"Lieutenant Holingsworth! I command--"
"Captain Warfield," interrupted he, in a tone of cool determination,
"you may command me in all matters of duty, and I shall obey you. This
is a private affair; and, by the Eternal, the General himself--Bah! I
lose time; the villain will escape!" and before I could seize either
himself or his bridle-rein, Holingsworth had shot his horse past me, and
entered the gateway at a gallop.
I followed as quickly as I could, and reached the patio almost as soon
as he; but too late to hinder him from his purpose.
I grasped him by the arm, but with determined strength he wrenched
himself free--at the same instant gliding out of the saddle.
Pistol in hand, he rushed up the _escalera_, his trailing scabbard
clanking upon the stone steps as he went. He was soon out of my sight,
behind the parapet of the azotea.
Flinging myself from the saddle, I followed as fast as my legs would
carry me.
While on the stairway, I heard loud words and oaths above, the crash of
falling objects, and then two shots following quick and fast upon each
other. I heard screaming in a woman's voice, and then a groan--the last
uttered by a man.
One of them is dead or dying, thought I.
On reaching the azotea--which I did in a few seconds of time--I found
perfect silence there. I saw no one, male or female, living or dead!
True, the place was like a garden, with plants, shrubs, and even trees
growing in gigantic pots. I could not view it all at once. They might
still be there behind the screen of leaves?
I ran to and fro over the whole roof; I saw flower-pots freshly broken.
It was the crash of them I had heard while coming up. I saw no man,
neither Holingsworth nor Ijurra! They could not be standing up, or I
should have seen them. "Perhaps they are down among the pots--both.
There were two shots. Perhaps both are down--dead."
But where was she who screamed? Was it Isolina?
Half distracted, I rushed to another part of the roof. I saw a small
escalera--a private stair--that led into the interior of the house. Ha!
they must have gone down by it? she who screamed must have gone that
way?
For a moment I hesitated to follow; but it was no time to stand upon
etiquette; and I was preparing to plunge down the stairway, when I heard
shouting outside the walls, and then another shot from a pistol.
I turned, and stepped hastily across the azotea in the direction of the
sounds. I looked over the parapet. Down the slope of the hill two men
were running at the top of their speed, one after the other. The
hindmost held in his hand a drawn sabre. It was Holingsworth still in
pursuit of Ijurra!
The latter appeared to be gaining upon his vengeful pursuer, who,
burdened with his accoutrements, ran heavily. The Mexican was evidently
making for the woods that grew at the bottom of the hill; and in a few
seconds more he had entered the timber, and passed out of sight. Like a
hound upon the trail, Holingsworth followed, and disappeared from my
view at the same spot.
Hoping I might still be able to prevent the shedding of blood, I
descended hastily from the azotea, mounted my horse, and galloped down
the hill.
I reached the edge of the woods where the two had gone in, and followed
some distance upon their trail; but I lost it at length, and came to a
halt.
I remained for some minutes listening for voices, or, what I more
expected to hear, the report of a pistol. Neither sound reached me. I
heard only the shouts of the vaqueros on the other side of the hill; and
this reminding me of my duty, I turned my horse, and rode back to the
hacienda.
There, everything was silent: not a face was to be seen. The inmates of
the house had hidden themselves in rooms barred up and dark; even the
damsels of the kitchen had disappeared--thinking, no doubt, that an
attack would be made upon the premises, and that spoliation and plunder
were intended.
I was puzzled how to act. Holingsworth's strange conduct had
disarranged my ideas. I should have demanded admission, and explained
the occurrence to Don Ramon; but I had no explanation to give; I rather
needed one for myself; and under a painful feeling of suspense as to the
result, I rode off from the place.
Half-a-dozen rangers were left upon the ground with orders to await the
return of Holingsworth, and then gallop after us; while the remainder of
the troop, with Wheatley and myself in advance of the vast drove, took
the route for the American camp.