III
The first two rooms were empty, but bore unmistakable signs of a desperate flight and struggle. Then a landing, a door and a dark cupboard, from which a loud cry for help now resounded throughout the deserted hacienda. Dick, signing to the Marquis to turn the light into the corner, bent down, and dragged a body from the cupboard. It waa Libertad!
Covered with knife-wounds, the negro boy was on the point of death, struggling for air. They took him into the next room, and threw open the windows, while Dick questioned him brutally. "Where is your mistress?" A feeble hand pointed toward the sierra, and Dick stood away from the dying man. That was all he wanted to know. The Red Ponchos were already, on the road to the mountains with his fiancèe.
He dashed down into the road to find Uncle Francis with little Christobal. The boy, climbing into the motor, had discovered his sister's cloak there, and was crying over it. He threw himself into Dick's arms, but was roughly pushed aside while the young engineer raged impotently.
125
