Roy pointed in silence. Just within the fringe of trees on the very edge of the clearing was a small cabin. Smoke was issuing from the chimney. And as the boys watched, a woman, old, stooped, and white-haired, her face creased with lines, came to the door.
“Mex!” whispered Nick excitedly.
To their surprise the woman suddenly disappeared into the hut. Roy started to urge his pony forward. Then quickly he pulled the reins taut, bringing Star to a halt.
The woman had come to the door again, and the boys could see her mouth twisted in rage. Her shoulders were thrown back and her eyes blazed. In her hands she held a long-barreled rifle, and, as the riders remained motionless, she lifted and leveled it with a steady hand.
CHAPTER XVII
Captives
The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop. The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
“This the place, Cleopatra?”
The woman nodded. Then she turned on him fiercely.
“My name Clovita! You no call me that other. Clovita my mother’s name, and her mother’s name before her. You no—”