Pete's rejoinder to this was a long whistle of dismay. He said nothing, however, but once more applied the glasses to his eyes. Jack saw him gnaw his moustache, as he gazed out over the desert. The dust-cloud was quite close now--not more than a mile away. The boys, with their naked eyes, could easily catch the moving glint of metal. "Well, Pete, what do you think?" inquired Jack eagerly, as the cowpuncher at length set down the glasses. "That we're in Dutch," was the expressive rejoinder. CHAPTER VIII. THE DARK FACE OF DANGER. "Are we in actual danger?" It was Ralph who put the question. The Eastern lad looked rather white under his tan. Walt, however, seemed as imperturbable as ever, and gazed out at the approaching horsemen with no more sign of emotion than a tightening of the lips. Coyote Pete's reply was a curious one. He handed the boy the glasses, and said curtly: "Take a squint fer yourself." Ralph gazed long and earnestly. Pete talked the while in low undertone. "Do you recognize him--that fellow on the big black horse? I'd know that horse ten miles away, even if I didn't know the man. He's----" "Black Ramon de Barros!" burst from the Eastern lad's astounded lips, while the others gave a sharp gasp of surprise. "That's the rooster. Here, Jack; take a look." The boy, as you may suppose, lost no time in applying the glasses to his own eyes. Viewed through the magnifying medium, a startling moving-picture swung into focus. Surrounding a big, covered wagon, of the prairie-schooner type, were from ten to a dozen wild-looking Mexicans, their straggling elf-locks crowned by high-peaked sombreros, and their serapes streaming out wildly about them, whipped into loose folds by the pace at which they rode. As Coyote Pete had said, there was little difficulty for any one who had seen him once, in recognizing Black Ramon de Barros. His magnificent black horse--the same on which he had escaped from the old mission--made him a marked man among a thousand. The wagon was drawn by six mules, and driven by a short, stocky, little Mexican. The horsemen seemed to act as escort for it. Evidently they had no fear of being observed by hostile eyes, for, as they advanced, they waved their rifles about their heads and yelled exultingly. Fortunately for the party on the summit of the mesa, their stock was tethered on the opposite side of the formation to that on which the cavalcade was approaching. Thus, Black Ramon and his men could not see that the mesa was occupied. Jack caught himself wondering, though, how long it would be before, and what would happen when, they did.