Chapter XVII: On Mexican Soil Again

This continued for perhaps an hour, the boys paying little attention to the racket made on the river bank. Then a shot was heard and the ragamuffins disappeared as if by magic.

Directly a detachment of United States soldiers made its appearance. The soldiers were warmly welcomed and Alex insisted on giving them all the food he had prepared.

"It's only to cook more," he argued.

"But I'm hungry enough right now to eat one of the outlaws," Jule declared.

"If we'd waited a few minutes longer," Alex laughed, "you might have had feet fricassee! That was a close call, young man! We got there in the nick of time."

In time the soldiers were all fed, and then the boys began the work of getting the dinner over again.

The lads were warmly thanked for their hospitality.

"You may get into a place it won't be so easy to get out of," said the young lieutenant in charge of the squad. "If you do, and we are anywhere within reach, don't hesitate to ask for help."

The boys thanked the lieutenant for his offer, not even dreaming of the time when the words so casually spoken were to be made good.

"They about cleaned us out," said Alex, glancing ruefully at the trampled greensward where the soldiers had eaten. "I don't know what to do now! The tinned goods are about gone, and there aren't any vegetables to speak of."

"What's the matter with falling back on the river?" asked Clay, getting out his fishing tackle with his one well arm. "We have taken many a fine meal from the river, and I don't think it will go back on us now!"

"Who'll catch the fish?" asked Jule. "I'm actually so hungry that my stomach is wishing my backbone good afternoon, and I don't feel equal to the effort!"

"Suppose we get the _Rambler_ off this mud bank first?" Thede suggested.

"That's a good idea!" Alex cried out.

"Wonder we couldn't have thought of that when we could have had the help of the soldiers!" grumbled Case.

"Kicker!" laughed Jule. "It will be an easy job to get the boat into the river again. She went against the bank with very little force, I take it."

The lads who were not crippled worked together to such good purpose that the boat was soon in the water again. Not a thing was broken except the steering-gear and that was soon repaired.

"Now, about that fish?" Case said. "Who's going to try for it? I might be one of the boys to make the effort."

"I think you had better remain on board," said Alex, "and let Jule and I see about the fish. We are the only old and original fishermen in the party!"

"Go to it, then," Clay agreed, "but don't get into any nest of pirates and get your feet burned!"

The boys were glad to be away on the water again, for there were things they wanted to talk over. Jule was the first one to open the conversation.

"Alex," he began, uncertain how his communication would be received, "what is going on on board the _Rambler_?"

"Why do you ask that?" came the quick reply. "Have you noticed anything unusual?"

"About Paul and Thede," Jule went on, "I have a notion that an understanding of some sort exists between the two."

"And Rube, too?" asked Alex.

"Yes, and Rube also!"

"What do you know about it?" demanded Alex. "What have you seen--or heard?"

"You have suspected, then?" asked Jule.

"Sure!" answered Alex.

"Well?"

"There is certainly something between them," was the reply. "We must keep a sharp lookout."

"But it can't be any plot to capture the _Rambler_," suggested Jule. "They have had plenty of chances to do that."

"How did they get together so soon?" said Alex. "Why, Rube was scarcely on the boat before it began."

"So you noticed that, too, did you?"

"Of course I did!" was the answer. "When you see a man acting as if his very life depended on that of a boy, and that boy apparently a stranger, anyone would suspect. The fellow was too eager to know all about the case! Then, when Thede came on board, didn't you think he got to the side of Paul pretty quickly?"

"Yes, I noticed that, and thought it very strange," was the reply. "Now, what's going to be done about it?"

"All we can do is to watch," declared Alex.

"And where does Buck come in?" Jule asked, after a thoughtful pause. "You noticed that he had an electric boat handy when we needed one, and that the boat made pretty good time for an ordinary river boat! I'd just like to get to the bottom of this thing!"

"And Rube always had his roll out," added Alex.

"But he explained that by saying that he knew all about us boys and knew that we were as good as gold," Jule cut in.

"Well," laughed Alex, "we've got into another mystery! I'd like to take just one plain adventure trip."

"The mystery is all right," Jule concluded, after rather a lengthy pause. "We shouldn't know what to think about if there was no mystery."

"Perhaps you are right," was the reply, "but I'd rather not have the mystery so dense! There's something going on, and that's no joke. But this ain't catching fish!"

"That's right!" Jule agreed. "The others will be getting hungry. As you say, all we can do is to wait for developments and watch Thede and Paul."

"Paul appears to be such an innocent little chap that the very idea of spying on him seems preposterous," added Alex. "Still, the innocence may all be assumed."

"I dislike to think that," was Jule's reply.

The boys talked as they fished, but could make nothing of the situation. As a matter of fact, Rube had appeared out of the darkness that first night in rather a mysterious fashion.

And he had expressed great solicitude for the wounded boy. And he had always been ready with his money. And, another thing, he had had such a pile of it!

And Buck had had the _Esmeralda_ quite ready on short notice! Of course the episode of Alex being treed by the bear was entirely unexpected and just happened.

It interfered somewhat with the plans of the party, and somewhat with Rube's bank roll, but, as Alex declared, "it made the company all the tougher, and did no harm in the long run." It was only incidental, and did not count for or against Thede or Paul.

The lads fished while they discussed every phase of the matter, but at last they were obliged to give it up.

"We'll have to watch and wait," Jule finally said. "If there is mischief afloat, it will show itself in time."

And with this they had to be content.

The _Rambler_ was running downstream very slowly, so as not to get ahead of the rowboat; still, as the boys took their time, doing more talking than fishing, it gained on them, and finally turned a bend in the stream and passed out of sight.

"Where's the _Rambler_?" asked Alex, looking up from the contemplation of a fine string of fish.

"I guess she passed out of sight around that bend," was the impatient reply. "Somehow that boat seems to delight in leaving us behind. Wonder why she didn't slow up when the boys saw that she was passing us?"

"We'll catch her in two jerks of a pig's tail," replied Alex, laying down his fishing tackle and picking up the oars. "There does seem to be a fatality about the thing, though--the way she sails calmly away and leaves us!"

The boys had spent a longer time than they had suspected in the discussion of the mysterious movements of the others, and the row was a long one. When they finally came in sight of the boat they were surprised to see no signs of life on board.

And they were amazed at the speed which she had gained. The lads looked at each other with questioning eyes.

"There's something wrong!" almost shouted Jule. "The _Rambler_ is running away from us!"

"That's right!" was the quick reply. "Do you think we can catch her at the pace she is going?"

"Never!" was the discouraged reply.

There was silence for a moment, a silence broken only by the rippling of the Rio Grande and the call of a bird a-wing. Then Alex made a hopeful suggestion.

"The river makes a long bend just below," he explained, "and, if we can get to the bottom of the turn, perhaps we can catch her. Nice thing, to run away and leave us like this!"

"There is evidently something wrong on board, though I can't for the life of me see what it is," Jule answered.

"If we cut across this point of land, we'll have to come back for the rowboat," suggested Alex.

"Provided some river character doesn't see it first we may find it," wailed Jule.

"Well, there's nothing like trying," Alex returned.

The boat was turned toward the left bank of the stream, but in a few seconds' time, before the boat had proceeded more than a few feet, Jule, who was at the helm, changed her course so as to make the right side. In answer to Alex's questioning look he said:

"The current sweeps across to the opposite shore after we round the bend. The _Rambler_ will naturally follow that."

"That's right," was the reply, "the south side for us. How would you like to bump into the river thieves again? Say, kid, but that was a close call for your feet!"

"Well, as long as they didn't accomplish their purpose, I fail to see why we should be everlastingly sobbing over it."

The boat's keel soon grated on the south shore, and the boys left her, pausing only long enough to cast a parting glance at the trim little craft "The chances are that we shall never see the boat again," Alex remarked.

"Rats!" was Jule's reply. "If we find everything all right on board the _Rambler_, why can't we come back and get her? I have a notion that the boys thought we were a long time catching these fish, and sent the boat ahead faster than usual just to give us a scare."

"That's all right," replied Alex, "but I've got a hunch that you are wrong. Case would never sail away from his breakfast," he added with a laugh, "and I don't think there's much left on board in the eating line."

"What about the fish?" Jule asked. "We may as well tote them along, don't you think?"

"Of course," replied Alex. "We ain't going to leave this nice mess of perfectly good fish in the boat. There may be people along here who like fish."

The lads lifted the string of fish out of the rowboat, and, taking them in hand, struck across the point of land toward the river.