Perez had listened with an intense interest that lost not a syllable. As the girl described the disgrace which his enemies had planned to inflict on him, if their plan succeeded, his cheek paled and his lips drew tense across his set teeth. As Prudence looked up at him there was a suppressed intensity of rage in his face which checked the ejaculations upon her lips. There was a silence of several seconds, and then he said in a low suppressed voice, hard and unnatural in tone:
“Young woman, I owe you more than if you had saved me from death.” Lu smilingly nodded, evidently fully appreciating the point.
“Three o'clock, you said?” muttered Perez presently, half to himself, as the others still were silent.
“Tree 'clock, Jake say. Jake an all udder man meet to Cap'n Jones' tree 'clock to git um guns.”
“It's nine now, six hours. Time enough,” muttered Perez.
“Yes, there's time for you to get away,” said Prudence eagerly. “You can get to York State by three o'clock, if you hurry. Oh, don't wait a minute. If they should catch you!”
He smiled grimly.
“Yes, there's time for me to get away, but there's no time for them, my sirs.”
“Abe,” he added, abruptly changing his tone, “you've heard what they're going to do? What are you going to do?”
“I tink me go woke up fellers. Heap time, run clean 'way 'fore tree 'clock,” said the Indian. “Mlishy come tree 'clock, no find us. 'Fraid have to leave Abner. Abner heap drunk to-night. No can walk. Too big for carry. Heap sorry, but no can help it.”