when another volley roused them.

"More coming!" they shouted.

Some, panic-stricken, turned their horses back; others,
abandoning their mounts, began to climb up the moun-
tain and seek shelter behind the rocks. The officers had
to shoot at them to enforce discipline.

"Down there, down there!" said Demetrio as he leveled
his rifle at the translucent thread of the river.

A soldier fell into the water; at each shot, invariably
a soldier bit the dust. Only Demetrio was shooting in that
direction; for every soldier killed, ten or twenty of them,
intact, climbed afresh on the other side.

"Get those coming up from under! Los de Abajo!
Get the underdogs!" he screamed.

Now his fellows were exchanging rifles, laughing and
making wagers on their marksmanship.

"My leather belt if I miss that head there, on the black
horse!"

"Lend me your rifle, Meco."

"Twenty Mauser cartridges and a half yard of sausage
if you let me spill that lad riding the bay mare. All right!