"Can't you or the woman parley with them long enough for us to slip away by the rear of the building, Manuel?"
"Me--parley? They would string me up like a dog. Curses upon their pig heads!"
By this time his wife had become calmer than he, and she showed that if he was lacking in courage to meet the enemy, she was not. So she immediately offered to keep the crowd at bay long enough for them to effect their escape, her husband showing great eagerness to profit by her heroism. Accordingly, she returned to the front part of the dwelling without loss of time, and a moment later Ronie heard her challenging the leader of the would-be captors.
"While it may not be good policy for us to use them too freely, it may not be amiss for us to provide ourselves with firearms," said Jack.
"Si, señors," replied Manuel, quickly darting away from them, but returning in an incredibly short time with a couple of short, but serviceable weapons, one of which he handed to each of his companions.
"Follow me, señors. They are getting impatient, and Dolores will not be able to hold them back long. I think we had better cross the bay to the other shore. I have a boat."
As Ronie and Jack had no better plan to offer, they followed the speaker in silence. He led the way to the rear of his humble dwelling, where they paused to listen for sounds of their enemies. These came from the front, and judging that the soldiers had not yet surrounded the place they plunged boldly into the midst of the dense tropical plants which reached above their heads, Manuel still leading the way. But they had not gone far before he suddenly stopped, and motioned for his companions to do the same.
As the three fugitives thus abruptly paused they heard the sound of footsteps, which rapidly became plainer. There were evidently several persons approaching at a headlong rate, and knowing only enemies were likely to be in that vicinity, they dropped swiftly and silently to the earth, the broad leaves of the thrifty plants about them affording shields for their bodies.
A minute later, half a dozen men burst through the rank vegetation within a yard of where they were lying! Jack and Ronie, believing they were going to be discovered, thought hastily of flight in another direction, but the party quickly swept past and disappeared in the distance below them. As soon as they felt it was prudent they resumed their flight, having no further cause for alarm until they came in sight of the narrow body of water ahead. Between the growth and this was a broad belt of sand, where not a shrub found sustenance. The clear, starlit night made this space almost as bright as by day.