Picking up a good-sized stone, Billie let it drive with all his might at the boy who stood in the gateway holding the light. It was a good shot and struck the boy on the shin. With a cry of pain he dropped the lamp and grabbed the injured member.
“Caramba, what is that?” exclaimed Don Pablo, as he drew his revolver. “Are we attacked by thieves, or is the spirit of evil in the air?”
“It is neither,” replied the boy who had been hit. “It must be Juanito who threw the stone. He is jealous because I have a better place than he.”
“What is Juanito doing outside the hacienda at this time of night?” demanded Don Pablo. “Go bring him in, and do you, Luis,” turning to the oarsman, “give him a good beating. Then take three men and go and bring the body of Emilio to the hacienda.”
As soon as he had thrown the stone Billie had glided quickly to the adobe wall which surrounded the hacienda, and, as the boy and Luis went in search of the supposed Juanito, and Don Pablo passed within the gate, Billie darted in behind him and hid himself behind one of the bushes which he remembered seeing in one corner of the patio.
Stopping only for a moment to take a drink from a jar, which stood at the foot of the stairs, Don Pablo ascended to the second floor. A moment later, seeing that the way was clear, Billie followed, just in time to see Don Pablo enter one of the rooms which opened out onto the great corridor, for it must be said that the casa of Don Pablo was a large and handsome one.
Having located the room, Billie sat down in the dark to wait.
He did not have to wait long, for in a few minutes Luis and the boy returned, much chagrined over their inability to locate little John.
“What’s that?” asked Don Pablo, coming to the door in his shirt-sleeves, “can’t you find him?”
“No, señor,” was the reply. “It is too dark.”