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Show 68 WESTERN WILDS. agreed upon. It would never do for us to return the way we had come, as every water- hole was guarded, and an ambush set in every mountain pass. We must strike one blow, and then, if the Texan army never came, reach the Arkansas by a less frequented course. " It was decided to go westward up the arroyo we were on, and then straight south to the Cimarron again. The two days we followed the arroyo, grass was abundant, and water enough found in the limestone " pockets," which appear occasionally along these cafions. Thence southward we pressed with all possible speed day and night over the barren mesa, and when men and horses were frantic with thirst, again arrived at the Cimarron. There we cached our surplus baggage, and thence made another forced march across the rocky table- lands-' and over a spur of the Taos Mountains, toward the nearest Me$ icanftSttle-ments. Halting in a green depression of the divide between the waters flowing east and those of the Rio Grande, our scouts reported a body of sixty Mexican cavalry in a fortified camp just ahead, and com-manding the only pass to the settlements. Further scouting dis-covered a point from which our whole force might overlook their camp. This point we gained by a circuitous route next day, and camped in a dense thicket of cedars and pines. Below was a consider-able valley, through which ran a small stream bordered by cotton-wood and willow ; in a dense grove of the former, and on the farther bank of the stream, was the Mexican camp, beyond it a narrow pass leading to a small town. It was agreed that we should effect a sur-prise just beyond daylight next morning, capture the force if possible, then make a dash into the town and retreat before they could raise a force sufficient to oppose us. " Soon after midnight we cautiously descended by a detour of some five miles, which brought us down into the cottonwood thicket nearest the enemy's camp. Thence we moved on slowly to the bank of the stream, but were disconcerted to find it three times as large as it had appeared from the hill. After a whispered consultation, it was de-cided that the enemy's guards were upon the opposite bank and might be surprised and disarmed. With this view we waded the almost ice-cold stream so noiselessly that we were ascending the opposite bank when the first sentinel hailed : " l Quienes veniren ?' ( Who comes?) " ' Que dijo ? ' ( What do you say ?) " ' Quienes veniren ! Caraho /' was his response, as he discharged his piece at the nearest man, and fled into camp. We followed close, and were upon the soldiers as they rose from sleep. |