"
Without further words the boys crept out of the tent,
waited until the guards were at the other end of the
little valley, and dashed away into a shadowy place
behind a rock, which they had no difficulty in leaving,
presently, without being seen.
Once away from the tents, they turned toward the high peak
from which the rockets had been sent up. The way was steep
and rough, and it was hard climbing, and more than once they
stopped to rest. It was, as has been said, a brilliant moonlit
night, and, from the elevation where the boys were, the valley
below lay like a silver-land of promise.
"It is a beautiful country," the drummer said, as they paused
to rest on a small shelf in the rock. "It is a rich and fertile
country, too, one of the most desirable in the world, but I'm
afraid the people don't get much out of life here."
"They are selfish and cruel," Jimmie said, "and no nation of
that stripe ever prospered. What they need here is less strong
drink and more school-houses--more real freedom and less mere
show of republican government. We read up on Mexico in the Wolf
Patrol when this trouble broke out. We always do that--keep
track of what's going on in the world, I mean."
"I know something about the country, too," the drummer said,
looking in admiration down on the beautiful valley below, bathed
in the sweet moonlight, "and sometimes I wonder that the people
are as decent as they are. Although they have never had much of
a show, and although they come, many of them, of rude ancestors,
the people of Mexico compare favorably with those of other countries.
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