"I hear their horses." "The horses that you hear are mules," laughed Gato, harshly.
"It is the nightly transport of ore down to _El Sombrero_.

Just now Don Luis is having fine ore brought over the hills from another mine and dumped into _El Sombrero_." "Why should he bring ore from another mine to _El Sombrero_ ?" asked one of the men, curiously.
"How should I know ?" demanded Gato, shrugging his shoulders and spitting on the ground.

"Why should I concern myself with the business that belongs to an hidalgo like Don Luis ?" "It is queer that--" "Silence!" hissed Gato.

"Do not meddle with the secrets of Don Luis Montez, or you will be sorry for it." Gato's explanation about the mule-train had quieted the fears of the bandits as to the approach of troops.

In some mountainous parts of Mexico the government's troops are nearly always on the trail of bandits and the petty warfare is a brisk one.
"Go to sleep, my friends.