"Now," I said, "they can remain there till some one comes by to set them free. Yet, if that some one comes across from Portugal, and our late landlord speaks truth, they will be in no hurry to do that friendly office for them." After which I blew out the lamp, and, walking to the edge of the under precipice, hurled both it and the key down into the river beneath.
For some time after we had set out upon our journey again we rode in silence, Juan being as much occupied, I supposed, with his thoughts as I with mine. And, indeed, my own were none of the pleasantest; above all I regretted that that brave man with whom I had fought had gone to his doom. For, although killing was my trade, and although I had already taken part in several skirmishes and fights, I had none too great a liking for having been obliged to slay him. Yet I consoled myself with the reflection that it was his life or mine, and with that I had to be content. But also there were other things that troubled me, amongst them being what I feared would prove certain, namely, that there would be that hue and cry after us of which I had spoken for some time at least, and until we had left the frontier far behind. Nor, since Lugo was but a short distance from this place, would it be possible for us to stop there even for so much as a night's rest. We must go on and on till we had outstripped all chance of being recognised as the two men who had forced themselves into a hostile country in the manner we had done.
But now, breaking in on these reflections, I heard Juan's soft voice speaking to me, murmuring words of admiration and affection.
"Mervan," he said, "if I liked you before--ay! from the very moment you stood outside the cabin door of La Sacra Familia and bade me unlock it, and when the first sound of your voice told me I had naught to fear--I love you now. My life upon it! you are a brave man, such as I delight in seeing."
I laughed a little at this compliment, yet soberly, too, for this was no time for mirth--also, I recognised clearly enough that every step the animals beneath us took brought us nearer to other dangers, by the side of which our recent adventure was but child's play--then answered:
"And what of yourself, Juan? You have done pretty well, too, I'm thinking; go on like this, and you will be fitted to ride stirrup to stirrup with the most grim old blades of Marlborough's armies when we get to Flanders--if we ever do! I thought you nervous, to speak solemn truth; now I am glad to have you by my side."
"Yet," said the boy, his face radiant with delight, as I saw when he turned it on me under the rays of the moon, "I was deathly sick with fear all the time. Oh! my God!" he cried suddenly, "what should I have done, what become of me, if you had been struck down?" Then added, anxiously, a moment later. "You are not wounded?"
"Not a scratch. And you?"
"Nor I, either. Yet I was so faint as I guarded that old man by the gate, that I doubted if I could sit the horse much longer; I should have fallen to earth, I do verily believe, had you not joined me when you did."
"Poor lad," I said, "poor lad. You have chosen but a rough road, a dangerous companion. You should have gone to England in the Pembroke, with the fleet. You would have been half way there by now, and in safety."