XXI. THE MANITOU OF COLD SPRING 139 XXII. ACROSS THE DESERT BY NIGHT 144 XXIII. AT THE RANCH AND IN THE CHAPARRAL 151 XXIV. CAL'S NIGHT UNDER A TREE 157 XXV. A STRANGE LETTER FROM MEXICO 163 XXVI. CAL'S VISITORS AND HIS BREAKFAST 169 XXVII. THE POST-BOY THAT GOT AWAY 174 XXVIII. THE MYSTERY OF THE STICKS 180 XXIX. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE FIRE? 186 XXX. THE MANITOU WATER 192 XXXI. PULL STICK AND THE HURRICANE 198 XXXII. UNDER A FALLEN TREE 204 XXXIII. LEAVING THE BAD-MEDICINE CAMP 210 XXXIV. TAH-NU-NU'S DISAPPOINTMENT 216 XXXV. HAND TO HAND BY FIRELIGHT 222 XXXVI. HOW CAL WAS LEFT ALL ALONE 227 XXXVII. RESCUED BY THE RED MUSTANG 234 XXXVIII. HOW THEY ALL REACHED SANTA LUCIA 239 ILLUSTRATIONS "Now for Santa Lucia!" _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE She and Ping Were Stealing Out upon the Broken Ledge 86 "Ugh!" They Said, as They Looked at Him. "Kah-Go-Mish" 110 Cal Took the Leaf, and Used His Knife for a Pen 184 THE RED MUSTANG THE RED MUSTANG: _A STORY OF THE MEXICAN BORDER._ CHAPTER I. THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. Early one bright June morning, not long ago, a high knoll of a prairie in southern New Mexico was occupied as it had never been before. Rattlesnakes had coiled there; prairie-dog sentinels and wolves and antelopes, and even grim old buffalo bulls, had used that swelling mound for a lookout station. Mountains in the distance and a great sweep of the plains could be seen from it. Never until that hour, however, since the grass began to grow, had precisely such a horse pawed and fretted there, while precisely such a boy sat in the saddle and looked around. It is very uncommon for a mustang to show a bright and perfect blood bay color, but this one did so, and it seemed as if the glossy beauty of his coat only brought out the perfection of his shape and the easy grace of his movements. He was a fiery, powerful fellow, and he appeared to have some constitutional objection to standing still. The saddle upon his back and the bridle held by his rider were of the best Mexican workmanship, silver mounted, the very thing to complete the elegance of the red mustang.