The Valiant Runaways [52]
senores will sleep."
The boys did sleep, and it was two hours before they were called. Then
they ate a steaming dinner, and forgot their fear of the priest: the
meagre diet of squirrel and rabbit of the past thirty-six hours had
lowered their spirits' temperature.
When they left the room the mayor domo awaited them with two thick
woollen ponchos--large squares of cloth with a slit in the middle for
the head.
"These will keep the rain out," he said, as he slipped them over the
boys' heads. "And there is food for two days in the saddle-bags, and
pistols in the holsters. Keep to the right of the lake, and enter the
mountains by the horse trail. It winds over the lower ridges. The
senores cannot lose themselves, for they should be on the other side
before dark--that mountain is the meeting of the two ranges and beyond
there are no more for many leagues. Then the senores must keep straight
on, straight on--never turning to the left, for that way lies the
terrible Mojave desert. By-and-by they will cross a river, and after
that Los Angeles is not far. Between the mountain and the river is an
hacienda, where they will find welcome for the night."
Roldan thanked him profusely, then said: "I have reasons for not wishing
ANY ONE to know that I have not returned to my father's house. I beg
that you will tell no one, not even a priest, that we have been here,
for three days at least."
"The senor's wishes shall be obeyed. The Senor Don returns not for a
week. No one shall know until then of the honour that has been done to
his house."
The boys rode rapidly through the wood over a broad road that had
evidently been traversed many times. The sky was leaden, but no rain
fell. Nor was there any wind. The lake could not have been smoother were
it frozen, although it reflected the grey above. Wild ducks and snipe
broke its monotony at times, now and again a jungle of tules. In less
than an hour the travellers were ascending the mountain by easy grades,
a black forest of pines about them. It was darker here, but the road was
clearly defined, and they talked gaily of adventures past and to come.
In Los Angeles they had many relatives, and they knew that a royal
welcome would be given them. They would see the gay life of which they
had heard so much from their brothers; and they magnanimously resolved
that after a week of it they would return to their anxious parents.
"Ay!" exclaimed Adan, interrupting these pleasant anticipations, "it
rains at last."
A few drops fell; then the rain came with a rush. For some time the wind
had been rising; suddenly it seemed to leap upward to meet the emptying
clouds, then filled the pine-tops with a great roar, rattling the hard
branches, bending the slender trunks. The boys were on the down grade,
and there was no danger of losing the path, although the rain had put
out the sallow flame of the sun. They pricked their horses and made the
descent as rapidly as possible. But it was another hour before they were
on level ground once more. The rain was still falling in torrents; the
wind flung it in their eyes as fast as they dashed it from their lashes.
They could not see a yard ahead. The light of the hacienda was nowhere
visible. If its owner was away from home and his house in darkness, then
was their plight a sorry one indeed.
"There is only one thing to do," said Roldan, putting his hand funnel-
wise to Adan's ear. "We must keep due south until we come to the river.
Then, at least, we cannot go wrong."
"And that river we must cross!" said Adan, with a groan. "Dios de mi
alma!"
Roldan had great faith in his sense of locality, but in a blinding rain
on a black night with a mighty wind roaring inside one's very skull, and
whirling the heavy poncho about one's ears every few moments, it was
difficult to preserve any sense at all. They galloped on, however,
occasionally pausing to shout, straining their eyes into the darkness on
every side. But nothing came back to eye or ear. Apparently they had the
wilderness to themselves. There