"Yes, I saw them both together several times," answered Myra. "I heard Cojuelo threaten to shoot Don Carlos. It was Don Carlos who enabled me to make my escape, but I thought in my panic that it was Cojuelo who was trying to overtake me when I cried out to the officer of the Civil Guards." "Is there, then, some resemblance between Don Carlos and the brigand Cojuelo?" asked the Commandante. Momentarily nonplussed, Myra shook her head. "I cannot tell," she answered. "El Diablo Cojuelo always wore a cowl which disguised him." "Yes, that's right, sir," broke in Tony Standish from the background. "We never saw the blighter without his cowl. I challenged him to be a man and meet me face to face, but he would not remove his disguise. You can take it from me, sir, that the idea that there was any connection between Cojuelo and Don Carlos is all moonshine." "Thank you, Mr. Standish," said Don Carlos gravely, and glanced round at the faces of the officers. "May I take it, senors, that you are satisfied?" The Commandante nodded, tugging at his grey moustache. "Certainly, Don Carlos," he said. "You will understand that it was necessary for us to investigate the report that the English senorita had asserted that you were El Diablo Cojuelo, and that your refusal to deny the fact or to supply any explanation made this examination necessary. I understand that you may have considered the implication an insult, and now I can only apologise for troubling you and devote my energies to hunting down El Diablo Cojuelo. Can you offer us any assistance in locating his lair in the mountains?" "You need trouble yourself no longer about El Diablo Cojuelo, senor," replied Don Carlos. "He is dead." "Dead?" "Yes, he is dead. Senor Standish, as he told you, fired at him and thought he had missed, but he had sorely wounded the brigand, and when I tackled Cojuelo afterwards, when he was endeavouring to prevent Miss Rostrevor from escaping, he collapsed and died at my feet. He will trouble us no more, senors, and I intend to claim his greatest treasure as my reward for having made an end to him." "Don Carlos, but this is news indeed!" cried the Commandante excitedly. "El Diablo Cojuelo dead! Ten thousand congratulations, my dear Don Carlos! Congratulations to you, also, Senor Standish, on ridding my country of such a dangerous pest. To shoot a brigand in his own den was indeed conduct worthy of a gallant Englishman!" "Oh--er--thanks," stammered Tony, avoiding looking at Myra. "Why the deuce didn't you tell us this before, Don Carlos?" CONCLUSION The officers had taken their leave after much handshaking and bowing. Left alone with Don Carlos, Standish, and with Lady Fermanagh, who had been a silent and puzzled witness of the proceedings, Myra suddenly felt her self-possession deserting her, and fled back to her own room. "Why did I lie to save him?" she breathed, as she flung herself down on her knees by the bedside and buried her face. "Why?"