h
something handsome to you and me. In my opinion, we did not get away a
moment too soon to save our necks."

"Not one minute!" replied the other, with strong emphasis. "Not even if
Guerra can succeed in gaining for us the best part of another day, as he
believed he could. Perhaps our best chance, after all, is that he has
only one company of lancers, and that any officer sent with it might
have instructions which would take him by another road than this."

"The inspector-general had with him an escort of his own," said Tassara.
"If he should send those fellows, they would be likely to know how to
find us. They are not under the orders of Guerra."

"If," exclaimed Zuroaga, fiercely, "they do not overtake us until after
the middle of our second day out, I believe they would be unlucky to try
to arrest us. I hope they will be wise, and not tire out their horses
with too much haste. I feel as if I could shoot pretty straight if I
should see them coming within range."

"So could I," replied Tassara.

The road which they were then following ran between cultivated lands on
either side. It was not tree-shadowed, and, as Ned looked back, the
moonlight showed him something that made him think rapidly. Additional
horsemen had joined them after they had left the city behind them, and
it occurred to him that arrangements had been made beforehand for
something like a small war. There were not less than twenty armed men,
besides himself and the pair who were with him. For some reason or
other, moreover, the wagon, which was drawn by four mules, and the
carriage, drawn by a pair of fine animals of the same sort, were driven
on well in advance. It appeared, therefore, as if no danger was expected
to meet them from the opposite direction, and that Senora Tassara and
her daughter were fairly well protected from any peril which might come
after them along the road from Vera Cruz. The next thing that struck
Ned, little as he knew about war, was that these horsemen were riding
two and two, not in a straggling procession, but in as perfect order as
if they had been trained cavalry. If he had known a little more, he
would have declared:

"That is just what they are."

He might not also have known that all but six of them were from the
Tassara estates, and that the odd half-dozen were lifelong servants of
the proscribed descendant of Hernando Cortes. If he could have
understood those men, he might also have comprehended one important