Gall-yun' out in the stream
an' away."

"No, Jim," replied Paul, "it was no fault of yours. Cunning was at work.
They had located us in some manner and they prepared a surprise."

Alvarez and Braxton Wyatt went on ahead. Paul and Jim followed in the
midst of a strong guard of soldiers. The road led again through corn and
grain fields where cultivation was making a struggle against the
luxuriance of a semi-tropical wilderness, although with small success, as
yet.

A stooping figure with a hideous, feline face shambled up by the side of
Paul, and purposely struck his elbow against the wound upon his arm. It
was The Cat, but Paul, whose arms had been left unbound, whirled, without
hesitation, and struck the Natchez in the face.

The Cat staggered but he promptly drew a knife and Paul might have been
slain, but a soldier knocked the knife from the Indian's hand and rebuked
him severely. The soldier was Luiz, a Spaniard of height and strength. He
had fared badly at the hands of the five, but his life had also been saved
by one of them, and he was not ungrateful. He did not mean that these two
prisoners should be treated any worse than the captain ordered. He
compelled The Cat to fall back, and he smiled pleasantly at Paul and Long
Jim.

"I'll take it that we've got one friend in this crowd," said Long Jim.

"Yes," said Paul, "and we'll need all we can get. Alvarez seems to have a
big place here, a sort of feudal estate."

It seemed to Paul that he had come into another world; the difference
between this and Kentucky was so enormous. There, in the little
settlements, every man spoke his mind and the life was all freedom. Here,
fear and suspicion abounded, there were degrees of importance, and Alvarez
was an autocrat who could make or mar as he pleased. It was an atmosphere
heavy to Paul's lungs, and, like Long Jim, he longed for the great forests
of the Ohio River country. Behind the chateau were some low, heavy out
buildings of logs, and Paul and Long Jim were thrust into one of these,
the door being fastened behind them with a huge padlock. Alvarez detailed
Luiz, who seemed to rank a little above his fellows, and three others to
keep watch and then, feeling that he held his prisoners securely, the
commander went into the chateau. But he stopped at the door and ordered
that a gold coin and as much rum as he could drink should be given to The
Cat.

"It was due to his wonderful instinct and cunning," he said, "that we