ack into Myra's mind in the fraction of a
second that she hesitated before answering the question on which the
fate of Don Carlos depended. And in that fraction of a second she
found the answer to many questions she had put to herself.

"What an absurd suggestion!" she exclaimed with scarce a tremor in her
voice. "The officer is quite mistaken, but the fault is probably mine.
I was so agitated that I did not know what I was saying, and was
obsessed with the idea that El Diablo Cojuelo was close behind me."

Don Carlos sprang to his feet with an exultant laugh.

"You hear, senors!" he exclaimed. "I thought it would be more
convincing if I left it to Miss Rostrevor to assure you the fantastic
suggestion is without foundation. Now I am willing to answer any
questions and tell you everything. Are you satisfied now? The Senor
Standish has told you that I was flung into the cell in which he was
imprisoned after he had tried to kill Cojuelo, and that Cojuelo
afterwards threatened to torture him and shoot me unless we agreed to
his terms."

"Pardon, Don Carlos, but I am merely carrying out my duty," said the
Commandante, and turned to Myra again. "Did you see Don Carlos as well
as Cojuelo, senorita, while you were in the outlaw's den?" he inquired.

"Yes, I saw them both together several times," answered Myra. "I heard
Cojuelo threaten to shoot Don Carlos. It was Don Carlos who enabled me
to make my escape, but I thought in my panic that it was Cojuelo who
was trying to overtake me when I cried out to the officer of the Civil
Guards."

"Is there, then, some resemblance between Don Carlos and the brigand
Cojuelo?" asked the Commandante.

Momentarily nonplussed, Myra shook her head.

"I cannot tell," she answered. "El Diablo Cojuelo always wore a cowl
which disguised him."

"Yes, that's right, sir," broke in Tony Standish from the background.
"We never saw the blighter without his cowl. I challenged him to be a
man and meet me face to face, but he would not remove his disguise.
You can take it from me, sir, that the idea that there was any
connection between Cojuelo and Don Carlos is all moonshine."

"Thank you, Mr. Standish," said Don Carlos gravely, and glanced round
at the faces of the officers. "May I take it, senors, that you are
satisfied?"

The Commandante nodded, tugging at his grey moustache.

"Certainly, Don Carlos," he said. "You will understand that it was
necessary for us to investigate th