much they know. Don't you be afraid. I'll run fast enough if
there's any sign of trouble. And if you come across a telegraph
wire, cut it. The message may not have gone over yet.''

The two women in the carriage had parted the flaps of the hoods
and were trying to hear what was being said, but could not
understand, and Langham explained to them that they were about to
make a slight detour to avoid San Lorenzo while MacWilliams was
going into it to reconnoitre. He asked if they were comfortable,
and assured them that the greater part of the ride was over,
and that there was a good road from San Lorenzo to the sea.

MacWilliams rode down into the village along the main trail, and
threw his reins over a post in front of the comandancia. He
mounted boldly to the second floor of the building and stopped at
the head of the stairs, in front of an open door. There were
three men in the room before him, one an elderly man, whom he
rightly guessed was the comandante, and two younger men who
were standing behind a railing and bending over a telegraph
instrument on a table. As he stamped into the room, they looked
up and stared at him in surprise; their faces showed that he had
interrupted them at a moment of unusual interest.

MacWilliams saluted the three men civilly, and, according to the
native custom, apologized for appearing before them in his spurs.

He had been riding from Los Bocos to the capital, he said, and
his horse had gone lame. Could they tell him if there
was any one in the village from whom he could hire a mule, as he
must push on to the capital that night?