Transcriber’s Notes Words in italics are marked with _underscores_. Words in small capitals are shown in UPPER CASE. Please also see the note at the end of the book. CAPTAIN FLY-BY-NIGHT CAPTAIN FLY-BY-NIGHT _By_ JOHNSTON McCULLEY AUTHOR OF “THE RANGERS’ CODE” [Illustration] NEW YORK G. HOWARD WATT 1819 BROADWAY 1926 _Copyright, 1926, by_ G. HOWARD WATT _All rights reserved_ _Printed in the United States of America_ To MY DAUGHTER MAURINE CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE NEOPHYTE DROPS A CUP 11 II. ALONG THE HIGHWAY 35 III. MYSTERIES 48 IV. A COYOTE HOWLS 63 V. TWO GOOD SAMARITANS 76 VI. VISITORS 91 VII. TWO TALKS AND A TUNNEL 100 VIII. A VICTOR RUNS AWAY 112 IX. THE ALARM 128 X. OUTLAWED 135 XI. AT THE PRESIDIO 148 XII. A TRAGEDY 162 XIII. THE EAVESDROPPER 175 XIV. UNMASKED 187 XV. THE WAY IN 200 XVI. THE WAY OUT 210 XVII. “PERSPIRATION, SEÑORITA!” 226 XVIII. FOES IN WAITING 232 XIX. CASSARA SEES A GHOST 243 XX. ANOTHER VISITOR 254 XXI. IN THE GUEST HOUSE 260 XXII. “COMMAND ME, SEÑORITA!” 267 XXIII. LOVE IN DARKNESS 274 XXIV. LOVE PROVES TRUE 287 XXV. THE SERGEANT SLEEPS AGAIN 299 CAPTAIN FLY-BY-NIGHT CHAPTER I THE NEOPHYTE DROPS A CUP His great body stretched on the dirt floor in a shady corner of the barracks-room of the presidio, his long moustache drooped, his big mouth open, Sergeant Carlos Cassara snored. His face was purple from wine and the heat; for the air was still and stagnant this siesta hour, and empty vessels on the table near by told of the deep drinking that had been done. Scattered about were a corporal and a dozen soldiers, all sleeping and snoring. Against the wall, half a score of feet from the slumbering sergeant, an Indian neophyte had dropped his palm-leaf and was glancing around the room from beneath eyelids that seemed about to close. Outside was the red dust, a foot deep on the highway, and the burning sun. The fountain before the mission splashed lazily; down at the beach it seemed that the tide had not its usual energy. Neophytes slept in the shadows cast by the mission walls. Here and there a robed fray went about his business despite the heat and the hour. There was no human being travelling El Camino Real--the king’s highway--as far as a man with good eyes could see.