A moment later he was in the saddle and galloping like a madman in the wake of Captain Ramón and the troopers.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE PLIGHT OF RUIZ.
Captain Ramón, riding with the lieutenant at the head of the soldiery, considered his plans.
The captain had told Barbados how to arrange an ambush at the head of the cañon, and he expected to lead the troopers around the ambush and to the rear, cutting the pirates off from their camp, and either exterminating them at once in the cañon or driving them up into the open, where the troopers could ride them down one by one.
Captain Ramón knew, of course and naturally, that the pirates would be watching the advance. But, just at the mouth of the cañon, Captain Ramón could lead the soldiers swiftly to one side and reach the rear before the pirates could understand the maneuver and hasten back to protect themselves.
He had not the slightest doubt regarding the outcome. The troopers were about equal in numbers to the pirates, and while the latter would fight desperately, knowing that capture meant the hangman’s rope for them, the troopers were seasoned men who had been through several native uprisings and knew how to handle themselves in battle.
The soldiers had a few pistols, but they were not to be depended on so much as blades and a hand-to-hand conflict. The pirates had a few firearms also, but they lacked ammunition. It would be swords against cutlasses for the greater part, Captain Ramón knew, and the advantage would be with the troopers’ swords.
As to his own part, Ramón realized well that Barbados would recognize his treachery at once. And so there would be no protection for him from the pirates after Barbados had passed the word to get him, and Ramón would have to fight with the soldiers as a loyal officer. But he did not doubt the outcome of the combat, and so felt secure.
They rode swiftly and in perfect military formation along the dusty highway, and presently turned off and galloped across rolling country toward the sea. Now they proceeded with caution, flankers out, but they did not slacken speed. It was mid-afternoon, and they wanted to do their work before nightfall.
They approached the mouth of the cañon, and Captain Ramón shaded his eyes and peered ahead, but could see nothing human. The pirates were under cover, he supposed, waiting for the troopers to ride down into the narrow cañon and so into a trap from which they could not escape. Ramón spoke his plans to the lieutenant again, and the junior officer nodded that he understood the arrangements perfectly.