ve; but already the right arm of another red
cap spouted crimson from the blade in a sword-stick which was flashing
blue lightning, and another wore a dark spot on his shirt--a spot which
spread and changed its shape.

There was no time to look at faces. I scarcely saw the features of friend
or foe, and could not have sworn to the identity of one man had my life
depended on it. But I knew that two beside whom we fought were brave
beyond the common, that they were worth fighting for and with. We were all
four shoulder to shoulder now, our backs against the car, though how we
had won through to that position I could not have told.

Another red cap had gone down on one knee, cursing, and there was a fresh
blot of crimson on a dark-stained shirt. We four had the advantage now,
for we had come to no harm but a few bruises and an aching head or two,
when suddenly there was a howl from the fellow last down, "El guardia
civile!"

It was true. Out of the distance rode two men, dashing towards us from the
direction of Jerez. Far away still, their white, black, and red uniforms
caught the sun; and guessing from the knot of forms swaying round a
motor-car that something was wrong, the pair spurred their horses to a
gallop.

"It's too hot for us!" panted the brigand I took for the leader. He
growled an order; and supporting two of their fallen comrades who were
able to help themselves, the uninjured pair made off towards a small wood
where I now saw horses tethered. After them we went; but they promptly
left their half-disabled friends to shift for themselves, and loaded their
carbines--so lately clubs--with quickness almost incredible.

An instant later two black muzzles covered us; and the tide of battle
might after all have turned disastrously, had not the shrill ping of a
bullet warned the enemy that there was no time to waste upon reprisals.

One of the civil guard had fired from a distance, but with precise aim, as
a yell of pain announced. A man already wounded got another souvenir of
the encounter; and out of the seven only four could get to their saddles.
One limped in the rear, but he had lost his carbine; one sat where his
comrades had flung him in their flight, and the last of the seven--stunned
by my stone--lay breathing stertorously on the road.

"After them--after them!" one of the young men who had fought so
brilliantly shouted now to the civil guards. "Don't let them get away."

For the first time I looked a