CHAPTER XXIX.
Daring Exploit of Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale--General Kearney Saved.
The situation of General Kearney and his men could not have been more desperate.

The only subsistence they had were their mules, and the water was insufficient to meet their wants.

They were completely surrounded by the brave California Mexicans.

They might exist for a time on the bodies of their animals, but they must perish without water.
General Kearney called his friends together during the afternoon to consult as to whether any possible means of escape was before them.

He could see none.