to their laurels.  When Bert had been chosen to go to the Olympic games abroad, his “pals” had gone with him and exulted in his glorious victory, when, in the Marathon race, he had beaten the crack runners of the world.  Nor were they to be denied, when his duty as wireless operator had carried him over the Pacific to meet with thrilling experiences among the yellow men of Asia.  In every time of storm and stress they had stood with him shoulder to shoulder, and faced life and death with eyes wide open and unafraid.  They were worthy lieutenants of a brave and intrepid leader.

For, that he was their leader, they themselves would have been the first to admit, although he would have modestly disclaimed it.  He never asserted leadership, but it sought him out of its own accord.  He had the instinct, the initiative, the quick decision, the magnetic personality that marks the born captain.  It was not merely that he was endowed with strength of muscle and fleetness of foot and power of endurance that placed him in a class by himself.  He might have had all these, and still been only a superb specimen of the “human animal.”  But, above and controlling these qualities, was the indomitable will, the unflinching courage, the gallant audacity that made him the idol of his comrades.

The college year just ended had been a notable one, marked by victories on track and field.  Together with the high rank he had reached and held in his studies, with which, unlike many athletes, he never allowed sport to interfere, it had taxed him heavily in mind and body.  And it was with unfeigned delight that he now looked forward to a long season of recreation and adventure on the ranch in Montana, toward which he and his friends were speeding.

Mr. Melton, the owner of the ranch, was a Western cattleman of the old type, now rapidly disappearing.  Bluff, rough and ready, generous and courageous, his sterling qualities had won the admiration and affection of the boys from the date of their first meeting the year before.

That meeting had taken place under extraordinary circumstances.  The “Three Guardsmen”—­so called in joke, because they were always together—­journeying to the opening of the Panama Canal had found themselves on the same train with Melton, as it wound its way through Central Mexico.  A broken trestle had made it necessary for the train to halt for an hour or two, and during this enforced stop Dick had carelessly wandered away on a stroll through the woods, tempted by the beauty of the day and the novelty of his surroundings.  At a turn in the road he had suddenly found himself in the presence of twenty or more guerillas, headed by the notorious El Tigre, whose name was spoken with a shudder throughout Mexico.  They had bound him and carried him off to their mountain retreat.  Bert and Tom, an hour later, discovered the cause of his absence and immediately started in pursuit, determined to save their comrade or die with him.