CHAPTER XVII.
CARRIED OFF.
The next morning, in accordance with the promise they had given DonRamon, Hugh rode out to the hacienda, Royce saying that they weretoo great swells for him, and he would rather stop quietly at ElPaso; "besides," he said, "most likely Jose will come this morning,and I will stop and fix up that business with him." Hugh did not tryto dissuade him, for he had seen that Royce was ill at ease on theoccasion of his first visit.
On reaching the hacienda he received a hearty welcome from Don Ramonand his family, and Don Carlos rode with him over a part of the estate,where a large number of _peons_ were engaged in the cultivation oftobacco, maize, and other grain.
"If you have time, Senor Hugh, you must go with me to see our otherestates; our principal one lies twenty leagues to the south. We havefive hundred square miles of land there, and big herds of cattle anddroves of horses, but I suppose you have seen enough cattle."
"Yes; there is no novelty about that," Hugh replied. "How many haveyou?"
"There and in other places we have somewhere about 150,000 head; as tothe horses, we don't know; they are quite wild, and we drive them inand catch them as they are wanted. We have about a score of our besthere, but these are the only animals we keep here except bullocks forthe plough and the teams to take the crops down to market."
"I hear you have been rather troubled with brigands lately; have youany fear of them?"
"The scoundrels!" the young man exclaimed passionately; "it is adisgrace that they are not hunted down. Yes, they have been very daringlately, and my father and several of the other hacienderos have writtenlately to the authorities of Santa Fe complaining of the inactivityof the police here. I have tried to persuade my father to move downto our house at El Paso until the bands have been destroyed; but helaughs at the idea of danger. We have twenty armed _peons_ sleepingin the outhouses, and twelve male servants in the house, and indeedthere is little chance of their attacking us; still one cannot but feeluncomfortable with ladies here.
"There are a hundred troops or so stationed in the fort on theother side of the river, and they have joined two or three timesin the search for the brigands, but of course they are too far offto be any protection to us here; besides they are not of much useamong the mountains. The officer in command is fonder of good winethan he is of the saddle. It is a difficult thing to rout out thesebrigands; half the peasantry are in alliance with them, and theyget information of everything that is going on, and even if we knewof their hiding-places, there would be little chance of our takingthem by surprise. However, sooner or later, I suppose, we shall havethem. There is a large reward offered for their capture; someone issure to prove traitor at last. It is always the way with these bands,someone thinks himself ill-used in the division of the booty, or takesoffence with the leaders, or something of that sort, or is tempted bythe reward, and then we get them all; if it wasn't for treachery, thecountry would soon become uninhabitable."
His host would not hear of Hugh returning that evening to El Paso,but sent a _peon_ in to tell Royce that he would not return untilnext day. Hugh spent a delightful evening; the young ladies playedon the mandoline, and sang with their brother. The soft light, theluxurious appointments, and the ripple of female talk, were strange anddelightful after so long a time among rough surroundings; and it waswith great reluctance that he mounted his horse and rode back on thefollowing morning. He found on arrival that his comrade had arrangedthe matter with Jose, and had deposited the money with the priest.As he was standing chatting to him at the door of the hotel, a raggedMexican boy ran up, placed a scrap of paper in Hugh's hand, and at oncedarted away.
"It is from the doctor," Hugh said, opening it, and then read asfollows: "I have something particular to say to you; it must beprivate; when you have received this stroll quietly through the town asif you were only looking at the shops; go down to the river and followit up till you hear three whistles, then come to them; you had bettercome alone. The doctor."
"I wonder what the little man has got to say, Royce?"
"Dunno," the other said. "I suppose you had better go and see. You havegot your six-shooter anyhow?"
Hugh obeyed his instructions and walked along the river bank till heheard the whistles; they came from a small clump of bushes standingapart from any others. As he approached it he heard the doctor's voice,"Look round and see if there is anyone in sight."
"No one that I can see," Hugh replied.
"Then come in."
Hugh pushed his way through the bushes.
"Why, what is the matter, doctor?" he asked, surprised at all theseprecautions.
"I will tell you. Sit down there. It is just as we fancied it mightbe. I told you that we might be watched. These confounded Mexicans havenothing to do but watch, and they have found out what we are after."
"How did you learn that, doctor?"
"Well," the doctor said reluctantly, "my mate has but one fault,he will sometimes go in for a drink. It's not often, but justoccasionally, once perhaps every few months. It has always been soever since I have known him. Well, last night it came over him. Hethought it would be a long while before he would have a chance again,I suppose; he is not quarrelsome when he drinks, but you may be sureI always go with him so as to take care of him. So yesterday evening,seeing that he had made up his mind for it and was not to be turned,I went with him to a little wine-shop near where we lodge. There werehalf-a-dozen Mexicans in there drinking and talking, and as they stopttalking directly we went in, I saw we were not wanted. But I noticedmore than that. I saw two of them glance at each other, and though Icould not recollect I had ever set eyes on them before, I saw they knewus.
"We hadn't any money on us beyond what was wanted to pay for theliquor, so though I didn't like the look of them I was not uneasy.We sat down and called for some liquor, and I managed to say to Sim,'These chaps know us, Sim; don't you go drinking.' He nodded. We drankfor a bit, at least he did, I don't touch spirits. Then, talkingcarelessly out loud, we, in whispered asides, made out a plan. Weagreed that we should quarrel, and I should go out, and that he shouldseem to go on drinking until he got drunk and stupid, and then likeenough he might hear something. So we carried that out.
"As soon as he had drunk his glass he called for another, and thenanother. I got up a row with him, and told him he was always making abeast of himself. He said he would drink if he chose, and wouldn't beinterfered with by any one. Then I got nasty, and we had a big row,and I went out. Then Sim went on drinking; he can stand a lot morethan would floor most Mexicans. They got into talk with him, and hecould see they were trying to pump him as to what we were going to do,but you bet he didn't let much out. Then he got gradually stupid, andat last rolled off the seat on to the ground. For a bit the Mexicanswent on talking together, and then one of them crept over and felt hispockets, and took the few dollars he had in them out. That convincedthem he was dead off to sleep, and they went on talking.
"What he gathered was this: the fellows were the spies of one of thesebands. They had noticed you particularly when you came in, because itseems their captain was in the town and recognized your horse, and toldthem he didn't like your being here, and they were to watch you sharp.They were in the crowd when there was the row about the horse, and theysaw us having our talk with you. They followed you out to the Don's andback again, and when you rode out in the morning to meet us they senta boy after you, and he kept you in sight and tracked you up to thehut, and then crawled up close and overheard what we were saying. Theysent off word at once to their chief, and we are to be followed by twomen; when they have traced us to the place, one is to ride back to someplace where a dozen of them will be waiting to attack us on our wayback."
"That is bad," Hugh said; "what is to be done?"
"This has got to be put a stop to," the doctor said calmly, "thoughI don't see how yet. At any rate Sim and I think we had better nothurry, a few days won't make any difference, and something may occur.He picked up
from their talk that the villains had something else inhand just at present; some stroke from which they expect to make a lotof money, but they talked low, and he couldn't catch much of what theysaid. Maybe it will go wrong, and the country may be roused and huntthem down, and if so you bet we will be in it; we have got chancesenough to take in this job as it is, and we don't want to reckon onbrigands; not that there is much fear of them now that we know theirplans, we have only got to ambush the men they send after us. Still,we ain't going to take any chances. The fellows may follow direct; theyare sure to choose some one who knows the mountains well, and they mayjudge by our direction the course we are taking and go by other paths;they would know pretty well we are not the sort of people to foolwith. Still it is better to wait a little while and see if there is achance of putting a stop to it here. It is not that we are feared ofthe skunks; if we could not throw them off our trail, we could fightthem anyway, but one don't want to have them on one's mind; we have gotplenty of things to think about without them."
"O yes! I think it much better to stay here for a bit, doctor. Thereis no hurry about a start on our expedition, and I should certainlylike to take a share in routing out these bandits, especially as, fromwhat you say, it seems that the men at their head are the fellows whomurdered Don Ramon Perales' son, and sold me his horse. I wonder whichhacienda it is that they are meaning to attack!"
"Yes, it is a pity Sim didn't manage to find that out; we would havecaught them then."
"Have you any idea how strong the band is?"
"They are not often over twenty," the doctor replied. "Twenty is enoughfor their work, and if there were more the shares of the plunder wouldbe too small; but, as I said, they have got friends everywhere, andcould probably gather thirty or forty more if they knew the troops weregoing to attack them. A Mexican is always ready on principle to join inif there is a chance of getting a shot at an American soldier."
"I suppose you have not the least idea in what direction these fellowshave their headquarters?"
"Well, I have some sort of an idea, at any rate I know of one placewhere there is a party who don't care about being interfered with bystrangers. Two or three months ago when Sim and I were away about fortymiles over to the north-west, we were in a village just at the mouthof a bit of a valley, and the girl who waited on us at the littlewine-shop whispered in my ear when the landlord's back was turned,'Don't go up the valley.' Well, we were not thinking of going up thevalley, which was only a sort of gulch leading nowhere, but after thatwe thought that we would have a look at it. We took a goodish roundso as to get above it, and looked down, and we saw a house lying amongsome trees, and lower down, near the mouth of the valley, made out twomen sitting among some rocks on the shoulder.
"The sun shone on their gun barrels, but that didn't go for much, forthe Mexicans out in the country pretty well always go armed. We watchedthem for a couple of hours, and as they didn't stir we concluded theywere sentries. The girl wouldn't have given us that warning unlessthere had been something wrong, and I expect that house was theheadquarters of one of these gangs."
"What made her do it, I wonder, doctor?"
"That I can't say, Lightning. It is never easy to say why a woman doesa thing. She may have thought it a pity that Sim and I should get ourthroats cut, though I own that wouldn't be a thing likely to troublea Mexican girl. Then she may have had a grudge against them; perhapsthey had shot some lover of hers, or one of them may have jiltedher. Anyhow, there it was, and if we hear of any attack of brigandsupon a hacienda, we will try that place before going any further. Andnow, lad, you had better be going back. I shall lie here quiet for anhour or two in case there should be anyone watching you, as is likelyenough."
Hugh returned to the hotel and told Royce what he had heard.
"That will suit me," Bill said. "I am death on border ruffians, andif ever I see two of them it wur them fellows as sold you the horseat M'Kinney. And so it's their intention to follow us and wipe us out,and get our swag? Waal, maybe it will be the other way. If I was you,Lightning, I would ride over to Don Ramon's this evening, and give hima hint to be on his guard. There is no reason why it should be hisplace they have got in their mind more than any other. But the factthat they stole the son's horse, to say nothing of killing him, mightturn their thoughts that way. If you do a fellow one injury, I reckonthat like as not you will do him another. I don't know why it is so,but I reckons it's human nature."
"I will ride over at once," Hugh said.
"I wouldn't do that, Hugh. You don't know who may have been watchingyou, and if it is known that you had been meeting the doctor quiet,and the doctor is a mate of Sim's, and Sim was in that wine-shop, theywill be putting things together, and if you ride straight over to DonRamon now, they will think it is because of something the doctor hasbeen saying to you. Then if it should chance as that is the place theyare thinking of, it air long odds that Sim and the doctor get a knifeatween their shoulders afore bed-time. You go quietly off in the coolof the evening, just jogging along as if you was going to pay a visitof no particular account. They ain't got no interest in us, except asto this expedition to find gold, and they won't concarn themselves inyour movements as long as I am here at the hotel and the others ain'tgetting ready to make a start. They have learned all they want to learnabout our going."
Just as the sun was setting, Hugh set out. It was dark when he reachedDon Ramon's hacienda. After chatting awhile with Don Ramon, his wifeand son--the two girls, their father said, being somewhere out in thegarden--Hugh said quietly to the Mexican that he wanted to speak to himfor a moment in private. Don Ramon lighted a fresh cigarette, and thensaid carelessly, "It is a lovely evening, we may as well stroll outsideand find the girls. I don't suppose they know that you are here?" DonCarlos followed them into the broad verandah outside the house.
"Your son can hear what I have to say," Hugh said in reply to aninquiring look from Don Ramon, and then reported the conversationthat Sim had overheard. Father and son were both much excited at thestatement that the horse had been recognized.
"Then poor Estafan's murderers are somewhere in this neighbourhood!"the don exclaimed. "That is the part of the story that interests memost, senor. As to attacking my hacienda, I don't believe they wouldventure upon it. They must know that they would meet with a stoutresistance, and El Paso is but three miles away. Daring as they are,they would scarcely venture on such an undertaking; but I will, ofcourse, take every precaution. I will order four men to be on guardat night, bid the others sleep with their arms ready at hand, and seethat the shutters and doors are barred at night. But the other mattertouches us nearly. If Estafan's murderers are in the province we willhunt them down if I have to arm all the vaqueros and _peons_, and havea regular campaign against them.
"You were quite right not to mention this before my wife; she and mydaughters had better know nothing about it. By the way, I wonder wherethe girls are; they are not generally as late as this. I suppose theevening has tempted them; it is full moon to-morrow." He raised hisvoice and called the girls. There was no reply. "Carlos, do you go andlook for them, and tell them from me to come up to the house; and now,senor, we will have a cup of coffee."
In a quarter of an hour Carlos returned. "I cannot find them, father.I have been all round the garden calling them."
Don Ramon rose from his seat and struck a bell on the table. "They musthave gone up to their rooms," he said, "without coming in here." Whenthe servant appeared, he said, "Rosita, go up to the senoritas' room,and tell them that Don Hugh Tunstall is here."
"They are not there, senor. I have just come down from their rooms."
"What can have become of them, Carlos?" Don Ramon said.
"I have no idea, father; they had Lion with them. He was asleep herewhen they called him from outside, and I saw him get up and dashthrough the open window."
"I can't understand it," the don said anxiously, "for the eveningis cold; besides, they would scarcely go outside the garden afternightfall."
/> "They might be down at Chaquita's cottage, father."
"Oh, yes! I didn't think of that, Carlos," Don Ramon said. "Yes, theyare often down at their old nurse's. Rosita, tell Juan to go down toChaquita's cottage and beg the young ladies to return, as I want them."
In ten minutes the servant came back.
"They are not there, senor; they left there just as it was gettingdark."
"Surely there is nothing to be uneasy about, Ramon!" his wife said."The girls are often out as late as this on a moonlight evening. Theyare sure to be about the garden, somewhere."
"But Carlos has been round," Don Ramon said. "Well, we will go and haveanother look for them." Followed by the two young men he stepped outon to the verandah. "Carlos," he said, "go round to the men's quartersand tell them your sisters are missing, and that they are all to turnout and search. I don't like this," he said to Hugh, after his son hadleft. "I should have thought nothing of it at any other time, but afterwhat you have just been telling me, I feel nervous. Now, let us goround the garden."
DISCOVERING THE BODY OF THE BLOODHOUND.]
They traversed all the walks, Don Ramon repeatedly calling the girls'names. They were joined in their search by Don Carlos and a numberof the men. "They are certainly not in the garden," Don Ramon said atlast. "Now, let us go down towards Chaquita's cottage; they may eitherhave followed the road on their way back, or have come along a by-pathto the garden. We will go by the path, and return the other way."
The path lay through a shrubbery. Just as they entered it, a man metthem running.
"Well, what is it, Juan?" Don Ramon asked as he came up and he couldsee his face by the light of the torches some of the men were carrying.
"I don't know, senor, but we have just come upon some fresh blood onthe path."
With a cry of alarm Don Ramon ran forward with his son and Hugh. Fiftyyards farther they saw two of the men standing with torches in themiddle of the path.
"Here is blood, senor," one of them said. "We passed it withoutnoticing it on our way to the cottage; we were not examining theground; but on our way back the light of the torches fell upon it."
Don Ramon stood staring in speechless horror at a large patch of bloodon the path. "There has been a struggle here," Hugh said, examining theground. "See! there are marks of large feet. Some of them have trod inthe blood. See, Don Carlos!" and he pointed to a line of blood dropsleading to one of the bushes.
"Search, Hugh," the young man groaned, "I dare not."
Hugh motioned one of the men with a torch to follow him. The father andson stood gazing after them as they entered the bushes. A moment laterHugh called out:
"It is the dog, senors, there is nothing else."
An exclamation of joy broke from the two Mexicans. They were at leastrelieved of the overpowering dread that had seized them at the sight ofthe blood, and at once joined Hugh. The dog, a fine Cuban blood-hound,was lying dead, stabbed in a dozen places.
"What can it mean, father?" Don Carlos said in a low voice.
"I can hardly think," the Mexican said, passing his hand across hisforehead.
"I am afraid, senor, it is too evident," Hugh put in. "This is theexplanation of what my friend heard. The brigands did not intend toattack the hacienda. They have carried off your daughters, and thehound has died in their defence."
"That must be it," Don Ramon exclaimed in the deepest anguish. "Oh, mypoor girls, how can it have happened!"
"I expect they were in hiding here," Hugh said, "and sprang up suddenlyand seized and gagged the senoritas before they had time to scream. Thehound doubtless sprang upon them, and, as you see, they killed it withtheir knives."
"What is to be done?" Don Ramon asked hopelessly.
"The first thing is to follow the path down to the road," Hugh said;"probably they had horses somewhere. Will you tell the men to go alongcautiously with their torches near the ground."
Don Carlos gave the order in Mexican. One of the party, who was thechief hunter at the hacienda, went a little ahead of the others witha torch. He stopped a short distance before he reached the junctionof the path with the road, which they could see ahead of them in themoonlight.
"Here are fresh marks of horses' hoofs," he said. "See," and he heldthe torch above his head and pointed to the bushes, "twigs have beenbroken, and there are fresh leaves upon the ground. The horses musthave been hidden here. Do not move until I examine down to the road."He went forward alone, and returned in two or three minutes. "There arefaint tracks from the road to this point; they came along at a walk.There are deep ones down to the road, and along it; they went off at agallop. There were six of them."
"What is to be done, senor?" Don Ramon said to Hugh. "My brain seems onfire, and I cannot think."
"I should imagine your daughters can be in no immediate danger, senor,"Hugh said quietly. "The brigands have doubtless carried them off inorder to wring a heavy ransom from you. They must have got two hours'start, and I fear pursuit would be useless to-night, though I wouldsend three of the men accustomed to tracking on at once to followtheir traces, and to learn the direction they have taken after leavinghere. Of course it will be for you to decide whether you will go downto the town and see the alcalde, and obtain a posse of men to joinyour vaqueros in a search for them, and then to cross the river to thefort and get the help of the troops, and scour the whole country; orwhether you will wait until you hear, as you doubtless will, from thebrigands."
"Let us go back to the house," Don Ramon replied; "we must thinkit over. We must not do anything rash, or we might endanger theirlives." The news had reached the house before they arrived there.Donna Maria was completely prostrated with grief, the women werecrying and wringing their hands, and the wildest confusion prevailed.Don Ramon had by this time recovered himself, and sternly orderedsilence. He then proceeded to the room where his wife had been carried,and endeavoured to assure her that there was little fear for theirdaughters' lives, for the brigands could have no purpose in injuringthem, and had only carried them off for the purpose of exacting aransom.
"What do you really think had best be done, my friend?" Don Carlosasked Hugh when they were alone together. "Of course, whatever ransomthese villains ask must be paid, although I have no doubt it will besomething enormous. But it is terrible to think of the girls being evenfor an hour in their hands, especially when we feel sure that these menare the murderers of my brother."
"I should say," Hugh replied, "that whatever they demand must be paid.It will not do to risk the senoritas' lives by doing anything as longas they are in their hands. But I should advise that the moment theyare free we should fall upon these scoundrels and exterminate them, andrecover the ransom. I think that I have a clue to the place where theyare likely to be taken. One of my miner friends was speaking to me of aplace that would be likely to be used for such a purpose. He could leada party there. But it would never do to attempt it while the ladiesare in their hands. You may be sure that a careful watch will be kept,and at the first alarm the villains might murder them. We will hearwhat your father says when he returns, and if he thinks, as I do, thatwe can attempt nothing until he receives some communication from thebrigands, I will ride back to El Paso and consult my friends there."
Don Ramon on his return said that he was strongly of opinion that itwould risk the girls' lives were any movement made until he heard ofthem. As he could be of no utility Hugh rode over to El Paso, DonCarlos saying that he would let him know the instant they receivedany communication from the brigands, but that he should anyhow see himin the morning, as he should ride over with his father to report thematter to the authorities. It was past ten o'clock when Hugh reachedthe hotel. It happened to be a festa, and the square was full ofpeople, and the cafes and wine-shops open. Royce was in the bar-room ofthe hotel.
"Royce, do you know where Sim and the doctor are likely to be found?"
"I saw them sitting in front of the wine-shop in the corner of thesquare, not more than ten minutes ago."
"Come along with me, then, Bill."
"But I thought we weren't to be seen with them?" Royce said.
"There can be no reason against it now," Hugh replied. "They havelearned all they wanted to learn about it, and know that we are goingtogether. At any rate our meeting would seem to be accidental."
"Is anything up, Hugh?" Royce asked as they made their way through thecrowd in the square. "You look troubled."
"I will tell you directly, Bill."
"There they are. They are still at the same table, Hugh."
There were two empty chairs at the table. Hugh nodded carelessly to thedoctor and Sim, and sat down beside them.
"After what you told me this morning, doctor, there can be no harm inour being seen together. I want to talk to you badly. There are toomany people about here. Do you mind both coming down to the river. Wecan talk as we go."
Directly they were out of the square he told the three men what hadhappened.
"Carried off those two young ladies!" Royce exclaimed. "By thunder,that is too bad. What is to be done, boys?"
"Let us wait until we know all about it," Sim replied; while the doctorsaid, in his quiet way, "This has really got to be put a stop to. Letus wait until we are down by the river. We must hear all this quietly,Lightning. Four men can't talk as they walk."
They soon gained a quiet spot away from the houses.
"Now tell us how it came about," the doctor said, "and while we aretalking each of you keep his eyes and ears open. We have behaved likefools once, and let ourselves be overheard. We won't do it again."
Hugh told the whole story of the girls' abduction, and stated thedetermination arrived at by Don Ramon, not to attempt a pursuit, but topay whatever ransom was demanded, and then to hunt the brigands down.
"That is all very well," the doctor said; "but when they have oncegot the money, and you may be sure that it will be a very big sum,they will divide it and scatter; and there won't be one of them in thedistrict twelve hours after the girls are given up."
"But what is he to do, doctor?" Sim Howlett said. "He daren't move tillhe gets the gals. They would cut their throats sure if he did."
"My idea was, Sim," Hugh said, "that if this is the work of the bandin that house the doctor was telling me about this morning, we couldbe in hiding near it; and directly the men who take the girls back totheir father return with the ransom, we could fall upon them, destroythe whole band, and get back the money."
"We should want a big force to surround the place," Sim replied; "andthere would be no getting it there without being seen. You bet thereare a score of them on the look-out, and their friends would bringthem word, long before we got there, of such a force being on the way.Besides, there is no surety that it is the place where the gals are,and, even if it is, the hull band may leave when they send the galsaway. They may scatter all over the country, and meet again at nightfifty miles off. Another thing is, you may bet your boots there willbe a lot of trouble about handing over that ransom, and they won't give'em up until after they have got the money."
"I see that there are all sorts of difficulties before us, Sim, butI am sure you and the doctor will see some way out of it. I am deeplyinterested in rescuing these poor girls, and we are all interested inthis band being wiped out before we start."
"Have you any plan at all?" the doctor asked. "You have had longer timeto think this over than we have."
"Well, doctor, my idea was that we could start to-night and get to someplace among the hills, where we could hide our horses a mile or twofrom this house where we suppose they are. We should lie quiet thereto-morrow. The next evening we should make our way down, and try andascertain for certain whether they are there, and see whether it ispossible to carry them off.
"Of course that couldn't be attempted unless we are absolutely certainof being able to protect them. If we could get them out without beingseen, we might try to do it. If it is not certain we could do that,and get off without being seen, I should say one of us should ride backnext morning to Don Ramon and get him to bring up twenty or thirty ofhis men, or if not, a body of troops from the fort. We should guidethem at night to a point as near the house as it would be safe for themto get. Then we four could crawl down to the house. The moment we arein a position to protect the girls, that is to say if we can get intothe room where they are kept, we will fire a pistol-shot out of thewindow as a signal. Then we shall have to make as good a fight of it aswe can till the others come up to help us.
"You may be sure that the brigands will be all pretty well occupiedwith us, and the other party will be able to surround the house, andthen rush in to our assistance."
"That looks a good plan, by thunder!" Sim Howlett said. "What do yousay, doctor?"
"Well, I think it might be worked somehow on those lines," the doctoragreed. "I don't think there is much danger for the ladies, because,if the brigands did come upon us when we were scouting, some of themwould attack us, and the rest would carry the ladies off to some otherhiding-place. I don't say if they were surrounded and saw no chance ofescape they mightn't kill them out of revenge, but they would neverdo that until the last thing, because they would reckon, and trulyenough, that as long as they are in their hands they have got the meansof making terms for themselves. But to one thing I agree anyhow. Letus get our horses and start at once. Don't let us go together. We willmeet at the first cross-road a mile to the west of the town. No one islikely to notice us going out. There are plenty of people who have comein from the country to this festa; besides, just at present they won'tbe watching us. They know what our plans are, and that we don't intendto start for another week, and they won't be giving a thought to usuntil this affair of the girls is settled. What do you say, Sim?"
"That is right enough," Sim said; "but we must be careful about theroads, doctor. Like enough they will have a man on every road goinganywhere near the place, and perhaps miles away."
"Yes, we must make a big circuit," the doctor agreed. "Strike the hillsfifteen or twenty miles away from their place, and then work up throughthem so as to come down right from the other side."
"Shall I get some provisions at the hotel?" Hugh asked.
"No; we will attend to that. There are plenty of places open, and wewill get what is wanted. Now, do you and Bill go back by yourselves; wewill follow in a minute or two."