Part 35 (2/2)

Evelyn never could remember distinctly what happened after that She had only a hazy recollection of cli there, while the , iron-pointed staff Soe they had turned off the h path that led up into the hills And there they had stopped at a small _hacienda_, where Evelyn was hospitably received

When she woke the next , in a clean little adobe roo upon her, Evelyn smiled in return

Every muscle in her body ached, and the soles of her feet were blistered, but, for the first time in , she murmured the password of the revolutionaries It meant much to her now

”_Confianza!_”

They had a hasty breakfast and started again, but rested for so the heat of the day In the early evening they approached a white _aldea_ perched high upon the edge of a ravine

Evelyn's guide ht not be allowed to pass He ier, but it ith soe

They skirted the side of the ravine, which was fretted with tue of the trail and were lost in cli forest a hundred feet above, but after a tiled about its slopes A barricade of logs, however, closed the road, and as Evelyn approached two ed and unkeood modern rifles

”Halt!” ordered one of the, and they let hiuide stopped in front of an adobe building that seemed to be an inn, for a nu and leaving and a hum of voices came from the shadowy interior, but the peona stone bench where she was left undisturbed, she sat there for half an hour while it grew dark, and then a ivings, and was shown into a rooh mud walls, where a man sat under a smoky lamp at a table upon which a map and a number of papers were spread He wore plain, white clothes, with a wide red sash; and two others, dressed in the sa his orders Evelyn knew the man, for she had seen him at the International

”_Confianza!_” she said ”I believe you are Don Martin Sarood English:

”It is a surprise to receive a visit froave you the password?”

”Senora Garcia at Rio Frio”

”That sounds strange But sit down There is so we ht her a chair

”I understand you were going to Villa Paz,” he then said

”Yes; I am anxious to join my father”

”I aain

First of all, I must knohy you left Valverde” Sarmiento indicated the others ”These are officers of lish, and it is not necessary that you should know their nae you to be frank”

Evelyn tried to think calmly She was in the man's power, and he wore the stamp of command, but she liked his look and did not feel afraid of hiht be wiser to be candid; but she had an ean with some hesitation Sarmiento helped her, noith a nod of coe, and noith a look of sympathy, while the others stood silent with expressionless faces

”Gomez is, of course, a scoundrel, and you ise to run away,” he commented when she stopped ”There are, however, matters I do not quite understand For example, it would not be to the President's interest that he should quarrel with your father; nor do I think Altiera would approve of an alliance between his secretary and you”

Evelyn blushed and tried tolook

”I cannot explain these things I have told you what happened, and I came to you with--confidence”