William Hepworth Dixon, White Conquest: Volume 1

On finding his lieutenant gone, Vasquez put Rosalia on a mule, and bore her to a place of safety near Elizabeth Lake. Thence he rode back to Rock Creek, the camp where he had stalled his horses and concealed his goods. One day the rangers ran him down, but after some sharp fighting he escaped into the copse. At El Monte he had a second scrimmage with the rangers, and the chase became so hot that he feared Rosalia might be stolen from his arms. Riding down to the lake, and lifting her to his crupper, he set out for Rock Creek, as being the safest place he knew. No ranger had as yet been near the creek, for Leiva had not fallen in with Rowland; and even after his flight, the brigand hardly thought his lieutenant would betray him for a woman's sake. They watched and waited; hoping the hue and cry would turn some other way. Before Rosalia had been many days in her lover's camp, scouts brought in news that the rangers of Los Angeles were coming up the creek, riding in fiery haste and overpowering strength.

Vasquez and Rosalia were alone. “I hear their ”