CHAPTER VI.
Rescue of Two Mexican Boys.—War Talk.—Exciting Scene.—Peaceful Termination.—Large Indian Forces.—An Apache lulled by a Mexican.—Intense Excitement.—Fearless Conductor Col. Craig.—The Apaches Pacified.—Another War Talk.—Amicable Result.—Necessity of Firmness and Precaution.
It has already been stated that my tent was pitched several hundred yards from the rest of the Commission, and hidden from the view of my companions by an intervening hillock. This fact rendered me far more cautious than I otherwise would have been. Several days subsequent to the rescue of Inez, the afternoon being exceedingly hot and sultry, I was lying on my cot reading a work borrowed from Dr. Webb, while José was busy in front of the tent, washing some clothes in the pool. A very large number of Apaches were in our camp that day, but had not disturbed me, as was their usual custom. Suddenly, two boys, evidently Mexicans, darted into my tent, got under my cot, and concealed themselves between the side of the tent and the drooping blankets. This visitation, in such an abrupt and irregular manner, excited my surprise, and I asked who they were and what they wanted. "Somos Mejicanos, caballero, y estamos cautivos con los Apaches, y nos hemos escondido aqui para escaparles. Por Dios no nos rinde otra vez entre ellos," which means in English—"We are Mexicans, sir, and we are captives among the Apaches, and we have hidden here to escape them. For God's sake, do not deliver us again among them."
