BORDER SEARCH 32

hector rode on to the south. he reasoned he was a ranchero, he would be held in high regard. the sad fact was after that meeting with del he would never be seen or heard of again. he was the end of his line. by late that afternoon the wagon and riders had left all the roadside rubbish behind. the road while dusty was clear and they no longer feared finding body s or another group of bandits. del rode a head and located a good spot for the nights camp. he reurned to the group but before he could lead them to it a troop of cavalry had made a camp there. as del led the caravan of one wagon into the clearing he was challenged by a sentry. and told to halt. a small tent had been irrected at the center of the camp. a officer came marching toward the. "how may we assist you?" he asked del. del explained they had planned to camp here for the night then continue on to tucson the next morning. when he told the officer they had come from ruby they were waved into the perimiter and told where they could camp. "would you be so kind as to accompany me to my tent. i would like you to give me all the information possible about the border."the officer asked del. andy, harry and maxine started setting up a camp for the night as del followed the officer to his tent. inside he had a folding table and spread on it a map of the border of arizona next to mexico. for the next hour the army commander had asked questions, had del mark on the map certain important locations. then out of the blue asked del to return to ruby as their guide. del almost fell over backwards. " sir you dont have near enough men here to stand against the revolutionist army down there. i dont know if they will respect your flag or not. your talking about folks who are hot blooded and it dont take much to stir them up.i didnt see any of them on this side of the line but they had driven the criminal element over here. i believe you will need twice the men you have here to secure the border."del painted a gloomy picture. " sir, i can send back to fort lowell for more troops if i see we will need them.i know ruby was a fair silvr produceing area. for the countrys sake we need to secure it. i implore you to accompaany ne back to do that." "ime employed by the people in my group. i need to talk to them about this. but ill tell you now i dont want to go back into that hornets nest." del stood up" ill give you a answer in the morning."