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I have been among these Indians five years. When their attack failed, I thought there was a chance of escape. For pity's sake, señor, help me instantly, or I shall die from the cold." "Have the Indians gone?" asked Christobal. "Yes. They thought to surprise you. When they come again it will be by daylight, as they are afraid of the dark. But be quick, I implore you. My hands are numb."
Joey's anxiety rivaled her own; had he, too, a premonition of evil? Christobal was watching her intently. It was evident he feared the outcome of any sudden overthrow of her self-control. "I think," he suggested, with a real sympathy in his voice, "that it would be better if you went to the saloon, or your cabin. Believe me, I shall come to you with every scrap of news.
Near the door, enjoying the warm sun, Boyle was stretched on a deck-chair, while Christobal was offering a half-hearted protest against his patient's manifest enjoyment of the first cigar he had been able to smoke since a Chilean knife disturbed certain sensory nerves between his shoulder-blades.
Here a mass of tinder, dry baked by weeks' exposure to the burning sunshine, stood in a pyramid of firewood ready to burst in flame at first touch of the torch. Close at hand were the stacks of reserve fuel. "Never light this until you know the Indians are raiding west of the Christobal," were his orders. But well he knew that once ignited it could be seen for many a league.
There will be terrific excitement at Lloyd's when that becomes known." "It is distinctly odd that Suarez should turn up last night, and tell us how gold slipped through his fingers five years ago. Let us hope the parallel will hold good for the gentleman who so amiably endeavored to send the Kansas to the bottom of the Pacific," said Christobal.
Christobal, who had missed no word of Elsie's frenzied protest in the saloon, nor failed to note the manner of Courtenay's greeting, seemed to take the collapse of his own aspirations with the unmoved stoicism he had displayed in the face of danger. "The ship's boats " he began, but the captain raised his gun and fired twice aft along the side of the vessel.
The lieutenant reflected a moment, pensively studying the legs of the trumpeter's horse. "Is there any chance of Moreno's people not having heard about the Apaches in the Christobal?" "Hardly, sir; they are nearer the Tucson road than we are. The stage must have gone through this morning early. It's nothing new anyhow.
All right, Christobal; I promise to take my share of the blankets in the morning. I shall be ready for a nap at four o'clock. At present I feel particularly wide-awake." He went to the cabin. They heard him unlock the door and enter. At that instant a startling hail came from two sailors stationed on the poop. "Indianos!" they yelled.
And here was Courtenay speaking again, speaking in the slow and definite way of a man who was determined that there should be no lingering doubt as to his meaning. "I want you to listen to me, Elsie," he said, with a passionate intensity that stilled the rising storm in her bosom. "Doctor Christobal may have pleaded his own cause already. It is not for me to cavil at him for doing that.
"Why, my God, man!" exclaimed Harvey, "that says the Apaches are out west of the Santa Maria or the Christobal. Have you seen, have you heard anything of them?" "For the love of God, sir, don't ask me now. Come to the ranch. Major Plummer's there, the paymaster. He'll tell you all we know."
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