"Can Gato shoot any better than he fights?" smiled Reade.
Bang! An unseen rifle spoke. Judged by the sound the marksman was not more than three hundred yards away.
"Sz-z-z-zz!" the leaden missile sang through the air. It flattened against a rock in front of which the young chief engineer was standing.
"You are answered, mi caballero!" cried Nicolas, throwing himself flat on the earth. "Drop to the earth, senor, before the second shot is fired!"
CHAPTER XII
NICOLAS DOES AN ERRAND
Tom did not follow the advice to flatten himself on the ground. Instead, he stood straighter—even rose on his toes and stared in the direction whence he judged the shot to have come.
"Gato, you treacherous scoundrel!" Read roared, in Spanish. "Do you call yourself a brave man, to fight an unarmed foe like this?"
All was silent amid the rocks in the distance.
"Have you too little courage to answer me?" Tom again essayed. "Or are you man enough to show yourself—to come forward and listen to me. Don't be afraid. I can't hurt you. I have no weapon worse than my fists."