The two men went there, till they reached the fireplace.
"Where are you?" asked they.
Dolores did not think it necessary to tell them the truth just yet.
"I'm in the room above," said she. "I'm speaking through an opening in the flue. I can help you, if you will be cautious and patient."
"Who are you?"
"A prisoner. I know the way out. I can help you. Be cautious. Is the English prisoner with you?"
"No," said the Carlist, wondering what sort of a prisoner this could be, and why this prisoner asked after the Englishman.
Dolores questioned them further, and the men told all they knew. They had overheard the words that had passed between Ashby and Lopez, and told what they had heard.
From these Dolores gained new light upon the facts of the case. Having been a witness to the scene in the station at Madrid, she at once perceived that this enemy of Ashby's could be no other than that man in civilian dress, but of military aspect, with whom he had had the quarrel, who had been forced to leave the carriage of the Russells. This man had travelled in the same train. He had been captured, plundered, and then set free with the other Spaniards. Dolores conjectured that he had obtained somc soldiers, surprised the castle, and freed Katie. She also felt that Ashby was now a prisoner once more, in the hands not of a mere robber, but of his bitterest enemy.
Thus the whole truth flashed upon her mind.