Part 35 (1/2)
It was not easy to htful when she repeated a word the senora Garcia had taught her
Then he went in, apparently to consult the wonified that he would do what she wished She e some distance off; on the way he would overtake her with a ht it curious that he had not asked for money, but as he seemed anxious that she should not delay she set off So far, her escape had proved easier than she had ihest, and it was very hot; the road was a rough track where loose stones lay a the heavy dust Where water ran down the hillside in artificial channels, there were pal rock and stones flung up a dazzling brightness In the background, rugged peaks rose against a sky of intense blue, and far off on the opposite hand a et tired, and she found her thin shoes badly suited to the roughness of the ground The dust that rose about her gathered on her skin; she got hot and thirsty; but the water she tried to drink was slimy and she toiled on It seemed wiser to press forhile she could, for there was nobody at work in the scattered fields
Her eyes ached with the glare and her feet were sore, but the peon did not co the hillside, white and e the rocks, but the country seemed deserted and she could not see a house anywhere
At last, when the sun was low and the shadoere long and cool, she saw a cluster of sreen ahead, and supposed this was the _aldea_ the peon hadon wearily, she ca a place where she was hidden by a cluht run soe alone, for it was obvious that a well-dressed foreigner traveling on foot could not hope to escape notice, and the hill peasants would probably not understand her feords of Castilian
The shadows lengthened until they covered the hillside, and the air got cool, but her guide did not coan to wonder what had delayed hi to assist in her escape, and she suspected that he must sye that the senora Garcia should have known the passhich had apparently decided him She had, however, been told that these people were fond of intrigue, and that a general plot was often accompanied by minor conspiracies, so to speak, one inside the other
The senora Garcia had perhaps some object of her own to serve; but this did not matter--it was an to get dark The dew soaked Evelyn's thin dress, and she felt hungry and achingly tired Then a light or tinkled ahts and the estions of hoirl She was alone and apparently deserted, with enemies behind her and the way ahead unknown For a fewdown; then, with a determined effort, she recovered her calrown plainer, and she recognized an air she had heard when she sat with Grahareat, and brought her poignant ed in every wish, but a hoht of Graha, for the plaintive refrain of _Las Aves Marinas_ carried clearly through the cooling air Had the wild sea-hawk got herto her rescue? But even this was not of first consequence What about the peon? Had he betrayed her?
Everything was silent upon the hillside, but a faint breeze was getting up and sighed a the stones There was a splash of water in the distance, but no sound came from the road It ran back, a dilooht upon the shoulder of a hill There was no irl could see
She waited what seeht her attention, and grew into a welco the road She watched eagerly, straining her eyes to catch a glied from the shadow, and as it drew nearer she could see that it was a h tension and her heart beating fast, Evelyn left her hiding place in the cacti and stepped out into the middle of the road The man must see her now, and she had involved herself in fresh difficulties if he were not the peon she expected
He ca his mule
When he pulled up beside her and dropped froue, Evelyn staggered It was an Indian from the hills
CHAPTER XXIV
IN THE CAMP OF THE HILLSMEN
Evelyn instinctively drew back a few paces Through her brain was beating insistently the admonition that had helped her much in the past few days:
”_Keep calht had been flight, to the village; but reason told her that was iht, a white woain a pride in her American blood She felt that she was a ht cae
She pointed to the e; and explained in Spanish
The Indian shook his head, and stood stolidly beside his mount After his first excla Evelyn intently; but she felt reassured when he made no move to approach her As a matter of fact, his mind at that moment was a chaos of conjectures and possibilities; and while he hesitated Evelyn gasped with relief Down the road, carrying distinctly over the night air, carowing nearer, quickly nearer
Even if it were not the peon, at least two strangers would be safer than one
With a guttural grunt that , the Indian ju the ani; and Evelyn stepped farther back into the shadow of the cacti She felt that she had reached the breaking-point Yet she uide she could not go on
The hoof-beats drew near; in a minute they would pass and the rider be sed up in the gloom beyond Evelyn opened her mouth and tried to call to him; but her voice failed her Her worn-out body and her overtaxed nerves were holding her powerless to move or cry She could only stand, helpless, and watch hiht of the white dress fluttering against the dark outline of the cacti, and even as he passed he reined in hishis battered hat in his hand
”Your servant, senorita,” he said courteously