ne~r Valerio's habita_tion, where they rested half an hour, to f~ed the11· mules and t~ reirc:-;h ~hernselves with what they lla? of Vt~tuals. · VVhen the PhaJan;2,artans had been, with thei r a~rmals a_ ltltle tt;engthen.ed l~y res~, and food, th~y mounted upun them ng::nn and Carrel sal!J w1th a 111·rn aud loud voice: ( 57 ) ,., Brc>thers and friends, now let us fight like heroes-as worthy Phalangarian' let us fight, actHl if it must be, let us die fighting for our captive brothers and sisters, and for ourselves, as it is sure that these mf\rnudiug savagrs will attack us in our fort, whence they expec' Mateo to return with our money and our animals. Let none of us he• frightened by the dreadful war:whoop; the reports ~f our rifl~s sh(l I <luly answer it. Let not one smgle shot be fired without effect, for we have not one to spare. Let us keep and fight closely tog th(·r ·1ike a renl Phalanx. Our watchword is: 'Cnlifornif1-Phalanx !~ ., "Lrt each of us now fire two successive shnts until they t~nsw r, acrordin<r to A dam's plan. I will begin, then yon will continue, Jlrctor, ba nd so on, every one re-chargm. g a f· ast as poss1. bl e. " So it was done, and Hector had scC~rcely fir d when they answerC'd twice on the olher side, where every thing had been prepared for il vigorous sally. "Thank Heaven," ericd Arlam, "our friencls are cominn· ! l\lfatt·O and his fellows are killed. Now let us figl1t.' 0 11c.I t\.vo.' ,.f. h nt ~ s right! One! two! again! ~£>t .u~ a~swer." . _ Adam flnd. ylvio fired their nfles m double e1nd qn~ck ~ucre ~w n , and immedtatelv re-charged them, where11pon 1hey cr1e1l flS lo11d a~ they coul<l, ""California!" and anxiously li stened for thP ans~·t r, "Phalanx!" that sounded through the rattling of r~umerous r~fl tshots, accomp<mied by the yf'IJs of the war-whoop, wl:1~h the _funO\J, Camanches bell-owed, wielding their tomahawks ancl fmn~ th<'lr gun: at random, in the hope thu') either to scare their <~s~ailant~ or to has· ten Mateo's return, whom they supposed to be fightmg w11 h the la tter. Leaviwr Valerio's habitation surrounded by the eightePn tn('n unci r the direction of Munoz aml Valerio, Yonka remaining within \.X Teresa · and Alejico, as their last protectors in a ca.se of ut m()st nwfortnne,- Aclam, Sylvio and Waanataa advanced w1th undauntable courage towards their coming friends, at every moment att<lcked hy.h~sts or' Carnanches, who fell, one after the other, by the never-rmssm~ balls of the Phahmgaricms, while they moved slowly but ron~ta11t l y forward, on either side, or rather towards each other, untll >they joined their 'California' and '~halanx' wi.th mutu~l~ 'IJ urra~1, r:peated in joyful excitement of tnumph and v1?tory. I he tw my-t :c. n PhalcuJgarians would now hold a short councll .about v;hat should h(-' (lone in ~pursuit of their victory, but they were mtf't-ru~terl by ~he. reports of many guns, fired in the clirection of Valeno'~ hClbJtatJo n: where they ~ 11 pposed a new attacl~ to le made .by th~ st1ll .nu~f~ rou ~ Cnmanches, in consequence of whiCh they burned th1ther .1s fast i'l , po ·sible. f 1 'l 1 In the mean time Valerio's ha bit<1tion Wfls the theatre o 10tT! t\ ,.. bloodshed. A larcre body of Camanches had mad a desperate ch <H~!(' upon its defenrlers~ pDste<.l around it . . Seven of the lat~er _fell _d~·~i (~ . and four were severely wounrled, be. Hies .Munoz, wh~ fought .hl"e a I t'l a shot· broke his ricrht arm whereupon he sttll firerl h1 four 1~ro, un 1 c ~ · h ' . h h t pastolc:: with his] ft hc-mrl, killing or woundmg <ln e~emy y ev<>:.v · o. Valerio had posted hi.mself before the door, behmd wh1ch Ins hero- • |