"Hilloh!" he asked himself, "is this an apparition, and are they demons or men?"
Then, seeing that he was really alone, he busied himself with raising his horse.
"There," he continued, when the animal was on its legs again, "I will wait till Señor Diego arrives. Plague take the spot; it does not appear to me so sure as formerly, and our ex-lieutenant might have chosen another."
"Here I am, Wilhelm!" Diego said, suddenly, as he stood before the smuggler.
"Well, I am not sorry for it, lieutenant," the German answered, phlegmatically.
"What do you want here?" the other asked him, sharply.
"I have come because the captain ordered me to do so, that is all."
"Why did Leon send you in his place? I was expecting him here."
"Ah, that is another matter, and you must not be angry with him."
"But," Diego continued, biting his moustache savagely, "what does he expect me to do with you?"