The brigands were evidently unprepared for such an attack, and did not appear to have a capable leader among them. They had not come there to fight, only to starve two men into surrender, and as they ran together there was a general movement toward the path they had come.
Into the pass galloped some two dozen horsemen, who, at a sign from their leader, drew rein upon seeing the brigands, and turned to shout to others who had not yet come into view.
"An advance guard only," muttered Stefan.
The brigands evidently thought the same, and those who could not reach the mountain path in time began a hasty retreat up the pass, firing in a desultory manner as they went. They had no intention of attempting to hold their position; safety was all they cared about. The horsemen paused a moment to fire a volley, and then charged, but there was little fighting. Two or three of the brigands were cut down, and one horseman pitched forward suddenly as a bullet brought his horse to the ground, but that was all. The brigands scrambled into the mountain paths or up the mountain slope out of reach, and the leader of the troop checked any pursuit of those who were fleeing rapidly up the pass.
"Is this a rescue, or have we only changed our enemy?" said Ellerey.
"They are dismounting, and will come up the zig-zag way; we had better meet them at the top of it," said Stefan.
Only one man came up to them.
"There is not much distinction to be had from routing such an enemy,
Captain Ellerey," he said. "Baron Petrescu!"
"At your service, although barely recovered from the effects of our last meeting. Time pressed, so I did not wait for a doctor's certificate of fitness."
"I thank you, but I hardly understand the situation, Baron," said
Ellerey.