“We found the horses, mules, and accoutrements in a corral.  They would be no trouble to get, as the bill for their keep was the only concern of the corral-keeper.  Two of the boys who were in the party could palaver Spanish, so they concluded to visit the alcalde of the town, inquiring after horses in general and incidentally finding out when our deserters would be released.  The alcalde received the boys with great politeness, for Americans were rare visitors in his town, and after giving them all the information available regarding horses, the subject innocently changed to the American prisoners in jail.  The alcalde informed them that he was satisfied they were deserters, and not knowing just what to do with them he had sent a courier that very morning to the governor for instructions in the matter.  He estimated it would require at least ten days to receive the governor’s reply.  In the mean time, much as he regretted it, they would remain prisoners.  Before parting, those two innocents permitted their host to open a bottle of wine as an evidence of the friendly feeling, and at the final leave-taking, they wasted enough politeness on each other to win a woman.

“When the boys returned to us other two, we were at our wits’ end.  We were getting disappointed too often.  The result was that we made up our minds that rather than throw up, we would take those deserters out of jail and run the risk of getting away with them.  We had everything in readiness an hour before nightfall.  We explained, to the satisfaction of the Mexican hostler who had the stock in charge, that the owners of these animals were liable to be detained in jail possibly a month, and to avoid the expense of their keeping, we would settle the bill for our friends and take the stock with us.  When the time came every horse was saddled and the mules packed and in readiness.  We had even moved our own stock into the same corral, which was only a short distance from the jail.

“As night set in we approached the carsel.  The turnkey answered our questions very politely through a grated iron door, and to our request to speak with the prisoners, he regretted that they were being fed at that moment, and we would have to wait a few minutes.  He unbolted the door, however, and offered to show us into a side room, an invitation we declined.  Instead, we relieved him of his keys and made known our errand.  When he discovered that we were armed and he was our prisoner, he was speechless with terror.  It was short work to find the men we wanted and march them out, locking the gates behind us and taking jailer and keys with us.  Once in the saddle, we bade the poor turnkey good-by and returned him his keys.

“We rode fast, but in less than a quarter of an hour there was a clanging of bells which convinced us that the alarm had been given.  Our prisoners took kindly to the rescue and rode willingly, but we were careful to conceal our identity or motive.  We felt certain there would be pursuit, if for no other purpose, to justify official authority.  We felt easy, for we were well mounted, and if it came to a pinch, we would burn powder with them, one round at least.