Meanwhile Gahra and I had laid our plans.  He was to give out the night before that we were setting off early next morning on a hunting expedition.  This would enable us, without exciting suspicion, to take a supply of provisions, arms, and a led horse (for carrying any game we might kill) and, as I hoped, give us a long start.  For even when Senora de la Vega was missed nobody would suspect that she had gone with us.

In the event—­as we hoped, the improbable event—­of our being overtaken or intercepted, Gahra and I were resolved not to be taken alive; but we had, unfortunately, no firearms; they were all lost in the snow-storm.  Our only weapons were bows and arrows and machetes.  I carried the former merely as a make-believe, to keep up my character as a hunter; for the same reason we took with us a brace of dogs.  If it came to fighting I should have to put my trust in my machete, a long broad-bladed sword like a knife, formidable as a lethal weapon, yet chiefly used for clearing away brambles and cutting down trees.

All went well at the beginning.  We were up betimes and off with our horses before daylight.  The braves on duty asked no questions, there was no reason why they should, and we passed through the village without meeting a soul.

So far, good.  The omens seemed favorable, and my hopes ran high.  We should get off without anybody knowing which way we had taken, and several hours before Senora de la Vega was likely to be missed.

But when we reached the rendezvous she was not there.  I whistled and called softly; nobody answered.

“She will be here presently, we must wait,” I said to Gahra.

It was terribly annoying.  Every minute was precious.  The Pachatupecs are early risers, and if Senora de la Vega did not join us before daylight we might be seen and the opportunity lost.  The sun rose; still she did not come, and I had just made up my mind to put off our departure until the next morning, and try to communicate with Senora de la Vega in the meantime, when Gahra pointed to a pathway in the wood, where his sharp eyes had detected the fluttering of a robe.

At last she was coming.  But too late.  To start at that time would be madness, and I was about to tell her so, send her back, and ask her to meet me on the next morning, when she ran forward with terrified face and uplifted hands.

“Save me!  Save me!” she cried, “I could not get away sooner.  I have been watched.  They are following me, even now.”

This was a frightful misfortune, and I feared that the senora had acted very imprudently.  But it was no time either for reproaches or regrets, and the words were scarcely out of her mouth when I lifted her into the saddle; as I did so, I caught sight of two horsemen and several foot-people, coming down the pathway.

“Go!” I said to Gahra, “I shall stay here.”

“But, senor—­”

“Go, I say; as you love me, go at once.  This lady is in your charge.  Take good care of her.  I can keep these fellows at bay until you are out of sight and, if possible, I will follow.  At once, please, at once!”