“We may be,” said Donald, “but, if anything happens to us, there are those who will make you pay dearly.”
“Bah!” and Don Rafael snapped his fingers. “That for your friends! I have been in too many affairs to be bluffed by a couple of striplings.”
“Just as you please,” replied Donald, “but what I say is true. Why, at this minute they are on their way here!”
As he spoke, there was the boom of a cannon from the outskirts of the city, followed almost immediately by the crash of rifles.
“Perhaps you think those are your friends,” laughed Don Rafael. “If so they will meet with a warm reception.”
“They’ll be here before daybreak,” said Adrian.
“You think so?” exclaimed Don Rafael, and he regarded the boys with a crafty expression. “Well, perhaps you are right, and so, to avoid any danger of your escape, we will not wait until daylight for your execution.”
He stepped to the door of the guard room and called:
“Don Carlos!”
A moment later that young gentleman appeared.