“We ain’t all the way out of the woods yet,” said the Panther, not wishing to have their hopes rise too high and then fall.  “Of course Urrea an’ his men have some arms left.  They wouldn’t stack ’em all under the shed, an’ they can get more from other Mexicans in these parts.  When they learn from their trailers how few we are they’ll follow.”

The rescued were silent, save one, evidently a veteran frontiersman, who said: 

“Let ’em come.  I was took by surprise, not thinkin’ any Mexicans was north of the Rio Grande.  But now that I’ve got a rifle on one shoulder an’ a musket on the other I think I could thrash an acre-lot full of ’em.”

“That’s the talk,” said Obed White.  “We’ll say to ’em:  ’Come one, come all, this rock from its firm base may fly, but we’re the boys who’ll never say die.’”

They relapsed once more into silence.  The rain had lightened a little, but the night was as dark as ever.  The boy whom the man had called William Allen drew up by the side of Ned.  They were of about the same height, and each was as tall and strong as a man.

“Have you any friends here with you?” asked Ned.

“All of them are my friends, but I made them in captivity.  I came to Texas to find my fortune, and I found this.”

The boy laughed, half in pity of himself, and half with genuine humor.

“But I ought not to complain,” he added, “when we’ve been saved in the most wonderful way.  How did you ever happen to do it?”

“We’ve been following you all the way from the other side of the Rio Grande, waiting a good chance.  It came to-night with the darkness, the rain, and the carelessness of the Mexicans.  I heard the man call you William Allen.  My name is Fulton, Edward Fulton, Ned to my friends.”

“And mine’s Will to my friends.”

“And you and I are going to be friends, that’s sure.”

“Nothing can be surer.”

The hands of the two boys met in a strong grasp, signifying a friendship that was destined to endure.

The Panther and Obed now began to seek a place for a camp.  They knew that too much haste would mean a breakdown, and they meant that the people whom they had rescued should have a rest.  But it took a long time to find the trees which would furnish wood and partial shelter.  It was Obed who made the happy discovery some time after midnight.  Turning to their left, they entered a grove of dwarf oaks, covering a half acre or so, and with much labor and striving built a fire.  They made it a big fire, too, and fed it until the flames roared and danced.  Ned noticed that all the rescued prisoners crouched close to it, as if it were a giver of strength and courage as well as warmth, and now the light revealed their faces.  He looked first at the crippled man, and the surprise that he had felt at his first glimpse of him increased.

The stranger was of a type uncommon on the border.  His large features showed cultivation and the signs of habitual and deep thought.  His thick white hair surmounted a broad brow.  His clothing, although torn by thorns and briars, was of fine quality.  Ned knew instinctively that it was a powerful face, one that seldom showed the emotions behind it.  The rest, except the boy, were of the border, lean, sun-browned men, dressed in tanned deerskin.