The brave girl made no foolish hesitation about obeying. With a graceful little leap she was on the table and by Jack’s side. In a jiffy he had assisted her through and she was caught by Coyote Pete outside. Next came the professor; following him, Walt and Ralph. As Walt alighted, he was ordered to creep over to the corral, keeping cautiously in the shadow of the willows. Once in the corral he was to get all their horses and a saddle for the senorita, if possible, selecting any one from the two or three hanging on the fence after the shiftless Mexican fashion. Presently Jack joined him at the risky work, having been the last to emerge from the window.
They had got the last of their own horses and had selected one for the senorita, when there came a loud shout from behind them followed by a volley of shots.
A dreadful fear shot into Jack’s heart. Had they been discovered?
CHAPTER XIII.
SENORITA ALVERADO.
But the next minute, to their infinite relief, they decided that it was only a false alarm. In all probability, so Jack surmised, it signified that the Mexicans had broken through the roof and were firing a volley of shots into the garret to terrify its supposed inmates. He could hardly forbear a chuckle as he pictured the outlaws’ astonishment, when, tired of their attempts to terrify, they should penetrate the garret and find it empty of life.
“Providence willing, we’ll be far away by then,” he thought to himself as, with a wave of his arm, he signalled to the others crouching in the shadows of the rancho, that all was ready.
The senorita laughed at the idea of a side saddle, when Jack apologetically indicated to her the ordinary Mexican affair which had been the only one they could raise.