, and the couple in front of me were
consequently in a state of blissful ignorance as to my presence. Had
they been aware of it I am little doubtful now as to whether it would
have very greatly disturbed their equanimity. Be that as it may, I felt
a certain amount of delicacy about advancing, and so showing them that I
had been an involuntary witness of their philandering, so I softly
stepped aside off the pathway and ensconsed myself behind a coffee-bush,
thinking that perhaps they would go on and enter the house, in which
case I could follow them in at a respectful distance. If, on the other
hand, they did not enter, they would at all events be at such a distance
from me when they turned that I might safely show myself without much
fear of disconcerting either of them. So thinking, I continued to watch
their receding figures, intending to step back into the pathway as soon
as they were at a sufficient distance from me.

But before they had traversed half the distance between the gate and the
house I was startled at seeing a group of figures suddenly and
noiselessly emerge upon the pathway close behind them.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

AN EVENTFUL NIGHT.

What did it mean? Who were they, and what could they possibly want? I
could see them clearly enough to distinguish that they wore the garments
of civilisation; but they did not belong to the house: Don Manuel had
only two men in his service; whereas, so far as I could distinguish in
the uncertain light, there were five men in the group before me. Then,
too, their actions were suspicious, their movements were stealthy, and
it looked very much as though they were dogging the footsteps of the
couple ahead of them for no good purpose. I did not at all like the
aspect of affairs, so quietly disencumbering myself of the telescope,
which I deposited on the ground, I grasped my gun, and, stepping into
the pathway, shouted warningly to the second lieutenant:

"Look out, Mr Smellie, you are being followed!" Immediately there was
a shout, in Spanish, of "Come on, men, give it him!" and the group made
a dash at Smellie and his companion. Then followed an exclamation of
surprise and anger in Smellie's well-known voice, a single stifled
scream from Dona Antonia, and a most unmistakable affray. With a shout
I dashed up the path, and in another minute or less plunged into the
thick of the melee. Smellie was beset by three of the ruffians, who
were slashing viciously at h