ide of the room came in with a crash.

CHAPTER XXII.

A RESCUE AND A SURPRISE.

It would be hard to describe Adrian's surprise at the unexpected
event which closed the preceding chapter. His first thought was
that a cannon ball had struck the house, but a second thought
convinced him that such was not the case. Before he had time to
think further he heard a big voice call out:

"Here he is!"

A moment later Mr. Black burst in through the opening in the wall
and, picking Adrian up in his arms as though he had been a baby,
started on a run with him for the nearest horse.

"There you are!" he exclaimed as he set the boy on the horse.
"Now to run for it!"

Adrian needed no second bidding, but digging his heels into the
horse's side he dashed away toward the cocoanut grove, his flight
being protected by the Americans with Billie at their head.

A couple of minutes after, the entire band had rallied in the
shelter of the trees, where they stopped to plan for the next
move.

"How did you ever find me?" asked Adrian as he and Billie peered
out toward the town.

"Mr. Black knew about where he lost you and we tracked you by
your trail. Whoever dragged you into the house, left a trail as
wide as your body."

"It was a woman," explained Adrian, "and she was hiding me. But
where were you when I whistled for help?"

"That's a long story," was the reply, "which I will tell you when
we have time; but briefly we were on the other side of the town,
where we left the man on guard. It appears that our friend Jose
was a first-class traitor."

"As I discovered," said Adrian.

"Yes," continued Billie, "he sent a bunch of soldiers to capture
us. The sentry heard them coming and gave the alarm. We went to
his aid and succeeded in rescuing him, but that is what got us
into this trouble."

"And now what?"

"Now we have to get away just as soon as we can."

"Right," said Mr. Black. "There is no enemy in sight at this
moment and the best thing we can do is to run for it. If we can
cross the valley safely, we shall have little trouble."

"I'd like to stay and give them a few shots," said the corporal,
"but it would probably be unwise."

"I'll tell you what, Brooks," suggested Billie, "suppose you and
I remain behind until we see the others well across the valley.
If there is any pursuit, we can hold them back for a few
minutes. They will not know how many we are and it will give the
others a chance to escort Mr.