"Half of you follow those brigands to the edge of the plantation, and see them well away," he cried. "Jake Johnson, you and four others can bring your prisoner in here; the remainder had better stay in the clearing and keep a good look-out."
A moment later the bushes which lined the clearing opened, and Gerald and the negro hands appeared, the former accompanying Jake Johnson and the men in charge of the captive Pedro. They trudged across the open space, looking weird and white in the pale moonbeams; then their feet were heard as they ascended the steps outside, and within a minute the two rascally Spaniards, who had dared to attack the hacienda, stood side by side, bound hand and foot, and awaiting sentence.
Hal looked at them searchingly, smiling at Pedro's appearance, for he was now clad in a tattered blanket in place of the fine clothes he had previously worn, and cut a very sorry figure; for this half-breed was not quite the man that he would have had his fellows believe. With all in his favor, and no fear for his own personal comfort and safety, he was a martinet, an insufferably proud man, who would stop at very little to support his position. Now, however, when any fate might be in store for him, and when his conscience told him that he deserved the severest punishment, he showed the stuff of which he was made. His knees trembled and shook so that he could scarcely stand upright, his face was of an ashen pallor, and big beads of perspiration trickled down his forehead.
A very different being was his leader. Rogue though he was, and coward enough to insult a lady when he had her in his power, he was yet a brave man, with a brave man's detestation for one who could not look adversity in the face. He stood there, his usually sallow face now flushed red with excitement, his head thrown back, and an air of reckless defiance about him.
"You hound!" he hissed, turning upon his quaking accomplice. "Why do you tremble? What do you fear? Have you not been the means of killing men? Then why should you grumble when your own fate reaches you? Señor, do me the favor of removing this fellow," he continued, turning to Hal. "He is my servant, I tell you, and he has no right to stand by my side."
"Servant or friend makes little difference to me, José d'Arousta," Hal answered coldly. "He has been good enough to act as your comrade in this deed of roguery, and therefore is good enough to take his sentence with you. Now, Mr. Brindle, these two men came here unbidden and made a most unwarranted attack upon you. I leave you to settle with them, and will merely mention that three of the negro hands have been either killed or wounded by their following. Deal with them as you think they deserve."
CHAPTER XII
A RISKY UNDERTAKING
Called upon to pass judgment on the two Spanish irregulars who had attacked the peaceful hacienda in search of plunder and revenge, it was long before Mr. Brindle opened his lips or endeavored to speak. He drew a chair before them, and, having seated himself with the utmost deliberation, extracted a long cheroot from a case of woven grass, which he always carried in his pocket. Turning it round and round in his fingers, as if to satisfy himself that it was one of good flavor, he bit off one end, and striking a match, lit the other very carefully. Even then he did not address the prisoners.