General Yozarro's tugboat must have come ashore directly
behind the catboat of his predecessors. He would recognize the smaller
craft, and know that the American had gone to the Castle to join his
sister, no doubt with the intention of bringing her away. He must have
destroyed the usefulness of the catboat and thus estopped the flight
of the fugitives by that means.

While such action on his part would appear to have been certain, yet
it did not accord with his conduct when on the way to _Castillo
Descanso_. The sight of the pony would have told him the truth, and
he would have been certain to make an investigation on the spot. But
that was not done, nor was there anything in the words or manner of
the Atlamalcans to show that he held a suspicion of the real
situation.

"Martella must have thought of all this, yet he did not show it by
word or act."

Walking briskly, they soon passed up a slight incline, descended
another and arrived within a short distance of the Rio Rubio. Then,
for the first time, the officer recalled that the trail bifurcated
like the river itself. One fork turned to the right, which led to
where the sailboat had been secured. Without pausing, Martella turned
down this, and a few minutes later all stood on the river's margin.

CHAPTER XXV.

There nestled their boat with no sign of having been visited during
their absence. Its prow was drawn well up the bank, and the sail
lay in a roll on the boom and at the foot of the single mast with
everything snug. Martella hastily examined every portion of the hull,
stepping into the water to do so, and finally said with a grin:

"None of them saw it."

"That is better fortune than I expected. Providence has been kind to
us, but where is _their_ boat, Martella?"

They listened for the blowing off of steam, but, save for the never
silent sounds from the forest and jungle, all was silent.

"It is not far away; General Yozarro made the landing above and passed
up the other trail to where it joins this one. It was lucky, for, had
he come here, as he did last night, he must have seen our boat. He
would have crippled it, and when he met the horse along the trail, he
would have known we were near. There is no need of undue haste, and if
you do not care, I will visit the gunboat."

"Are you not running great risk?"

"The only ones there are the engineer and two firemen; I have nothing
to fear from them."

"You have my permission."

The vegetat