with the idea of extorting a bigger ransom."

"You insult me!" thundered Don Carlos, springing up from his chair and
bringing his clenched fist down on the table with a crash. "El Diablo
Cojuelo has never broken his word and has kept his every promise, yet
you dare to suggest he would not fight fair. Let me insult you in
return, Senor Standish, by suggesting you are too much of a coward to
fight for the girl you profess to love, and would surrender her rather
than suffer pain."

"Confound you, you ruffian! How dare you talk to me in that fashion!"
burst out Tony, forgetting his position, and taking an impulsive step
forward--only to be seized roughly by his guards, one of whom jabbed
the point of a knife against his breast. Tony flinched, then he
shrugged his shoulders and faced the hooded figure disdainfully.

"Easy to take the high hand and to fling insults at a man when you have
a lot of armed ruffians to protect you!" he said sarcastically.
"What's the idea, anyhow? Why not get down to business instead of
spouting a lot of balderdash?"

"I can dispense with the protection of the guards," Don Carlos
remarked. "Garcilaso and Riafio, you will withdraw and leave me to
deal with the senor. Wait outside," he added in Spanish.

He resumed his seat as the guards left the room, and Myra could see his
eyes gleaming like black diamonds through the slits in his mask.

"Well, how much will you take to set Miss Rostrevor at liberty?"
inquired Tony impatiently, after a pause. "I am sick of all this bluff
and nonsense, being brought here blind-folded, and all that sort of
thing, by another fellow dressed like you. The whole thing seems to me
a fake, and it seems to me you must be in league with the authorities,
else how could you have a place like this--electric light and all the
rest of it--without being spotted?"

"Strange, is it not, Senor Standish?" responded Don Carlos, and his
muffled voice had laughter in it. "Yet I assure you I am not in league
with the authorities, and even Don Carlos, who prides himself on
knowing practically every foot of the mountain range, failed to find my
stronghold. Even a Division of your wonderful British Army and all
your Scotland Yard would not discover the nest of El Diablo Cojuelo.
You and Miss Rostrevor are as completely lost to the world here, and as
helpless as you would be if the earth had swallowed you up."

"Oh, I quite realise you are in a position to dictate terms a