Delighted to have in their hands one of the gang who had injured some of their comrades, the negroes rushed at the unhappy Pedro, and dragged him to his knees. Then they carried him to Hal, and tearing the gag from his mouth, placed him upon his feet, one of them standing close beside him and holding the cold muzzle of a rifle at his neck.
"Ah, señor, spare me! I will tell the truth," Pedro cried, his knees knocking together, and his eyes turning in terror to the negroes who held him. "Take these wolves away from me, and you shall hear all that you wish to know."
"Silence! Do you wish to let your friends hear you?" asked Hal sternly. "Silence, man, and answer in a whisper as you value your life. Now, who is in the hacienda beside your accomplice?"
"No one, señor, save a guard who stands at the door that opens from the top of the steps. El Capitan sits in the best room, drinking wine."
"If you were returning now, how would you act?"
"I should pass by the guard without a word, señor," Pedro answered, flinching as the barrel of the rifle touched his neck. "Ah, señor, I cannot reply while my life depends upon this man behind. Have the gun removed, I beg of you."
"In time, Pedro. You must really give us time," said Hal calmly. "Remember that I was to have felt the edge of cold steel myself, for your orders were that the machete was to be used to kill me. Listen to this. I am going into the hacienda to see this friend of yours, and you will be brought to the edge of the clearing. When you hear José d'Arousta's voice, repeat his commands in loud tones, and warn your comrades on guard and those who are looking to the mules, that if they approach the house or attempt to take the animals from the shed, they will be shot down without mercy. I need not tell you to obey me to the letter, for these good fellows will have charge of you. Now, bring him along, boys. The sun will be down in five minutes, and then it will be time to start."
Hal left his trembling captive in charge of the grinning negroes, and grasping Gerald by the arm, led him along the path. Five minutes later they were amongst the hands who were lying in the forest watching the shed and the guerilla sentries paraded up and down before the hacienda.
"All of you lie down here," said Hal. "Ah, there goes the sun, and very soon we shall have the moon up in its place."
He had scarcely finished speaking when the golden orb disappeared suddenly, and without the slightest warning, as is the case in the tropics, where night succeeds day with a rapidity that is astonishing. Then up floated the moon, while stars glistened dull and faint in the sky, rendered almost invisible by the bright silvery rays that now shot over the trees and deluged everything. At once all around became silent, and the clearing and house looked unreal and ghostly in the pale beams which were so different from those that had lit up the place only a few minutes before.