“And your further plans?”
“I intended to have marched the Spaniards back to the mountains as prisoners of war. Within the hour I shall send a courier to the revolutionary camp with orders to forward two hundred men with which to capture the supply train. They should arrive early to-morrow forenoon.”
“Good. That work successfully accomplished, you can then permit Alvarez and Barker to depart in peace.”
“If you so desire. And now suppose we rejoin my men.”
As the two move away Ashley’s eye is caught by the glitter of a small object upon the ground. He picks it up and discovers that it is a locket attached to a broken bit of chain. As he turns it over in his hands and seeks to examine it in the pale light of the moon, Navarro calls to him from the road: “Still surveying the battlefield, Ashley?”
“Coming,” says Jack. He drops his find into his hip pocket and proceeds to forget all about it.
“What is to be done with Carlos, now that he is here?” he inquires as he rejoins the Navarros.
“Carlos must return to Santiago at once,” declares El Terredo. “If I might add to the already large debt of gratitude, I would ask that you accompany him.”
“Gladly, Navarro. My intentions were to make Santiago at all speed. You will not have Carlos return by rail?”
“No; by horse.”