The boys crowded around with others to hear the result of the chase, which the men reported to have been fruitless.
"If we could only have chased them over the river we could have captured them," declared the sergeant in charge, "but, after the little raid yesterday, we thought we"d better not try it."
Seeing that there was likely to be no more excitement, the crowd dispersed and the boys went into the hotel for breakfast; but when they came out they found Captain Peak waiting for them.
"How would you boys like to do a little scout duty for me over the river?" he asked.
"Scout duty?" repeated Donald. "I don"t think I understand."
"Draw up some chairs," replied the captain, "and I"ll explain."
The boys did as directed, and the captain continued:
"I"ve been interested a whole lot in the adventures you boys have had, and I can see you are a smart bunch. You said you were willing to stay and help convict the cattle thieves, but we can"t arrange to turn them over to the Mexican officials and have their trial before tomorrow, no matter how fast we act. The Mexican always wants to wait till tomorrow."
"Now, as long as you will be here a day or two, anyway, I thought maybe you would like to take a little excursion across the Rio Grande, and see how people live on that side. If you kept your eyes open, you might see something that would be useful to me."
"In what way?" queried Adrian.
Captain Peak drew his chair a bit nearer and looked all around to be sure no one was listening.
"It is like this," he continued. "President Madero has discovered that there is a real plot on foot to start another revolution and overthrow his government. Arms for the revolutionists would have to come from this side of the river. As a revolution is unlawful, carrying arms across the Rio Grande to help a revolution is unlawful, and he has asked Uncle Sam and the State of Texas to prevent any guns or ammunition from going into Mexico which do not go through the Mexican custom house."
"It looks to me," broke in Billie, "as though that was the business of the Mexican government."
"So it is," replied Captain Peak, "but as long as Mexico is a friendly nation it is also our business to prevent filibustering-and that is what gun running amounts to.
"There is also another reason for helping to prevent this sort of smuggling. We frequently have to ask the Mexican government to aid us in running down outlaws who escape into that country. If we don"t help them, they won"t help us. So you can see, if we can learn anything about this revolutionary movement, it will be a good thing. You boys, because you are strangers and travelers, are just the ones to help. What do you say?"
For several moments the boys said nothing, but finally Donald replied that if the captain would give them a few minutes to talk the matter over between themselves, they would be able to let him know.
"All right," was the reply, "I"ve an appointment with the mayor, which will give you all the time you need," and he left the hotel to keep his appointment.
"Well," remarked Billie, as the captain disappeared around the corner, "what do you think of that?"
"I don"t think anything of it," replied Donald. "I"ve no liking for that kind of work."
"Why not?" queried Adrian.
"I don"t know. I just haven"t, that"s all."
"You"d like to prevent war, wouldn"t you?"
"Sure," was Donald"s emphatic rejoinder; "but I can"t see how this trip can prevent war."
"I don"t know as it would," said Adrian, "but, if we could do anything which would keep a lot of dissatisfied peons from getting guns and going out and killing people, it seems to me we would be doing a good deed."
"That"s just the way it seems to me," declared Billie. "The average Mexican who wants to start a revolution looks to me a good deal like the fellows who stole our mule."
"Not necessarily," replied Adrian. "Sometimes revolutions are started by men to overthrow a bad government. But my mother has always taught me there was a better way to right a wrong than to go to war over it.
That"s why I am in favor of doing all we can to help those who want to prevent trouble."
"Of course if you put it that way," said Donald, "I"ve no objection to the excursion, as the captain calls it."
When Captain Peak returned, they unanimously announced their readiness for the trip, and, half an hour later, fully instructed as to what was expected of them, they were across the Rio Grande, engaged upon what proved to be the most important adventure of their career.
CHAPTER IV.
A FRIEND IN NEED.
"This is certainly a funny excursion," laughed Billie, after the boys had ridden along in silence for some minutes. "It"s like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"How so?" queried Donald.
"Well, isn"t it? This big country is the haystack, and the bunch of gun runners is the needle. I see mighty little chance of finding them."
"Oh, I don"t know," replied Donald. "We never started out to find anything yet that we didn"t locate it-even old Bray," he added as an afterthought.
"That"s right," chimed in Adrian. "There is nothing like having your luck with you."
"Huh," grunted Billie, "I"m not sure but the greatest luck we could have would be not to find anything."
Adrian looked at the speaker in surprise.
"It"s the first time I ever knew you to show the white feather," he said.
"Who"s showing the white feather?" demanded Billie, with much spirit.
"I"m just as anxious as anyone to put a stop to lawlessness; but you wouldn"t call any man a coward, would you, because he wouldn"t deliberately stick his head in a hornet"s nest?" And he gave his horse a vicious dig with his spurs.
"Oh, don"t get mad about it," said Adrian. "I didn"t mean to hurt your feelings."
"Well, then, don"t be accusing me of showing the white feather. There"s a whole lot of difference, in my mind, between being a coward and using a little common sense."
"He has the best of you there, Ad.," remarked Donald; "when it comes to doing things, Billie will be on the job."
Donald"s words were like oil on the troubled waters, and after a few minutes Billie continued in a voice entirely free from any irritation:
"The thing I can"t understand is this: If somebody has so much information as to what is to be done, why don"t they have some little knowledge of those who propose to do it? The whole thing looks fishy to me."
"I believe you"re right," a.s.sented Adrian, after turning the matter over in his mind for several minutes. "There is something kind of mysterious about it."
"I don"t see it," declared Donald, "but, even if there is, all we have to do is to keep our eyes and ears open. We have the law on our side."
"Looks like mighty little law to me," replied Billie, who, for some reason or other insisted upon looking on the dark side. "But, to change the subject, what do you call that?" and he pointed away to the south, where a cloud of dust was to be seen.