"And where is your friend, Beltran?"
Silencio shook his head.
"He cannot have received my message," he said.
"And are the men of Palmacristi too great cowards to fight those wretches?"
Silencio started as if he had been struck. He did not answer for a moment; then he said slowly: "Raquel, do you know what we should be doing were you not here?—I and my men?"
He spoke coldly. Raquel had never heard these tones before.
"We should be out there hunting those rascals to the death, no matter how they outnumber us; but I dare not trust you between this and the shore. My scouts tell me that they have kept up picket duty all night. Escobeda expected the Coco back this morning; at all events, he was ready for our escape in that way. The orders of those men are to take you at any cost. Should I be killed, your protection would be gone. I am a coward, but for you only, Raquel, for you only."
The young wife looked down. The colour mounted to her eyes. She drew closer to her husband, but for once he did not respond readily to her advances. He was hurt to the core.
"Get yourself ready at once," he said. "I will give you fifteen minutes, no more. We have wasted much time already."
Raquel hardly waited for Silencio to close the door. She began to dress at once, her trembling fingers refusing to tie strings or push the buttons through the proper holes. As she hurriedly put on her everyday costume, she glanced out of the window to see if in the offing she could discover the Coco. The little yacht was at that very moment hastening with all speed toward her master, but a point of land on the north hid her completely from Raquel's view.