This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
LAST BATTLE—CONCLUSION
303

the road, and began to wade a deep stream running to the eastward. But the watercourse was a treacherous one, and in the very centre the Spaniard got stuck, and found it impossible to budge himself.

"Hi! help me!" he roared in Spanish, but nobody paid attention to him, and his voice soon guided Ben, Larry, and several privates to the spot. In the meantime, the other rebels continued to run and were soon out of hearing.

"Surrender!" cried Ben, as soon as he saw José Lupez. "Surrender, or we will kill you."

"I surrendor! I surrendor!" wailed the badly frightened Spaniard, and shaking in every limb he threw his pistols to the shore. He was told to follow, but soon convinced Ben that he was indeed stuck. Then a rope was procured, and he was hauled out of the river bed more dead than alive.

By this time the attack on the camp had come to an end, the rebels flying in all directions. All their stores and the things which they had stolen were left behind, and Ben's command took charge of everything. It was the last seen of the insurgents in that neighborhood for a long while to come.

When first questioned about Walter, José Lupez refused to say a word. But Ben was now in no humor