"You will not be whipped," she said softly. "It is all right, Pietro. The Americaños will arrest Ramon Ganza and deliver him up to justice; they have promised it; so you will be safe. Come with me. Our new friends need guns."
"What!" The man fairly gasped in his amazement at her temerity.
"Our new friends shall take all they need of Ramon's store of guns. They are not like the others who come here; the Americaños are not cowards. You will see them conquer Ramon very nicely, and with no trouble at all. Come, Pietro—the guns!"
The man slowly rose and led the way to the house, while Chesty called for Steve and then followed.
In ten minutes Chesty and Steve returned to the dock where the others awaited them, and both were loaded with rifles, revolvers and ammunition, ruthlessly abstracted from the private stores of the island magnate.
When these were distributed, the launch unlocked and they were ready to start, Madeline turned to Chica.
"Get in, dear," said she. "I think it will be best for you to come with us. Provided we ourselves manage to escape, I promise to take you to Mazatlan and restore you to your own people."
The child hesitated, looking at the little fat Red-beard.
"I—I'm afraid Pietro will suffer for helping us," she said.