"To the left!" said Georgia, breathing heavily, for the task just finished had been a severe one.
Of course that meant that Beven was waiting near by, and Roderic was fully content to let events drift him from now on.
Hardly had they gone a dozen paces than the bluff English sailor showed up.
Perhaps he was surprised at discovering the presence of Roderic, who made his identity known immediately, but if so no one knew it, for Beven was a matter of fact old fellow, who took things as they came.
The flight was hastily resumed—indeed, it would have been madness to have halted any length of time with such signs of an aroused military power all around them.
Beven had assumed the lead, and as he was supposed to have his bearings, so that the shortest route to the boat could be taken Roderic was only too glad to resign the whole affair into his hands.
It was at this critical juncture, when hope began to rise strongly in their hearts, that a new element was injected into the game.
Jerome and Captain Shackelford had indeed made a strong guess as to the mission of Beven and the disguised Georgia.
When they finally lost them in the neighborhood of the old fortress, Shackelford had suggested that they visit the Spanish barracks not far away, and talk the matter over with the colonel in charge, who was an old friend of the sea captain.
Thus, when the alarm broke out, they surmised that Beven had something to do with it, and accompanied by a file of soldiers, posted in hot haste toward the spot.