"That," I answered, "is my secret. Lend me a couple of men, say, for forty-eight hours. In return, on producing this paper, you receive twelve thousand francs; that is, as soon as Lord Wellington has assured himself on my report that you received the paper from me and did as I requested." "Two men? This begins to look like business." "It _is_ business," said I curtly. "To your patriotism I should not have troubled to appeal a second time." He warned me to keep a civil tongue in my head; but I knew my man, and within half-an-hour I rode out of his camp with two of his choicest ruffians, one beside me and one ahead to guide me through the darkness. Now at Vittoria the road towards Irun and the frontier runs almost due north for some distance and then bends about in a rough arc towards the east. Another road runs almost due east from Vittoria to Pamplona. The first road would certainly be taken by my kinsman and his escort: Mina's camp lay above the second: but, a little way beyond, at Alsasua, a third road of about five leagues joins the two, and by this short cut I was certain of heading off our quarry. There was no call to hurry. If, as I judged likely, the party meant to sleep the night at Vittoria, I had almost twenty-four hours in hand. So we rode warily, on the look-out for French vedettes, and reaching Beasain a little before two in the morning took up a comfortable position on the hillside above the junction of the roads. At dawn we shifted into better shelter--a shepherd's hut, dilapidated and roofless--and eked out a long day with tobacco and a greasy pack of cards. A few bullock carts passed along the road below us, the most of them bound westward, and perhaps half-a-dozen peasants on mule-back. At about four in the afternoon a French patrol trotted by. As the evening drew on I began to feel anxious. A little before sunset I sent off one of my ruffians--Alonso something-or-other (I forget his magnificent surname)--to scout along the road. He had been gone half-an-hour when his fellow, Juan Gallegos, flung down his cards in the dusk--the more readily perhaps because he held a weak hand--and pricked up his ears. "Horses!" he whispered, and after a pause nodded confidently. "Three horses!" We picked up our muskets and crept down towards the road. Halfway down we met Alonso ascending with the news. Yes, there were three horsemen on this side of Zumarraga and coming at a trot. One of them wore a red coat. "Be careful, then, how you pick them off. The man in red must not be hurt; the money depends on that."