e to overtake them if
we do not start immediately. Pardon my abruptness, but I cannot rest
while there are two of my party prisoners in the hands of this gang of
cut-throats."

"It is to be perfectly understood," replied the Spaniard with no less
gravity, "we will make haste, but first we will eat while the servants
are getting two of the horses ready for you and your brother."

This was not Jim's idea of making haste by a long shot, but he was
enough of a traveler to recognize that the ways of men and nations
differed and that nothing was to be gained by going against the grain
of a national characteristic. So while fuming inwardly, he was outwardly
quiet and composed. He argued, too, that it was not likely the pirate
gang would retain the captured prisoners. Later, when they were
themselves at a safe distance they would set free the others.

As they went towards the house, the Spaniard dismounted and walked with
them, giving his horse into the charge of one of the men, with
directions to bring two other horses to the house. There was an
unmistakable courtesy in doing this and the boys appreciated it. They
could not help but contrast their appearance with that of the Spaniard.
He was not gaudily dressed like a vaquero, but everything he wore was
possessed of a certain richness and was not lacking in color. He truly
was a Prince of the South in appearance as well as in courtesy.

Jim and Jo were disreputable beyond words. Their clothes were muddy,
torn and disheveled, their faces so grimed that it was hard to tell
their original color, and there were blotches of blood upon their
clothes as well as faces and hands. But, though they looked worse than
tramps, there was something straightforward in their manner and their
way of speech that the Spaniard was quick to recognize.

As they walked along the Spaniard explained that his household had been
unusually disturbed that morning. His mother, he said, was an invalid,
and had escaped from her attendant. Some mental trouble, he briefly
mentioned as the cause of the elderly lady's worriment. Evidently, he
did not connect the tragedy in his own life, in which his father's life
was sacrificed, with the boys' antagonist. His mother, he assured them,
had been found and was returned to her home.

The boys now had a good view of the house, as they approached it. The
fog having lifted, they could take in the whole situation. The structure
itself was of adobe, of the early Calif