Chapter 6 -ADRIAN MAKES A CAPTURE.

"By George!" exclaimed Billie, as he advanced to meet Pedro, "you surely did come right in the nick of time. I thought I'd have to become dog-meat, just to keep the others out of trouble, and I was going to do it."

"I don't think that would have been necessary," declared Donald, as he came out from the kitchen, followed by Adrian. "But I'm glad you got out of the trouble without killing the peon's dog. I know how much the peons think of their dogs-more than their wives."

"I'm very sorry," said Pedro, "that you should have had so much trouble, and that I did not take you home with me yesterday. My uncle says I was very rude not to have brought you home to breakfast."

"Breakfast!" exclaimed Billie. "How could you have taken us home to breakfast? It was after eleven o'clock when we met you."

Donald laughed.

"You don't understand," he said; "in Mexico they call the meal that we name breakfast simply coffee, as that is all they have to break their morning fast. From eleven to half-past twelve they have what they call almuerzo, or breakfast. Along about five o'clock they have cena, or supper, and dinner comes anywhere from seven to ten o'clock. This they call comida."

Billie's round face expanded into a broad smile.

"Four meals a day!" he finally exclaimed. "Fine! I think I'd like to live in Mexico."

"I'm sure we'd like to have you," laughed Pedro, "and now that I have found you again, you must come with me and have coffee. Then my uncle will send someone with you to show you the short way back to the Rio Brava."

The Broncho Rider Boys looked at each other knowingly as Adrian explained that they were not at all anxious to find a short road back, as they wished to see as much of the country as possible.

"That's fine," was Pedro's exultant exclamation, "for, if you are in no hurry, you can stay with us several days, and I can take you up the Concho. I surely want to do something to show you how much I appreciate what you did for me yesterday. My uncle thinks I was in great danger."

"How so?" asked Donald.

"Get onto your horses, and I'll tell you as you ride along," replied Pedro. "Here, Fillipe!" he called, "come and saddle the horses."

Not only Fillipe, but several other peons, who had made their appearance while the boys were talking, hastened to obey Pedro's command, and in a very few minutes the four boys were jogging along toward the Hacienda del Rio, for so the estate of Pedro's uncle was called.

"Now for the story," laughed Billie, "and I wish you would tell it in English so I can understand."

"If you won't laugh at my English," said Pedro, "I'll try."

"What, do you speak English?" asked Adrian.

"A little. My sister, Guadalupe, speaks it well, as does my uncle; but they call me the lazy one, because I have never tried very hard. I'm sorry now I didn't try harder."

"Well, try now," insisted Billie. "We have so many foreigners in the United States and so many speak poor English that we can understand most anything."

Pedro laughed heartily.

"I hope I can do as well as some; so, to begin with, I must tell you something about my home. We live on a large hacienda, in the State of Michoa-can, and our house is built only a little ways from the shore of a small lake, Tiasca by name. On the other side of this lake are mountains, very much like these across the Concho," and he pointed across the river to the west.

"On the shore of the lake, nearest the mountains, is a little village of fisher-folk, but they are a bad lot. They are lazy and dishonest. They steal at every opportunity. Hardly a week passes that some of them do not cross the lake and steal chickens, pigs, goats, and even cattle. We call them pirates, because they come over in little boats. They have always been bad, but since they became Zapatists they are worse than ever."

"What do you mean by Zapatists?" asked Adrian.

"Followers of the robber, Zapata. You must have heard about him."

"Now that you explain, I believe I have. So these men are followers of Zapata?"

"Yes; and before the days of President Madero they were a part of what was known as the Las Cruces robbers.

"Well, ever since my father was a young officer he has always had trouble with these pirates."

"Do they ever try to break into your house?" queried Billie.

"They did once, and that is part of the story. It happened when Guadalupe was a baby and I was only a little more. My father was away at the time with almost all the rurales in the district, and the robbers must have known that there were only a few peons left to guard the house.

"Three of them came to the gate and demanded that my mother give them five hundred dollars. She refused, and they threatened to come and get it. Mother was not much afraid, as our house is very strongly built of stone; but still she took every precaution to see that they could not break in; but that night about twenty-five of them surrounded the house and sat down to a regular siege."

"Couldn't you shoot them from the windows?" asked Billie.

"I suppose we could, but mother didn't wish to do that. So she just kept everything shut tight, expecting every hour that my father would return.

"After they had been there three days, one of our peons, Jose Gonzales, who had been away to Morelia on an errand, came home. He said that, as he came up the shore of the lake, he heard a group of the pirates saying that they were getting afraid to stay longer, and that they were going back across the lake. Sure enough, they did, and my mother was so relieved, especially to have Jose home, for he was considered above the ordinary run of peons, that she ceased her watchfulness and turned the care of the place over to Jose.

"Along about midnight my sister was taken sick, and my mother was obliged to get up to take care of her. As she came out into the rotunda and cast her eyes across the patio toward the great front gate, she saw a sight which frightened her nearly to death. Jose was standing in the half-open gate, talking to men whom my mother knew must be the pirates. She realized at once that he was a traitor, and, drawing quickly back into her room, she barred the door as best she could, and waited to see what would happen.

"She didn't have long to wait, as the robbers soon attempted to get in; but for a long time the bar held. Then Jose brought a great hammer and the door finally yielded."

"The villain!" exclaimed Billie, whose fighting blood was stirred by the recital of such treachery.

"It is even worse than you think," continued Pedro, "for, as the pirates rushed in, Jose called out, as he pointed to my father's strong box: 'There is the silver. You can have that, but the se?ora is mine.'

"At this he seized my mother, and started to carry her out of the door; but, as he turned, he saw a sight which caused him to loose his hold and draw his knife, for there in the door stood my father, his drawn saber in his hand and death in his eye. He took a step forward and aimed a blow at Jose, but as he struck, my mother, overcome with joy, seized him around the knees and spoiled his aim. Instead of cleaving Jose's skull, he struck a glancing blow and cut off his left ear. We found the ear later."

"Good for your father!" exclaimed all the boys. "But then what happened?" and they drew their horses down to a walk, so interested had they become in the story.

"Well, for a moment the robbers were surprised by the attack, but when they saw my father was alone, they all turned upon him and he would undoubtedly have been killed, but that his men, who had by this time overpowered the robbers in the patio, came to his aid. The bandits were soon secured, but in the fight and darkness, Jose escaped. We afterwards learned that he had been an accomplice of the bandits for years and had planned this attack for the sole purpose of stealing my mother. His aim was to become a gentleman and live in the City of Mexico, and for a while he did. Later my father learned of his whereabouts and his arrest was ordered, but again he managed to escape.

"During the Madero revolution he tried to win the good graces of President Madero, but his record was too bad and President Madero ordered him out of the city. Since that time he has threatened vengeance on the President and all his friends. It is even said he is trying to start a new revolution. He is none too good, I can tell you."

"But what has all this to do with your great danger?" asked Adrian.

"Why, my uncle thinks Jose is the man from whom you rescued me yesterday."

"What!" exclaimed all the boys in chorus. "That man!"

"That's what my uncle thinks. He has been reported in this vicinity. He has changed his name to Rafael Solis and I heard one of the peons yesterday address him as Don Rafael."

"I didn't notice that he had lost an ear," said Donald.

"No," said Billie, "but you noticed that he wore his hair unusually long, didn't you? I expect he does that to hide the missing ear."

"That's it exactly!" exclaimed Donald. "I knew there was something strange about his appearance, but for the life of me I couldn't tell what it was."

"Well, that's it," replied Billie, "and if I ever get my eye on you again, Mr. Don Rafael, I'll know you."

"You mustn't say Mr. Don Rafael," explained Pedro. "Don means Mr. If you want to, you can call him Don Rafael; but as for me I shall think of him always as Jose the traitor.

"But here we are at my uncle's house and he will be more than glad to see you."

As the little cavalcade drew up in front of the great white house, a peon opened the big gate and the quartette rode into the patio. Other servants quickly took their horses and led them to the stable, while Pedro escorted the boys up a broad flight of stairs to the second floor, on which were located the parlors, library and dining room. It was a beautiful home and our boys felt just a little bit awkward on coming into such a sumptuous house dressed in their travel-stained riding garments. But if they had any sense of being out of place, they were quickly put at their ease by a kindly faced gentleman of middle age, who advanced to the head of the stairs and greeted them pleasantly.

"These are the brave Americans who gave me such unexpected assistance yesterday," said Pedro by way of introduction.

"I guessed as much," replied his uncle.

"And this is my uncle, Don Antonio Sanchez," said Pedro to the boys, "he is just as glad to see you and to have you here as I am. And uncle," he continued without stopping to catch his breath, "they are going to stay with me several days, aren't you?" to the boys.

"I don't think we promised, did we?" replied Donald, "but we will stay today, anyway. We shall be pleased to see something of the Concho valley."

Don Antonio lead the way to the dining room, where the boys were introduced to Pedro's aunt and to his sister, Guadalupe.

If the boys had been embarrassed upon meeting Don Antonio, they were more so upon meeting Guadalupe, who was something different from any girl they had ever met. When she was introduced to Billie and called him Don Guillermo, he turned as red as a turkey gobbler and wished he was somewhere else; but, after a few minutes, he forgot his embarrassment in his morning meal-for when it came to eating, there was nothing could interfere with the business of the moment.

Don Antonio and his wife were much pleased with the boys and asked Donald and Adrian many questions about the big ranches from which they came. Both were able to give him all the information he wanted and he insisted that after breakfast all should ride over his hacienda and see the American improvements he had put upon it.

A member of Don Antonio's household who attracted much attention from the boys was a great Newfoundland dog, by the name of Tanto. He was Guadalupe's special property, and at first eyed the boys with a good deal of suspicion. But, when he discovered that they were friends of the family, he became quite as friendly as any of the others.

"He seems very fond of you," said Billie to Guadalupe, in an attempt to make himself agreeable to the beautiful se?orita.

"Yes, indeed," she replied. "I raised him from a puppy. Are you fond of dogs, Don Guillermo?"

"Oh, yes," interrupted Adrian, who overheard the remark, "Don Guillermo is very fond of dogs. If you could have seen him playing with them, about daylight this morning, you would have thought so," at which remark all the boys laughed heartily, and Billie had to explain his adventure.

"Well, I think it was too bad that you should be caught in such a place; but Tanto will never do a thing like that. Will you, Tanto?" and she patted the dog's head.

"Come on," called Pedro from the patio, "if we're going to look over the hacienda, let's get started before it gets any warmer."

Accompanied by Don Antonio, the boys rode from place to place over the great farm, along the eastern border of which the Concho river wound its way, while on the other side the mountains rose abruptly to several hundred feet. At the southern extremity the river approached almost to the foot of the mountains, making a narrow neck of land. Still farther south the river broadened out into quite a lake, upon which were a number of small boats.

As the boys turned to retrace their path, Adrian lingered a moment to watch the flight of a flock of water-fowl, and, as he did so, his attention was attracted to the movements of a boat, which had put out from the mountain-side, and which had started the flight of the water-fowl. It contained three men, and, as it slipped silently out of the shadows of the overhanging trees, there was something about the appearance of the man at the stern which seemed most familiar, although he had his blanket thrown over his shoulder in such a manner as to conceal his face.

At first Adrian started to call his companions, but upon second thought he decided to do a little reconnoitering on his own hook. He accordingly dismounted from his horse, and walked slowly around the trees which obscured his view. At his left was a little point of land, extending out into the water, and he slowly and cautiously made his way thither. From this point of vantage he obtained a good view of the river for quite a distance, and could see the boat without being seen.

It was very evident that the boat had come out of a little inlet about a hundred yards from the point upon which Adrian was standing, which appeared to be the mouth of a small brook. On the other side of the point, around which the boat was slowly being rowed, was a steep rock, at least three times the length of an ordinary skiff, beyond which it was impossible for Adrian to see. The boat headed directly for the rock, and a moment later disappeared behind it; but that one look was sufficient to convince Adrian that the man who had attracted his attention was the same who had tried to steal Pedro.

"I wonder what he is doing around here, anyway?" soliloquized Adrian. "No good, I'm sure. The best thing I can do is to hurry after the rest of them and tell them what I have seen. They'll be wondering where I am."

Hastily he scrambled up the bank to where he had left his horse, when, just as he raised his head above the edge, he felt a hand grasp his right foot, and he was pulled violently downward. For just a minute he clung to the shrubbery about him, and then, gaining his wits, he suddenly relaxed his hold and, turning half way round, push himself backward.

It was an old trick he had learned at school, and the result was that he came down on top, instead of underneath, the man who had grasped his ankle.

In another moment he was engaged in a rough-and-tumble fight, which proved of short duration, for Adrian was much more than a match for his assailant. Almost as soon as it takes to tell it, Adrian was sitting on top of a white-shirted peon, whose only weapon was a great stone, with which he had doubtless intended to intimidate, rather than hit, the boy.

"Well," exclaimed Adrian, as soon as he had gained his breath sufficiently to speak, "what do you mean by dragging me down like this?"

At the sound of Adrian's voice the peon turned his head and looked up at his captor in the greatest surprise.

"Pardon me," he whined. "It was a mistake. I thought you were someone else."

"Who did you think I was?"

"El ni?o de Sanchez"-meaning the Sanchez boy-whined the peon.

"Oh, you did, eh?" exclaimed Adrian. "Well, you come with me and let Don Antonio question you. I think he is looking for you."