"Our stable is full."
"Of course it is. Therefore you see we have no choice—apart from our earnest wish—but to cross the ford before daybreak. How is it patrolled on the far side?"
"Cavalry," said I; "two vedettes."
"Meeting, I suppose, just opposite the ford? How far do they patrol?"
"Three hundred yards maybe: certainly not more."
The Captain pursed up his lips as if whistling.
"Is there good cover on the other side? My map shows a wood of fair size."
"About half a mile off; open country between. Once there, you ought to be all right; I mean that a man clever enough to win there ought to make child's-play of the rest."
He mused for half a minute. "The stream is two wide for me to hear the movements of the patrols opposite. José has a wonderful ear."
"Yes, Captain, I can hear the water from where we stand," José put in.