There followed some whispered words indistinguishable to the listeners, then a rustle of bodies moving through the tall grass and weeds.
Paloma placed her lips close to Alaire's ear. "Who are those people?" she breathed.
"I don't know. They must be the ones who came in that strange automobile."
Paloma chattered viciously: "Everybody in Texas is here. I wish we'd thought to scatter tacks behind us."
Cautiously they swung the door back and looked out. The open space along the river-bank was leveled by the moonlight; from Morales's house, to their right, came the sound of voices. The women waited.
A few moments, then a number of men appeared. Paloma judged there were at least a dozen, but she was too excited to count them. As they came straggling toward the pump-house one of them called back:
"Morales! Put out your damned lights," Both women recognized Tad Lewis as the speaker.
Alaire had stubbornly refused to charge her husband with any active share in this evil business, but her faith in Ed suddenly vanished when she heard him say:
"Hush! You're making too much noise. You'd better scatter out, too, for there's no telling where they'll land." Alaire leaned weakly against the door. "I'm going to leave, and let you-all attend to the rest," he was saying. But Tad Lewis halted him as he turned from the group.
"Where are you going, Ed? You left your car back yonder by the road. I almost ran into it."