south. They were small, dark men, rather amiable in appearance. Two
began to play guitars and they sang a plaintive song to the music. The
others, smoking cigarritos, listened attentively and luxuriously. Ned
imitated them perfectly. He, too, lying upon his elbow before the
pleasant fire, felt the influence of the music, so sweet, so murmurous,
speaking so little of war. One of the men handed him a cigarrito, and,
lighting it, he made pretense of smoking--he would not have seemed a
Mexican had he not smoked the cigarrito.

Lying there, Ned saw many tents, evidence of a camp that was not for the
day only, and he beheld officers in bright uniforms passing among them.
His heart gave a great jump when he noticed among them a heavy-set, dark
man. It was Cos, Cos the breaker of oaths. With him was another officer
whose uniform indicated the general. Ned learned later that this was
Sesma, who had been dispatched with a brigade by Santa Anna to meet Cos
on the Rio Grande, where they were to remain until the dictator himself
came with more troops.

The music ceased presently and one of the men said to Ned:

"What company?"

Ned had prepared himself for such questions, and he moved his hand
vaguely toward the left.

"Over there," he said.

They were fully satisfied, and continued to puff their cigarritos,
resting their heads with great content upon pillows made of their
saddles and blankets. For a while they said nothing more, happily