That meeting had taken place under extraordinary circumstances. The
"Three Guardsmen"--so called in joke, because they were always
together--journeying to the opening of the Panama Canal had found
themselves on the same train with Melton, as it wound its way through
Central Mexico. A broken trestle had made it necessary for the train to
halt for an hour or two, and during this enforced stop Dick had
carelessly wandered away on a stroll through the woods, tempted by the
beauty of the day and the novelty of his surroundings. At a turn in the
road he had suddenly found himself in the presence of twenty or more
guerillas, headed by the notorious El Tigre, whose name was spoken with a
shudder throughout Mexico. They had bound him and carried him off to
their mountain retreat. Bert and Tom, an hour later, discovered the cause
of his absence and immediately started in pursuit, determined to save
their comrade or die with him. But first they had disclosed the situation
to Melton, who had sworn in his rage to follow after them and aid them in
the rescue. How faithfully he had kept his word, how skillfully and
daringly he had led them on and rushed the camp just as Dick was steeling
himself to undergo the rattlesnake torture that the bandit chief had
planned for him, was engraven indelibly on the memories of the boys.
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