"I didn't suppose it for a moment," said he; "but, that being so, I am going to tell you where the money is, and we will make the flight together."
"It is the only possible course," said she, answering Messenger with like frankness; "there is trouble for both of us, though I cannot tell at present how far I am involved in it."
"I gather from your words," said he, "that this house is the immediate object of the attack. Could you hold out here while we got the money hid inland? They will scarcely force your doors if you refuse to admit them."
She laughed with harsh note.
"Mon ami" she cried, "you do not know the carabineers of Spain! If it is as I think, and my acquaintances in Madrid have been talking too loudly about me, these men have come here on a double purpose. The first part of it is to arrest you; the second, to do me a similar kindness. It is your presence upon the coast that has set the hornets loose. The Spanish Government has known about my work for ten years; it might have moved in another ten if the Englishmen in the city had not cried incessantly for action. For me, were you not here, the future would be simple; I should set out to-night or to-morrow for Vienna, and return here with the new year. After such a display of enthusiasm as this they would leave me in peace for another generation."
"But now the case is different," he exclaimed, interrupting her; "there is a million of money in the creek off your foreshore, and it has to be got into the hills without a moment's delay. How far off did you say the troops were?"
"The man says three miles; but they have camped in the village for the night. Where their camp is, and who they are, I am now going to ride out and learn for myself. Luckily, the English ship weighed anchor and left an hour ago. I shall know the best and worst of it by nightfall. Before that you and I can arrange in a word; the moment we put the hills between us and these men—I suggest that we strike for my other house near Finisterre after concealing ourselves until the troops have something to report—we divide what is to be divided, and take different roads——"
"It is a fair offer," said he, "and I accept it. But I must stipulate that you continue to give me the service of your men until my share is shipped at the first port where that is possible."
"That was understood," she exclaimed, as she rose; "we are losing minutes which may be wanted. You will now take the men necessary to bring the money here while I am riding to Goozadoyre. By my return every thing should be ready for us to leave at midnight. I sent my daughter to Carcubion this morning with three servants. There is nothing more I can command here until you have done your work."
"I'm sure of that," said he; "but I must ask for the assistance of my friends. I presume you have not seized the others as you served Burke."
"I served him—sapristi! I had nothing to do with it. He struck down one of my servants in his room, and they killed him in a brawl. He was not clever, and I wonder that you regret him—you who are so clever!"
He muttered something in reply which was not audible, for his busy brain was asking the question, Was the woman cheating him with a fine tissue of lies, or was she honest? Though his intuitive faculty prompted him to hesitation, he drew from the one fact that he was no longer a prisoner the conclusion that the woman's policy toward him had completely changed; and when he followed her into the courtyard of the castle, that conclusion became more powerful. Twenty men mounted on sturdy black ponies, and all armed with guns, waited for her, and greeted her appearance with loud shouts. That they had something to tell her was apparent, and when a burly man at the head of them had poured out a volley of protestation, she turned and said—
"They fear a night march, and that is what I fear. You have not a minute to lose. I shall not ride to the village yet, but when we have prepared every thing, we will go together. Here are your friends!"
"Can you trust the men," he asked, "in the work at the creek?"
"If I could not," said she, "it would bode ill for the venture, don't you think?"
Fisher and the negro had come out with her words, and stood seemingly amazed at their liberation; but it was no moment for history. While yet they greeted Messenger, the Spaniard whom the woman called Fernando, he who had been in authority on the night of the capture, brought two ponies into the courtyard and began a hurried confabulation. At the end of it the woman spoke again—
"I can think," she cried, "of no better plan than this: let the boy here and the man with him accompany the boats, while you ride with me to the heights. I can offer you no better security."
"I do not ask any," said he; "but are you wise to waste time? Why should you not get the shelter of the hills at once? "
"Because," said she, with a slightly contemptuous laugh, "we may not be the only tenants of them; I prefer to see danger before I turn my back upon it."
"That's so," he replied. "I'm talking like a fool. Are the boats ready?"
She answered affirmatively, while he turned to Fisher and spoke quickly.
"Hal," said he, "go down with the man, here, and show him the creek. Stand by him while he ships the money; and, whatever happens, don't take your eyes off it if he'll let you keep them on. You understand?"
Fisher nodded his head, being still full of his amazement, and turned to follow the Spaniard; but the other sprang upon the saddle of the pony, and rode out of the gate by the woman's side. It was a curious and, in some measure, ill-assorted cavalcade that now defiled over the greensward of the park. Twenty men, some with capes and some with jerkins, some with sombreros, some with the broad-brimmed hats of seamen, some with embroidered jackets of velvet, some with sheepskins, but all horsemen of consummate ability, hugged close to the side of the woman who led them, she sitting hunched upon the back of a thick-set grey cob. Slung upon their shoulders were the antique but picturesque muskets; long knives dangled at their belts, revolvers were in their holsters. Habitually given to chatter and to noise, they came out now in great silence, riding at a gentle canter through the park of the castle to the high plane of grass-land which gave them a view of the sea; and they stood upon the plateau to watch the coming of the boats from the haven of the tunnel to the creek wherein the survivors of the Semiramis had found refuge. At the end of an hour they observed the boats to return; and as the signal appointed was made by the leading craft Messenger's heart leaped with the fever of his excitement.
Until this time it is to be doubted if the Spanish woman had believed the story which she had read in the English and other papers. She might have hoped that some money was brought from the wreck of the yacht to the shore; but that the vast treasure named was saved in any considerable part she could not believe. At this moment, however, a revelation appeared to come upon her; her whole face lighted up with a savage smile of joy; and, reaching out from her pony, she kissed Messenger upon either cheek, as is the fashion of the Spaniards.
"Oh, my friend," said she, "if I had known you ten years ago——!" With this vague intimation of her pleasure, she suddenly cried out to the Spaniards; and, at her word, they spread abroad over the park, and, galloping with an irresistible dash and impetuosity, the whole party swept inland toward the distant woods and hills.
After the first wild sweep of freedom the escort gradually reined in its horses, and drew back to an easy canter. Mounted men had left earlier in the direction of Vivero, and others were on the hill-tops, watching for a view of the suspected troops; but, notwithstanding this, the party divided when it came to the woods at the edge of the first bay, which had been the Englishman's haven, and so was split up until but two men rode with Messenger and the woman. She, evidently, had planned to ride for the summit of the great promontory which the wrecked men had seen from the yacht; but she led the way with infinite caution, and her readiness and positive lack of all sense of danger stood out so unmistakably that the Prince seemed to lean upon her intellect as a child leans upon a strong man's.
A mile from the shore the path lay through a wood of pines, there being a mossy bed to deaden the sound of horses' tramping, and a luxurious canopy of leaves, through which the setting sun streamed redly. Here the woman reined in her pony and listened