"Mind me not, Alvarado," cried Mercedes, but Alvarado, perceiving the situation, instantly dropped his weapon.
"Now seize him and bind him again! And you, dogs!" Morgan added, turning to the men who had allowed the prisoner to slip before, "if he escape you again you shall be hanged to the nearest tree!"
"Hadst not better bind the woman, too?" queried the Frenchman gently, still holding her fast in his fierce grasp.
"Ay, the wench as well. Oh, I'll break your spirit, my pretty one," answered Morgan savagely, flipping the young woman's cheek. "Wilt pay me blows for kisses? Scuttle me, you shall crawl at my feet before I've finished with you!"
"Why not kill this caballero out of hand, captain?" asked Hornigold, savage from a slight wound, as he limped up to Morgan.
"No, I have use for him. Are the rest silent?"
"They will tell no tales," laughed L'Ollonois grimly.
"Did none escape back up the road?"
"None, Sir Henry," answered the other. "My men closed in after them and drove them forward. They are all gone."
"That's well. Now, for La Guayra. What force is there, Señor Capitan?"