"We are not likely to hit any of them, but it is sure to draw
their fire, and there will not be many unemptied guns as we pass
them."

As he expected, the volley was answered by a general fire from
their hidden foes. Then the party leapt into their saddles, and,
pistol in hand, galloped up the road. Several hurried shots were
fired from the front, and then, at a shout from their leader, some
twenty men leapt from their hiding places and ran down into the
road.

Desmond was supported on one side by Mike, and on the other by the
sergeant. He dropped his reins--the horse had learned to obey the
motions of his knees--and, drawing his sword, rode straight at the
bandits. Only a few muskets were discharged, and these so
hurriedly that the balls missed their aim, and, with a shout, the
party fell upon the brigands. The pistols of the troopers and Mike
cracked out, but they had no need to draw their swords, for the
rush of the horses struck such a panic into the Spaniards that
they sprang from the road, leaving the path clear, and the party
thundered past them without a check.

"Is anyone wounded?" Desmond asked, when they had passed beyond
gunshot of their assailants.

"I have a ball in my shoulder, Major," one of the troopers said.
The rest were silent.

"Well, we have been fortunate," Desmond said. "I will see to your
wound, my man, when we get a little farther. If those fellows had
not been so scared with our sudden charge that they fired almost
at random, we might have lost half our number."

They stopped half a mile farther, and Desmond examined the
trooper's arm.

"The ball has gone through the flesh," he said, "without touching
the bone, so you will soon have the use of it again."

He bound the wound tightly up with the soldier's sash; and then
made, with his own, a sling.

"You may as well put the other arm in your jacket," he said, "and
I will tie it round your neck. The air is cold upon the hills."

"We did that well, sir," the sergeant said, as they rode on again.
"If you had not thought of taking shelter, and shaking them up, we
should all have been shot down before we reached them.

"Is there any chance of another attack, sir?"

"None at all. I should think a messenger was sent to them,
yesterday, telling them our strength; and no doubt they thought
that, with sixty men, they would be certain to overpower us. That
is probably the whole of the band, and in any case, as they would
not imagine that