“Yes: is he in any danger?”
“Alas!” replied this servant, “the hacienda is pillaged by guerilleros; and, just as I was leaving it, I heard the groans of my poor master under the lash of their Captain Arroyo—”
“Again this villain!” muttered Don Rafael, interrupting the narrator with his angry soliloquy.
“Ah! he is always committing some crime,” rejoined the servant.
“And your mistress—the Doña Marianita—what of her?”
“It was to make him tell where she was concealed that Arroyo was flogging my master,” replied the man. “Fortunately I was able to get her out of the way, by assisting her to descend from the window of the chamber where they had hidden her. Afterwards I got off myself, and am now on my way to the hacienda Del Valle, in hopes of getting assistance from its brave defenders, who themselves never violate the laws of war.”
“But how will you get in there? Are not some of Arroyo’s guerilleros still besieging the place?”
“No, Señor. The whole band is now at San Carlos.”
“Good!” exclaimed the Colonel. “Come along with me, and I promise you a prompt and bloody vengeance.”
Without further explaining himself, Don Rafael leaped upon his horse, directing the domestic to mount behind him, and then started off at a rapid trot in the direction of Del Valle.