CHAPTER I.

A novel battle.

“Pull him along, Carlos!  Pull him along!” shouted a young gentleman about sixteen years of age, as he danced about on the back porch of his uncle’s house, in a state of great excitement; “why don’t you pull him along?”

“He’ll come, after awhile,” replied the person addressed; “but he is very wild and obstinate.”

The boy on the porch was almost beside himself—­so much so, in fact, that he found it utterly impossible to stand still.  He was jumping wildly about, swinging his arms around his head, and laughing and shouting at the top of his lungs.

We have met this young gentleman before.  We have been with him through the woods, accompanied him across the prairie, and seen him in some exciting situations; but, for all that, it is by no means certain that his most intimate friend, could he have beheld him while he was dancing about on the porch, would have recognized him.  The last time we saw him he was dressed in a suit of blue jeans, rather the worse for wear, a slouch hat, and a pair of heavy horseman’s boots.  Now, he sports a suit of clothes cut in the height of fashion—­that is, Mexican fashion.  They are not exactly of the description that we see on the streets every day, but they are common among the farmers of Southern California, for that is where this young gentleman lives.  He is dressed in a short jacket of dark blue cloth, trimmed around the edges, and on the sleeves, with gold lace, and wide trousers of the same material, also gaudily ornamented.  The hat, with which he fans his flushed face, is a sombrero, bound with gold cord, the ends of which are adorned with tassels, that fall jauntily over the edge of the brim.  An embroidered shirt of gray cloth, and shoes and stockings, complete his attire; or, we may add, a long crimson sash, which is wound several times around his waist, and tied at the side, and a pair of small Mexican spurs, whose rowels are ornamented with little silver bells, which tinkle musically as he moves his feet about.  If you fail to recognize an old acquaintance in this excited, sunburnt boy, you surely can call the name of the tall, broad-shouldered, sober-looking youth, who stands at his side.  Three months in the saddle have not changed Frank Nelson a great deal, only he is a little more robust, and, perhaps, more sedate.  He has lost none of his love of excitement, and he is quite as interested in what is going on before him as Archie; but he stands with his hands in his pockets, looking as dignified as a judge.  It would be a wonder if they were not somewhat excited, as they are witnessing a desperate battle that is going on between two of their uncle’s Rancheros and a wild steer, which one of them has lassoed, and is trying to pull through the gate into the cow-pen.  The animal is struggling furiously for his freedom, and the issue of the contest is doubtful.