The galloping stopped; a man made his way across the veranda and hurried through the door into the room.
"Thank the good saints!" Don Carlos gasped.
It was not the highwayman returned; it was Captain Ramón, comandante of the presidio at Reina de Los Angeles.
"Where are my men?" the captain cried.
"Gone, señor! Gone after that pig of a highwayman!" Don Carlos informed him.
"He escaped?"
"He did, with your men surrounding the house. He dashed the candles to the floor, ran through the kitchen—"
"The men took after him?"
"They are upon his heels, señor."