“It is well arranged, señor. We’ll strike as soon as the troopers are at a sufficient distance.”
“There is something else. You must send a few men of your force to the hacienda of Don Carlos Pulido, three miles to the north.”
“What is this, señor?” Barbados asked.
“A little matter of abducting a woman for me.”
“Ha!”
“The Señorita Lolita Pulido, understand. She is to be seized and conducted to the coast and taken aboard ship. She is not to be harmed, but treated with every respect. In four or five days I shall meet you at the rendezvous on the southern coast, and claim her as my share of the loot. Do this well, and that is all the share of loot I ask this time.”
“A mere detail,” Barbados said.
“If the hacienda is disturbed a bit during the abduction, it will not cause the heartbreak of the Governor. This Don Carlos Pulido is no friend of His Excellency.”
“I understand, señor.”
“The señorita expects to become the bride to-morrow of Don Diego Vega—curse him! That large house at the side of the plaza is his. When you are raiding the town, Barbados, pay special attention to that house. And should he get a knife between his ribs there will be no sorrow on my part.”