Evidently believing that the shots had taken effect, the besiegers renewed their attack; but at the first blow the boys reached around and delivered their fire.
There was no answering shout to tell that the shots had taken effect, but the hammering ceased and a second later there was another volley.
"They are simply wasting their ammunition," said Donald. "As long as we stay away from in front of the door they cannot possibly hit us."
"They might batter the house down though," said Adrian. "I wonder if there isn"t some way of escaping by the rear."
"Suppose you go and look," said Donald.
"I"ll go," exclaimed Billie. "My experience in the smugglers" cave has made me expert." He dropped down on the floor and made his way on all fours to the back of the room.
There seemed to be but one entrance to the room and that was from the street. The entrance into the patio, which might have been expected, being lacking.
"I wonder why that is," thought Billie. "All the Mexican houses I have ever seen opened into a patio."
The patio is the little court around which Mexican houses are almost invariably built.
"Give me your electric light," he at length said to Donald. "I am sure there must be an opening somewhere."
Donald did as requested and Billie on all fours went carefully round the room, looking for a possible door.
"Here"s the place," he finally exclaimed, "but the door has been walled up." Then a moment later: "h.e.l.lo, what"s this? A trap door."
Quickly he brushed away the sand with which the floor had been covered, as is the Mexican custom, and the outlines of a door were plainly visible; but there seemed no way of raising it. Several times he pa.s.sed his hand over the door, if perchance he could find a k.n.o.b or a secret bolt, but in vain!
"I"ll have to pry it open with my hunting knife," he finally exclaimed and began digging away with all his might.
"Are you sure it"s a door?" asked Donald, crawling over to where Billie was at work.
"Sure! Can"t you see?"
"It surely is," said Donald. "Here, let me hold the light, while you get a good purchase with the knife."
Billie handed over the electric light and gave the knife a vicious dig into the crack between the door and the surrounding floor. At the same time the besiegers struck the street door a terrific blow with the end of a steel rail which had been brought up from the railroad camp.
Just exactly what happened, Billie was at first unable to realize. All he knew was that the trap door, upon which he was leaning with one hand, had given way beneath him, and he was falling head first down a flight of stairs.
Picking himself up as soon as he struck bottom, which was not more than six feet, he started to ascend the stairs, but at the second step his head came into contact with the floor.
The trap door had flown back into its place.
CHAPTER XXIII.
BILLIE SOLVES A MYSTERY.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Billie, as his head came into contact with the door.
"I wonder what--" and then he stopped and listened.
Overhead he could hear the sound of stamping feet and the sound of shots. After a couple of minutes there was silence, which was more ominous than the sound of fighting.
For a moment Billie"s heart fairly stopped beating with fear for what might have happened to his companions. Had they been killed or simply overpowered? What was he to do?
Even while these thoughts flashed through his mind the silence was broken by voices, and above all the others he could hear that of Don Rafael, which he had now come to recognize.
"Bring them out into the light where I can get a good look at them," he ordered. "The gringo curs! We"ll have a nice little shooting party at daylight that will make them an example for others who want to spy upon Mexican patriots!"
"Patriots!" thought Billie. "If they are patriots, I"m sorry for Mexico."
"Where is the other one?" he heard Don Rafael ask a minute later.
"These are the only two," was the reply.
"Where is your comrade?" he heard Don Rafael ask, and Billie"s heart gave a great leap for joy as Donald"s voice replied:
"Don"t you wish you knew?"
"Answer," commanded Don Rafael.
To which Billie heard Adrian say: "You"ll find out soon enough where he is!"
"_Caramba!_" almost shouted Don Rafael. "If you don"t answer at once I"ll shoot you now instead of waiting till daylight."
"Do," replied Adrian, "and it will make it just that much worse for you!"
Evidently Don Rafael must have been somewhat impressed by what Adrian said, for he did not shoot. Instead he commanded to bring more lights and search the place.
But there was nothing to be seen but the empty room, the scuffle having obliterated all signs of the trap door.
"Whose house is this?" Don Rafael at length asked.
"Pancho Villa"s," replied one of the men.
"Villa"s!" cried Don Rafael. "Villa"s! May the saints protect us! Let us go at once!"
A minute later Billie heard the retreating footsteps overhead and a couple of minutes later all was again still.
"I wonder what there is about Villa to scare Don Rafael in that way," he thought. "The last I knew, he was trying to get Villa to join the revolution."
It was too big a problem for Billie, and so instead of bothering about it he began to figure how he was going to get out.
"If the door could open to let me in," he said aloud to himself, "it can open to let me out."
"You are right!" replied a voice in Spanish from somewhere out of the darkness.