"
Anastacio hesitated. "Bueno," he said, "I owe you much. You give me the
word of the California don that unless I am killed you will not run
away?"
"I promise. There is nothing else to do. That is to say, I promise not
to run away before this battle is over."
"That is what I mean," said Anastacio, curtly. "Now we will sleep."
He disposed his men in the forest above a narrow, rocky canon into which
the enemy would hardly venture. Roldan volunteered to keep watch with
the two sentinels, and returned with them to the outskirts of the
forest. The enemy was marching steadily across the valley. After a time
they halted, and lay down for a time. Early in the afternoon they
resumed march, then halted again within a mile of the mountain, sending
two scouts ahead. By this time Anastacio had joined his sentinels, and
all four hid in the underforest between the great trees.
The scouts, keeping as much under cover as was possible, crept up the
lower spur of the mountain, their glance describing a constant half-
circle. When they were within a few feet of the fugitives, Anastacio
raised his bow and discharged two arrows in rapid succession.
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