Men of the hacienda came running, to be cut down with a laugh. More huts were set ablaze. Pirates came running from the house, carrying jewels, silks, satins. Señorita Lolita realized dimly that her wedding garments had been ruined by these men.
“Diego!” she moaned. “Diego!”
Horses were procured, her father’s blooded stock, and she was lashed to the back of one. The pirates mounted others, and Sanchez urged them on their way toward the distant sea. He had orders to get there before the dawn, and he feared Barbados too much to disobey his orders.
Señorita Lolita glanced back once, to see flames pouring from the doors and windows of the home she had loved. She thought of the father she had seen cut down, of her tender mother. And then she slumped forward in a swoon, and Sanchez steadied her in the saddle.
Two men of the hacienda carried Don Carlos Pulido from his burning home and placed him down at a distance beneath a tree. Doña Catalina knelt beside him, weeping.
“Find a horse!” the aged don commanded one of the men. “Ride like a fiend to the town, and tell Don Diego Vega of this. As you love the señorita, spare neither yourself nor your mount! Ride—do not bother with me!”
And so the man found a horse and rode away toward the town, going like the wind, and so the news came to Don Diego Vega.
The señorita, coming from her swoon, found that the pirates were traveling at a high rate of speed. Mile by mile they cut down the distance to the sea. There was an excellent trail used by traders, and Sanchez followed it swiftly.
It was like a nightmare to the little señorita. Again she wondered at the fate of her father and her mother. Again, mentally, she called upon Don Diego Vega to save her.
But her proud blood had returned to her now. She curled her pretty lips in scorn when Sanchez addressed her, and would make no reply. Her eyes snapped and flashed as she contemplated him. Her tiny chin tilted at an insulting angle. She was a Pulido, and she remembered it. Whatever fate held in store for her, she would be a Pulido to the end.