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he had been duly warned as to the character of the country through which they were passing.
These stages travelled very fast, stopping only at lonely stations for meals and change of horses.
It was a little past midnight; the moon had gone down, and the only sounds audible were the rumble of the coach and the distant howling of wolves. "Thirteen miles from a human habitation!" thought Jack, and a feeling akin to fear crept over him. He could not close his eyes although his companion snored loudly.
[1]Suddenly the stage came to a dead stop and crack! crack! went one shot after another. In the darkness and mélee that followed, Jack crawled out unperceived into a mesquit[2] tangle a few yards distant. The driver and
- ↑ Improbable as this incident seems, there are authentic accounts of similar occurrences that took place in this region at about the time of this story.
- ↑ Mesquit: "Either of two thorny shrubs or small trees of the bean family found in Texas or California—the larger and better known is the honey-mesquit, yielding the sweetish algarroba—pods much used for cattle-fodder."
