Dividing the main forces into several bodies, a leader is selected
for each squad. Scouts are thrown out. They report daily to the
heads of divisions. The moving forces are ready to close in and
envelop their hated enemy.
Learning of the death of "Claudio," and that a strong body of
Southern settlers is also in the field, Maxime Valois feels the
band of Joaquin is cut off in the square between Placerville and
Sonora, Stockton and the Sierras. It is agreed that the fortunate
division striking the robbers, shall follow the warm trail to the
last man and horse. Reinforcements will push after them.
The sheriff has charge of one, Maxime Valois of another, Captain
Harry Love, a swarthy long-haired Texan ranger, of the third. Love's
magnificent horsemanship, his dark features, drooping mustache and
general appearance, might class him as a Spaniard. Blackened with
the burning sun of the plains, the deserts, and tropic Mexico, his
cavalier locks sweep to his shoulders. The heavy Kentucky rifle,
always carried across his saddle, proves him the typical frontiersman
and ranger. He is a dead shot. Many a Comanche and guerilla have
fallen under the unerring aim of Harry Love. His agile frame,
quickness with the revolver, and nerve with the bowie-knife, have
made him equally feared at close quarters.
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