"If Señor Don Antonio and-all-the-rest-of-his-name, was half as wise as he looked he knows pretty well, right now, what we are up to," added Dick grimly. "I wonder what his next move will be!" The sound of a horse galloping along the trail came to them and then like a streak, horse and rider dashed by and along the way they were about to travel. The rider was spurring and beating his steed as he bent low in the saddle. If he saw the boys, he at least gave no sign. "That fellow reminds me of something or someone," mused Dick, watching horse and rider disappear in a cloud of dust. "The way he’s beating his animal makes me think of the Mexican you horsewhipped in Culebra last winter," said Henry. "By jinks, Hank, that’s who he is, and no mistake. He was riding along with that outfit a while ago, and now the alcalde has sent him back on an errand. I’d bet an old hat that it won’t help us any either; also I hope Mexican Pete doesn’t see us, for we can hardly hope he won’t remember us. And if he does, the jig is up." "I’ve got an idea, too. If that is Mexican Pete, then he’s in cahoots with the alcalde, and they are starting out on a smuggling expedition, and the alcalde is sending back word to prevent us from any possibility of getting information of it." "That’s more than likely correct, Hank, and we shall have an interesting report to send in to the Captain to-night. Well, we’d better be getting along, for I’ve a feeling the more we can accomplish to-day the better it will be in the end. If that outfit is a band of smugglers then it’s up to us to discover their trail and see where it leads. It will be easy to find it, and we shall have accomplished our mission if we find even one of their routes." "Let us go after them right now," suggested Henry. "If we go back now, of course we can pick up their trail easily enough, but they have taken the precaution to send back word regarding us, and they surely have left some people to watch us if we attempt to follow them. On the other hand, we may never get another such favorable opportunity to finish up the road map to Copey, and as it will be a valuable addition to the chart for future reference, I guess we’d do well to complete it." "Vamos,[#] then," said Henry, rising and starting off. [#] Vamos--Let us go. They worked more rapidly now, taking every precaution against arousing suspicion. The houses beside the road were more frequent, and often they had to guess at the azimuths from one station to another when curious natives were watching them. The pacing of the distances, though, was not interfered with, and they hoped to be able to check up questionable data on their return. Fortunately it was the siesta hour, and few men or women were abroad. Even the streets of the town, when they arrived, were fairly deserted.