"He is not there," Ruperto remarked cruelly, "so it is of no use looking for him."
"Who?" she asked, hesitating between the shame of the supposition and the terror of her dangerous position.
"He," he answered with a grin. "Listen, Carmela; several times already you have learned more of our business than we liked; I repeat to you the remark you made a minute ago to the Captain, and try to profit by it; take care."
"Yes," the second speaker said brutally; "for we might forget that you are only a child, and make you pay dearly for your treachery."
"Nonsense," the third said, who had hitherto contented himself with drinking, and taking no part in the conversation; "the law must be equal for all; if Carmela has betrayed us, she must be punished."
"Well said, Bernardo," Ruperto exclaimed, as he smote the table; "there are just enough of us to pronounce the sentence."
"Good Heavens!" she screamed, as she freed herself by a sudden effort from the grasp of the arm which had hitherto held her; "Let me go, let me go!"
"Stay!" Ruperto shouted as he rose; "If you do not, some misfortune will happen."
The three men rushed on the maiden, and the latter, half wild with terror, sought in vain the door of the venta by which to escape.
But, at the moment when the three men laid their rough and horny hands on her white and delicate shoulders, the door, whose hasp she had been unable to lift in her terror, was thrown wide open, and a man appeared on the threshold.