And seemingly all at once they sprang at the prisoners with sticks and stones and knives and fists.
The soldiers made a feeble effort to stop them, but the crowd saw them laughing as they did so.
"Nobody cares about the Yankee pigs!" the crowd roared. "Go for them."
It would have gone hard with the Americans just then had it not been for the fact that the captain reappeared. He had no love to waste on them, but he knew his duty.
And he sprang forward with a stern command:
"Drive that crowd back! Quick!"
And then the cavalrymen acted in a quite different manner. The angry mob was forced away, in spite of their protests. The sailors breathed somewhat more freely.
Still it was to their relief when they saw an engine and a single freight car coming up the track. They knew that was for them and that they would soon be out of the reach of that mob.
"But not of Ignacio!" Clif groaned. "Not of Ignacio."
The "private car" intended for the strangers came to a stop in front of the little station, and they were told to dismount from the horses and enter.