stop, and his companion in a minute or two had brought out two rough
rugs which were secured with some cords over the wooden saddles.
"That's an improvement," Jack said. "I was just wondering how we were
going to sit on those things, which are not saddles at all, but only
things for boxes and barrels to be fastened to."
"I wonder which way we'd better go," Hawtry said, as he climbed up
with some difficulty, aided by the Spaniard, on to one of the mules.
"My goodness, Jack, this is horribly uncomfortable. I never can stand
this. Hi, there! help me down. It would be better a hundred times to
ride barebacked."
Accordingly the saddles were taken off, the rugs folded and secured on
the animals' backs by a rope passed round them, and then the boys
again took their seats.
"I hope the brutes are quiet," Jack said, "for I am nothing of a rider
at the best of times, and one feels an awful height at the top of
these great mules, with one's legs dangling without stirrups."
"If you find yourself going, Jack," Hawtry said, "the best thing is to
catch hold of his ears. Come on, let's get out of this. All the
village is staring at us."
The mules, upon the reins being jerked, and boys' heels briskly
applied to their ribs, moved on at a fast walk.
"We shall have to stop under a tree and cut a stick presently," Hawtry
said. "It will not do to get down, for I should never be able to climb
up again. Mind, we must take our bearings carefully, else we shall
never get back again. We have neither chart nor compass. Hallo! here
comes the mules' master."
They had by this time gone two or three hundred yards from the
village, and, behind them, at a brisk trot, seated on a diminutive
donkey, was the Spaniard.
"Perhaps it's best he should come," Jack said. "There will be no fear
of being lost then, and if one of us gets capsized, he can help him up
again."
Upon the Spaniard coming up to them, he gave a sharp shout to the
mules, at the same time striking the donkey on which he rode with a
stick. Instantly the mules, recognizing the signal, started into a
sharp trot, the first effect of which was to tumble Hawtry from his
seat into the road, Jack with difficulty saving himself by clutching
wildly at the mane.
"Confound it!" Hawtry exclaimed furiously, as he regained his feet, to
the Spaniard. "Why didn't you say what you were going to be up to?
Starting the ship ahead at full speed without notice! I believe I've
broken some of my ribs. Don't you laugh too soon, Jack. It will be
your turn next."
The Spaniard helped Hawtry to regain his seat, and they were soon
clattering along the dusty road at a brisk rate, the boys quickly
getting accustomed to the pace, which, indeed, was smooth and easy.
For hours they rode on, sometimes trotting, sometimes walking, taking
no heed whither they were going, and enjoying the novelty of the ride,
the high cactus hedges, the strange vegetation, little villages here
and there, sometimes embowered in orange trees, and paying no heed to
time.
Presently Jack exclaimed,--
"I say, Hawtry, it must be getting late. We have been winding and
turning about, and I have not an idea how far we are now from Gib. We
must be through the gates by gun-fire, you know."
They stopped, and by pantomime explained to the Spaniard that they
wanted to get back again as soon as possible.
He nodded, made a circle with his arm, and, as they understood,
explained that they were making a circuit, and would arrive ere long
at their starting-place.
For another hour and a half they rode along, chatting gayly.
"I say, Jack," Hawtry exclaimed suddenly, "why, there's the sun pretty
nearly down, and here we are among the hills, in a lonelier looking
place than we have come to yet. I don't believe we're anywhere near
Gib. I say, old fellow, it strikes me we're getting into a beastly
mess. What on earth's to be done?"
They checked their mules, and looked at each other.
"What can the Spaniard's game be, Hawtry? We've had a good five
shillings' worth."
"Let us take our own bearings," Hawtry said. "The sun now is nearly on
our left. Well, of course, that is somewhere about west-sou-west, so
we must be going northward. I don't think that can be right. I'm sure
it can't. Look here, you fellow, there is the sun setting there"--and
he pointed to it--"Gibraltar must lie somewhere over there, and that's
the way we mean to go."
The Spaniard looked surly, then he pointed to the road ahead, and
indicated that it bent round the next spur of the hill, and made a
detour in the direction in which Hawtry indicated that Gibraltar must
lie.
"What on earth shall we do, Jack? If this fellow means mischief, we
are in an awkward fix. I don't suppose he intends to attack us,
because we with our dirks would be a match for him with that long
knife of his. But if he means anything, he has probably got some other
fellows with him."
"Then hadn't we better go in for him at once," Jack said, "before he
gets any one to help him?"
Hawtry laughed.
"We can hardly jump off our mules and attack him without any specific
reason. We might get the worst of it, and even if we didn't how should
we get back again, and how should we account for having killed our
mule-driver? No. Whatever we are in for, we must go through with it
now, Jack. Let us look as though we trusted him."
So saying, they continued on the road by which they had previously
travelled.
"I don't believe," Hawtry said, after a short silence, "that they can
have any idea of cutting our throats. Midshipmen are not in the habit
of carrying much money about with them, but I have heard of Guerillas
carrying people off to the mountains and getting ransoms. There, we
are at the place where that fellow said the road turned. It doesn't
turn. Now, I vote we both get off our mules and decline to go a step
farther."
"All right," Jack said. "I shall know a good deal better what I am
doing on my feet than I shall perched up here!"
The two boys at once slid off their mules to the ground.
"There is no turning there," Hawtry said, turning to the hill. "You
have deceived us, and we won't go a foot farther," and turning, the
lads started to walk back along the road they had come.
The Spaniard leapt from his donkey, and with angry gesticulation
endeavored to arrest them. Finding that they heeded not his orders, he
put his hand on his knife, but in a moment the boys' dirks flashed in
the air.
"Now, my lad," Hawtry said. "Two can play at that game, and if you
draw that knife, we'll let daylight into you."
The Spaniard hesitated, then drew back and gave a loud, shrill whistle
which was, the boys fancied, answered in the distance.
"Come on, Jack. We must run for it. We can leave this lumbering
Spaniard behind, I have no doubt," and sheathing their dirks, the boys
set off at full speed.
The Spaniard appeared inclined to follow them, but distrusting his
powers, he paused, gave a long, shrill whistle, twice repeated, and
then mounted his donkey and driving the mules before him, he followed
the boys at a hand gallop.
They had, however, a good start, and maintained their advantage.
"I don't think," Jack said, "we have passed a village for the last
hour. When we get to one, we'd better rush into a house, and ask for
shelter. These fellows will hardly dare to touch us there."
Had the race been simply between the boys and their immediate pursuer,
it is probable that they would have won it, for they were light,
active, and in good condition, while the animals behind them had
already been travelling for five hours, at a rate considerably above
the speed to which they were accustomed. The road, however, was an
exceedingly winding one, which gave time to the confederates of the
mule-driver to make a short cut, and, as the boys turned a sharp
corner, they saw three men barring the road in front.
"It's all up, Jack," Hawtry said, pausing in his run. "It's no use
making any resistance. We should only get our throats cut straight
off."
Jack agreed, and they walked up to the men in front just as the
muleteer came galloping up with his troupe.
"What do you want with us?" Hawtry said, advancing to the men.
There was a volley of maledictions at the run they had given them. The
boys were seized by the collar, their dirks, watches, and money
roughly taken from them, their arms tied to their sides by the ropes
taken from the mules, and they were motioned to accompany their
captors. These at once left the road and struck up the hill, the
muleteer proceeding along the road with the animals.
With their arms tied, the boys found it hard work to keep up with
their captors, who strode along with long steps. The sun had by this
time sunk, and presently they heard the distant boom of the sunset gun
from Gibraltar.
"That gun must be fifteen miles away," Hawtry said. "What fools we
have been, Jack, to be sure!"
In one of the three men who accompanied them they recognized the
peasant who had spoken to the muleteer when he refused to accept their
first offer, and they had no doubt that he had arranged with the man
to lead them to a certain spot, to which he had proceeded direct,
while their guide had conducted them by a circuitous route.
They walked for four hours without a pause, ever ascending among the
hills, until they at last reached a sort of plateau, upon which some
six or eight men were gathered round a fire. Upon three sides the hill
rose abruptly, on the fourth the ground sloped away, and in front,
seemingly almost at their feet, some 2000 feet below them stretched
away the waters of the Mediterranean, sparkling in the moonlight.
"They have got something to eat that smells nice," Jack said, as they
approached the fire. "I hope to goodness they are going to give us
some. I feel awfully peckish."
The men gathered round the fire rose at the approach of the
new-comers, and an animated conversation took place. Then the boys
were motioned to sit down, and the rest threw themselves round the
fire. Some meat which was roasting on a rough spit over it was taken
off, and one of the men undid the cords which tied their arms, and a
share of the meat was given them.
"This is stunning," Jack said. "What on earth is it? It does not taste
to me like mutton, or beef, or pork, or veal."
"I fancy it's kid," Hawtry said. "Well, it is evident they have no
idea of cutting our throats. If they had been going to do that, they
would have done it a quarter of a mile after we left the road. I
suppose they are going to try to get a ransom for us. Where it's
coming from as far as I'm concerned, I don't know, for my father is a
clergyman, and has as much as he can do to make ends meet, for there
are eight of us and I'm the eldest."
"It's an awful fix altogether," Jack said. "And anyhow, we shall lose
our ship and get into a frightful row, and, if somebody won't pay our
ransom, I suppose they will knock us on the head finally. The best
thing, you know, will be for us to make our escape."
"But how on earth are we to do that?" Hawtry said. "There are ten of
them, and I see a lot of guns piled there."
"Oh, I daresay we shall see some chance," Jack said cheerfully. "We
must think it over. Jack Easy, Peter Simple, and all those fellows
used to get into worse scrapes than this, and they always managed to
get out of them somehow; so why shouldn't we? The best thing is, just
to think what one of them would have done if he had been in our place.
I wish to goodness that we had Mesty prowling about somewhere; he
would get us out in no time."
Hawtry answered with a grunt, and devoted himself to his kid.
Presently Jack spoke again.
"Look here, Hawtry, I vote that to begin with we both pretend to be in
an awful funk. If they think that we are only two frightened boys,
they won't keep as sharp a watch over us as if they thought we were
determined fellows, likely to attempt our escape. There is the sea
down there in front of us, and there are sure to be villages on the
coast. Therefore we shall know which way to go if we once manage to
escape, and, if we can get down there, we can either claim the
protection of the head man in the village, or we can take a boat and
make off to sea."
When the meal was over, one of the men, who appeared to be the leader,
rose and come to the boys. Pointing to himself, he said, "Pedro," to
another "Sancho," to a third "Garcia."
"He wants to know our names," Jack said, and pointing to his
companion, he said, "Hawtry," and to himself "Archer."
The Spaniard nodded and resumed his seat, when an animated
conversation took place. Jack, in the meantime, began to enact the
part which he had arranged, turning over upon his face, and at times
making a loud, sobbing noise.
Hawtry, after hesitating for some time, seconded his efforts by
burying his face in his hands, and appearing also to give way to
violent grief.
CHAPTER III.
THE ESCAPE
Shortly after the meal was over, the brigands rose. The boys were
again bound, and were laid down on the ground near the fire. One of
the brigands then took his seat beside them, and the others, rolling
themselves in their cloaks, were soon asleep at the fire. The boys,
tired as they were by the long and fatiguing day through which they
had passed, were some time getting off to sleep. Indeed, with their
