"Be careful," warned Frank, not taking his eyes off Joaquin for an instant. "Don"t touch me! Keep out of the way!"
She paused and hastened to say:
"You must not hurt him, Frank. He is taking me to my father."
"He has lied to you from start to finish, like the treacherous snake he is," a.s.serted Merry. "He doesn"t mean to take you to your father."
Then he advanced two steps, and another command came from his lips.
"Face about, Joaquin," he said, "and walk straight toward that wall. Be quick about it, too."
Now, for all of the complaints of his followers that he seldom placed himself in danger, Black Joaquin was not a coward. Nevertheless, in those terrible, gleaming eyes of the American youth he had seen something that robbed him of his usual nerve and convinced him beyond doubt that unless he obeyed to the letter he would be shot on the spot.
This being the case, he turned as directed and advanced until his face was against the wall.
"Stand thus," said Frank, "and don"t move for your very life."
One glance around showed him a blanket upon a couch. Behind Joaquin"s back he quickly took out and opened a knife.
"Here, Felicia, take this and cut that blanket into narrow strips.
Hasten as much as possible."
She was, however, too trembling and excited to make the needed haste.
Seeing this, Frank lost no time in searching Joaquin"s person and disarming him, removing every dangerous weapon he found upon the man.
When this was done, he directed Felicia to bring the blanket, and, holding his pistol ready in his left hand, he gave her directions and a.s.sistance in cutting and tearing it into strips. As soon as one good, strong strip had been removed from the blanket Frank took it, seized Joaquin"s hands, twisting them downward and backward behind his back, and tied them thus. After this he was able to remove from the blanket further strips he needed, although as he worked his pistol was ready for instant use. All the while he kept Joaquin with his face toward the wall, three times cautioning the man against turning his head in the slightest.
With the strips removed from the blanket Joaquin"s ankles were securely tied. Then Frank unceremoniously kicked the fellow"s feet from beneath him and lowered him to the floor upon his back. The rage, fury, and hatred in the conquered fellow"s eyes was terrible to behold, but Merriwell heeded it not in the least. Deftly he rolled a wad of the blanket and forced it between Joaquin"s teeth. With another piece of the torn blanket he fastened it there, knotting a strip behind the man"s head. He took pains to make this as secure as possible, so that it would require no simple effort to remove it.
"Now, Black Joaquin, otherwise known as Felipe Dulzura," said Frank, standing over the man and looking down on him, "we will bid you good-night. You can rest easy here until your comrades recover on the morrow and release you. Perhaps they will find you. I hope, for your sake, that you do not smother before they awaken and come here. You have my best wishes for a short life and a speedy hanging."
With Felicia he left the chamber, closing and barring the door behind them.
Thus far Frank"s success had been enough to astonish himself, but now he thought with dismay of d.i.c.k and Brad still confined in the chamber from which he had escaped. As with Felicia he descended the stairs he paused, hearing in some distant portion of the ruins the sound of singing.
"Carlos is doing his work," he thought. "He has brought them the wine.
Thanks, Carlos; you have given me great a.s.sistance."
Merry decided that it would be necessary to conceal Felicia somewhere while he sought to return to d.i.c.k and Brad by means of the secret pa.s.sage.
He found his way back to the terrace from which he had first looked down into the courtyard after his escape. As they reached that place, Merry heard beneath him some slight sound that caused him to again look downward. He was surprised to see a dark figure coming from the direction of the stables and leading three horses. His surprise increased when the feet of the horses gave forth no more than a faint, m.u.f.fled sound on the courtyard flagging.
"What"s up now?" he asked himself. "That must be Carlos preparing for flight. Whoever it is, he has m.u.f.fled the feet of those horses. More than that, I believe they are our horses."
The human being and the horses crossed the courtyard and disappeared into the arched pa.s.sage that led outward.
"Keep close behind me, Felicia," whispered Merry. "Be courageous. I may have to leave you for a short time; but I will return as soon as possible."
He had decided to conceal her in the secret pa.s.sage while he endeavored to return to the prison chamber. The door of the pa.s.sage he found to be slightly ajar. Swinging it open, he entered, with Felicia at his heels.
Barely had he advanced ten feet into the pa.s.sage before he felt himself suddenly clutched by a pair of strong hands.
"Keep still, Felicia!" called Frank, knowing she would be greatly frightened by the struggle.
Instantly the hold of these hands slackened and a joyous voice exclaimed in his ear:
"Frank! Frank! my brother, is it you?"
"d.i.c.k!" gasped Frank; "how did you get here?"
"We managed to pry open a hidden door which was disclosed when a part of the wall fell after you crept into that opening," said d.i.c.k.
"Where is Brad?"
"That"s what I"d like to know. We separated to search for you. He was to meet me here. We agreed on a signal. When you entered the pa.s.sage without giving the signal I thought you must be an enemy."
"It"s up to us now," said Merry, "to find Brad and get away from here in a hurry. We have a fine chance to do so. I can"t explain everything, but I will tell you later. Here is Felicia."
"Felicia!" gasped d.i.c.k.
She uttered a low cry of joy, and the cousins were clasped in each other"s arms.
"Come," said Merry. "Moments are precious."
"But Brad----"
"We will hope that luck may lead us to him."
But it was something more than luck, for Brad Buckhart was returning to meet d.i.c.k as he had promised when they encountered him. He heard them, and, thinking it might be d.i.c.k, whistled the soft signal agreed upon.
Immediately d.i.c.k answered, and when the Texan found them all together, he came very near throwing up his hat and giving a cowboy yell.
"Oh, great jumping horned toads!" he whispered. "If this don"t beat the record you can have my horse, saddle, and the whole blamed outfit! Talk about your miracles! So help me Davy Crockett, this is the greatest on record. You hear me gurgle!"
"There is yet danger in the air," said Merry. "As we were seeking the pa.s.sage I saw a man, leading three horses with m.u.f.fled feet, crossing the courtyard below. It must have been Carlos, Black Joaquin"s lieutenant, for they planned a flight to-night, and Joaquin"s wretched gang has been drugged."
"Guess again," advised the Texan, chuckling. "The gent you observed was yours truly, Bradley Buckhart."
"You?" gasped Frank, astonished.
"Precisely, pard--precisely. I was it. In my perambulations I discovered our horses, and it struck me as being something a whole lot proper to get them outside and have them where we could straddle them in a hurry when we took to our heels. I m.u.f.fled their feet with the aid of blankets, and I can lead the way straight to them."
"Brad, you"re a dandy!" laughed Frank softly. "Watch out for Carlos and lead on, you son of the Lone Star State."
They had come down into the courtyard when somewhere above, amid the ruins, there was a sudden sound of high-pitched voices, followed by a single pistol shot. Then came silence.
"If fortune is still with us," said Merry, "the bullet from that pistol lodged in the carca.s.s of Carlos. Evidently he has kicked up some sort of trouble, and I fancy a little chap by the name of Ramon fired that shot."
Outside the ruins they came upon the horses where Buckhart had concealed them. They were not long in mounting. Frank took up Felicia behind him, and away they rode into the night, with no hand raised to stay them.