"Have you heard anything?" asked Jack, paying no attention to this speech, but turning to Don Rafael.
"Of Dolores, nothing. All the messengers sent out have returned without tidings. It is stated that the Chalchuih Tlatonac is burning red, and thus proclaiming war. To propitiate the god, some great feast is to take place; but whether Dolores has been seized by the Indians and carried to their temple to assist at the ceremony I do not know. Not a single trace of her can be found."
"And Cocom?"
"Cocom has disappeared—so has Pepe and Marina?"
"Marina?" cried Jack, starting.
"Yes; but that is not the worst. My father, as a member of the Junta, had plans of the fortifications to Tlatonac. These have been stolen——"
"Stolen?" interrupted Philip, who had been vainly sweeping the horizon in search of The Pizarro; "and by Marina."
"So my father thinks. My belief of last night is true, Señores. That ladron Pepe is a spy in the service of Hypolito. He seduced Marina into stealing the plans from my father's room, and now they have gone off together in that boat to The Pizarro."
"Impossible, Rafael," replied Cassim, decisively. "Doña Dolores was missing while Marina was in this house. She was still here when Padre Ignatius came with the news that Pepe and the boat were gone. Doubtless she has stolen the plans; but she could not have escaped as you say."
"That is a mere detail," said Jack, hastily. "Marina is an Indian, and knows the whole country round for miles. After stealing the plans, she doubtless slipped out of the country gate and travelled up the coast. There a boat from The Pizarro could pick her up."