hill as he could, where, fortunately, he found sufficient under-brush, aided by the darkness of the night, to conceal himself from view.  Hardly had he taken up this position when the noises suddenly became very distinct.  The Indians, while following the trail, had made a turn round a bluff and were almost beneath him.  Now the hunter felt his situation to be most precarious, for, should his mule bray, as these animals are apt to do when others are approaching, his own life would have to pay the forfeit; but, to prevent this, Armador held the mule’s nostrils firmly with his hands and otherwise drew off the animal’s attention by various gentle manipulations bestowed upon him.  He saw the outlines of the Indians as they passed along in single file beneath him and estimated them to be at least twenty strong.  Had these savages known that a victim was so close by, they would have made short work of him; but, before they could have killed him, it is safe to affirm that Armador Sanchez would have had a companion with whom to draw in his last breath.  Fortunately affairs took a better turn and the expressman finished his journey without further trouble.

To return to my own case—­I was obliged to visit Taos.  As an escort, I was allowed one faithful and brave soldier.  We traveled together over the first half of our journey, and as we had considered, far the most dangerous part, in perfect safety.  At the Mexican town of Costillo, after our day’s ride, we rested for the night.  Our fears of meeting Indians were now almost dispelled; but still, we took the precaution to question the Mexicans of the town in regard to their knowledge of their whereabouts.  In reply we were invariably answered that no fresh signs had been discovered and that intercourse was both safe and free for the remainder of our route.  By the first appearance of daylight on the following morning we were up and preparing for our journey, and but a little time elapsed before we were leisurely traveling along on the main road.  We had left the town but a few miles behind us when the morning sun began to make its appearance in all his splendor.  The country through which we were journeying was prairie land, and was bounded on either side by lofty and picturesque mountains, and the distance of the one range from the other was considerable, but yet could fully be taken in by the eye almost at a single view.  As we rode along, we were amusing ourselves admiring the beauty of the morning, and especially directed our attention to the rising of the sun.  All at once, just as we had reached a high plateau of land, the soldier made the discovery of a flock of sheep at a great distance off on the prairie.  They appeared to be moving under rather suspicious circumstances.  We reined up our horses, for the purpose of obtaining a better observation.  What puzzled us, was the dim figures of, apparently, mounted men, who were moving at great speed from one point of the band of sheep to another, as if hurrying them along.  After taking a searching look, we came to the conclusion that the horsemen which we saw were hostile Indians, as we had not been accustomed to see Mexican herders mounted and acting so strangely.