FLIGHT TO THE HILLS
Tim could hardly contain himself. He raced along the bed of the stream,
leapt across the stepping-stones, and bounded down the rocky track with
small concern for his limbs. When he came in sight of the party he
snatched off his hat and waved it wildly in the air. Romana followed
less swiftly and with more circumspection. He was smiling at his
thoughts.
"First the son, then the father--both Mollendists!"
That was the happy consummation to which he flattered himself events
were leading.
"Ah, Tim!" said Mr. O'Hagan as they met. "We were one too many for the
Prefect, you see. Your mother was the one, bless her! But she must
tell you all about it herself by and by. The first thing is to secure
ourselves. Many thanks, Romana. Now, are we going right for that camp
of yours?"
"Straight on, senor," said Romana. "You will presently come to the
river. The path runs alongside it for several miles; then it diverges
to the right, and meets the path that goes past Senor Durand's hacienda.
The two paths become one. Keep straight on. The senor capitan will
welcome you."
"But aren't you coming too, to make the introductions?"
"The senorito and I will follow. We must fetch the machine."
"I can't leave Tim," said Mrs. O'Hagan.
"What's the path like?" cried Tim. "Can I ride, Romana?"
"For some distance, yes. There are steep places after the paths join."
"There are indeed," said Tim. "That's where the brigands--your friends,
I mean--had to haul the cycle. A very stiff job too. Mother, ride on
with Father. I'll catch you in no time. I'll mount Romana behind me:
he's lighter than the gobernador!"
"You're quite sure you'll catch us?" said Mrs. O'Hagan anxiously.
"Quite, so don't worry. Oh! you don't know how jolly glad I am to see
you."
The other two members of the party, Andrea and another house servant,
rode on with their master and mistress, while Tim and Romana returned to
the cave for the cycle. They had a good deal of difficulty in hoisting
it up from the bed of the stream on to the path, but when they were once
there, they soon made up on the riders, and went on all together at a
rapid pace.
"Shall we run ahead and warn Senor Mollendo?" asked Tim presently.
"No: stay with us," said Mrs. O'Hagan. "I don't want to lose sight of
you."
"Better not, senorito," added Romana. "We must be careful as we approach
the place where the paths join. If the escape has been discovered, and
they are pursuing, they will come by the other path: it is shorter. Why
did you choose this one, senor?"
"It was recommended to us by that ragged old man who sells lottery
tickets. Is he a friend of yours?"
"He is a caballero, senor," replied Romana with dignity. "Senor Galdos
was once a sub-prefect."
"Was he indeed? He has been a very good friend to us, and I hope we may
be able to reward him some day. How much farther is it? The path is
becoming very rough."
"It is several miles, senor; but if all is well when we come to the
junction of paths, there will be no need to hurry for the rest of the
way."
Soon after this the path diverged from the stream, which wound away to
the westward. Romana now recommended that the party should ride slowly,
while he himself scouted ahead on foot. The track here was too rough
for the motor-cycle to gain anything in point of speed.
"When you come to a large stone, senor, which I will place in the middle
of the track," said Romana, "then halt. It will be no more than a mile
from the forked path, and you will do better to go no farther until I
return to you, lest the clatter of hoofs should be heard."
He went on and disappeared. About two miles farther on the riders came
to the arranged signal. They halted, the men dismounted, and Tim,
leaning against the flank of his mother's horse, and clasping her hand,
begged her to tell him how the escape had been contrived.
"You had heard the result of the trial?" she asked.
Tim nodded.
"Were you there, Mother?"
"I was not. I thought it best for your father's sake to keep out of the
town. Yesterday afternoon that wretch Pardo came and took possession of
our house. He showed me a document authorising him to work the estate
on behalf of the government----"
"Which means the Prefect, of course," Mr. O'Hagan put in.
"Then the wretched creature politely turned me out. I told him that he
was in rather too much of a hurry; he might at least have had the
decency to wait until all was over. But of course I didn't squabble
with the worthless fellow. I packed up a few things, got my horse--he
allowed me that!--and rode with Andrea and Juan into the town. Dr.
Pereira was brave enough to take me in. No doubt the Prefect will make
him pay for it."
"Was the Prefect still in the town?" asked Tim.
"He had gone back to San Juan, leaving Captain Pierola to carry out the
sentence. I had made up my mind to see your father for the last time,
and when it was dark Senora Pereira lent me a dress and a mantilla, and
the doctor escorted me to the gobernador's house. Of course, his
permission had to be got. He was very much distressed, poor man; he is
terribly afraid of the Prefect: but he promised to admit me to the
prison for a quarter of an hour to-morrow night. I asked him whether he
couldn't let my husband escape, but he went nearly frantic at the idea.
"I was very much upset, as you may imagine. On the way back Dr. Pereira
noticed a man following us. At first he paid no attention, but by and
by got angry, and turned round upon the man, and asked him what he meant
by it. 'Go on, senor doctor,' said the man. 'Do not notice me, but let
me quietly into your house presently.' We went on, and I had only just
taken off my borrowed things when the doctor brought the man to my room.
It was the little old man who sells lottery tickets. He told me that if
I would give him L200 he would set your father free. 'How?' I said.
'It will be better to ask no questions,' he said. I had no money----"
"The gendarmes stripped the safe when they arrested me," said Mr.
O'Hagan.
"But I had brought my jewel-case," his wife went on. "I suppose I
showed my doubts in my face, for the old man said, 'The senora can trust
me,' and, looking at him, I felt that I could. I put my jewel-case in
his hands and told him to take what was necessary, quite expecting that
he would take everything. But he examined the things as if he knew
something about them, and selected my pearl necklace and two bracelets.
'The senora will not like parting with them,' he said, 'but there is no
other way.' I told him he might have everything if he would save my
husband, and he seemed quite hurt. Then he told me that I must not go
to bed, but be ready to leave the house at any moment. He kissed my
hand in the most courtly way and was gone.
"About two o'clock he came again. 'All is ready,' he said: 'come with
me.' You may imagine what a state I was in. I followed him through the
dark streets until we came out into the country, and there I found your
father and the two men waiting for me with a spare horse. The old man
told us the way to come, and here we are. I love that dear old man."
"He bribed the jailers, I suppose--jolly old soul!" said Tim.
"The Prefect's own methods," said Mr. O'Hagan. "I'm afraid the
gobernador will have a bad time of it. He was responsible for me."
"And won't the jailers suffer, too?" asked Tim.
"They decamped at once, you may be sure," replied his father. "But
here's Romana back again. He's in a hurry."
Romana was running down the path.
"We cannot go on, senor," he said. "I crept as close as I dared to the
fork, and caught sight of some men among the trees beyond. I don't know
who they are, but it is not safe to proceed."
"What are we to do, then?"
"We must go back until we come to the river. The water is very low, and
we can walk up along the sand at the edge. Presently we shall come to a
stream that flows down the hill-side from near Senor Mollendo's camp.
We can climb up there. It is very steep and rocky, but it is the only
way."
"Very well: lead on."
On reaching the river, the party scrambled down the bank to the bottom.
In times of rain the torrent had deposited large quantities of sand in
the bed, which the shrinking of the channel in the summer had left bare
and dry. On this firm floor, level as a billiard table, but ascending in
a gentle plane, progress was easy; but when they reached the stream of
which Romana had spoken, and had to strike up the hill-side, they found
themselves in difficulties. They had to dismount and lead the horses
over great ledges of quartz, polished to a dangerous slipperiness by the
action of sand and water, and round huge boulders, that offered, at
first sight, insuperable obstacles. Difficult as the way was for the
horses, it was doubly so for the motorcycle, which had to be carried for
many yards at a time, and hauled up and over sharp-edged rocks that
threatened damage to its tyres. Many times they had to stop and rest.
It was now midday, and very hot, and Mr. O'Hagan's party, having had no
food since the night before, were hungry as well as tired.
"Plucky little woman!" said Mr. O'Hagan at one of these halts, to his
wife who sat beside him on a ledge of rock.
"Just think of Tim spending nights by himself in a cave!" said Mrs.
O'Hagan. "How horrid for him!"
"Boys like that sort of thing," returned her husband with a smile.
"Don't they, Tim?"
"If there's another fellow with them," said Tim. "There's no fun in
camping-out alone. I wish I'd thought to bring some grub. Mother must
be famished!"
"I confess I hope Senor Mollendo will have _something_ for us," said
Mrs. O'Hagan. "Going long without food is bad for a growing boy."
"I can eat anything," said Tim, "but I'm afraid you won't like their
grub."
"My dear boy, I would rather eat parched peas with Senor Mollendo than
sit down to a banquet with the Prefect.... Hark! What's that?"
She clutched her husband's arm at the sound of rifle-shots far to the
east.
"We had better get on, I think," said Mr. O'Hagan, rising. "Where's
Romana?"
"He has gone ahead to warn Senor Mollendo of our coming," said Andrea.
"He will come back to help with the machine."
An hour later the whole party, hot, exhausted, and hungry, entered the
enclosure which Tim had described to his parents. The assembled
Mollendists greeted them with loud vivas, and Senor Mollendo's face
beamed as he came forward, hat in hand, to meet them.
"Welcome to my little castle, senor, senora," he said, with the air of a
potentate. "I rejoice in the circumstances which have given me the
honour of entertaining such distinguished guests."
"I don't," said Mr. O'Hagan bluntly, "though I thank you for your
hospitality, senor. Do you know what is the dearest wish of my heart at
the present moment?"
"If it is anything I can do----"
"A glass of wine for my wife, and then dinner, senor. Your guests, I
should think, never reach you without an appetite."