Indignation had roused Tamba thoroughly, while his anxiety for his master made him more than bitter. But he was a shrewd native, and long suffering had taught him much. By speaking as he had done he brought before the Tlascalan the full weight of the injury done him, and revived his bitterness and hatred. It was a masterly stroke, and at once converted the half-hearted native to the side of the Mexicans. "You are right," he said humbly. "I cannot take the hand of these barbarians again. I will help, even if it be in an attack upon Malinché. But my lord is not hurt. I have spoken to him, and he will be ready to-night; but----" "But what? Is he ill, or did he suffer a wound in the attack yesterday?" Again Tamba stretched far out of his hiding-place, till the frantic signal of the native caused him to sink back again. "He is well--have I not said so?" he called out testily. "But he will not be rescued unless his comrades are taken. His message to Teotlili was strict. If you come to-night, he will go only on condition that the others are taken. Otherwise he will wait and be hanged." Tamba's dusky face went a pallid hue at the news, and this time he sank back on his knees as if some one had struck him a blow. "Not escape unless we can take the others!" he gasped. "It is like my master. He thinks always of his comrades." For a little while he was silent. Then he leaned forward again. "Go to the prisoner as soon as you can," he said, "and say that we will obey his wishes. An attempt will be made to take all from the prison." The signal passed again between the two, and they crept from their perches, no one in the town of Tlascala having observed them. Some three or four hours later the attendant went again to the prison, and having bandied a few words with the sentry, entered with a dish of food and another jar of wine. He found the prisoner still apparently asleep and disinclined to be disturbed. But Roger was in fact wide awake, and had been looking for the return of the native. "Have you news?" he demanded. "Will they follow my orders?" "To-night all will be rescued if that is possible," was the answer, as the man set down the dish and the wine. "I have seen Tamba, my lord's servant, and he has given the promise. To-night all who came to this country in the ship which was recently taken by the Spaniards shall be rescued. Let my lord look to the corner. He will find a cool spot there in which to sleep." There was a crafty smile on his face as he spoke, and he made the same signal as formerly. Then having asked if Roger required anything more, he bowed to him and withdrew. "The prisoner will give you no trouble to-night," he said to the sentry, a new one by now, the other having been relieved. "He passes his time in sleep and in eating. These white men are strange, for the thought of death at sunrise has few fears for them."