‘Holy Barbara!’ ejaculated he in Spanish, while his hands almost mechanically made the sign of the Cross. ‘What in the name of _San_ Diabolo are they going to do with that youth? But I must be off, or it will be too late to save him. No wonder our dear mistress Donna Inez loves him. I owe him a good turn, too, for he certainly saved my life when them two ‘Pike’ hombres were going to give me ‘hell,’ as they called it, because I was sober on the Fourth of July.’ Thus soliloquizing, the Californian, for such he was, withdrew once more into the thicket, and in a second returned, followed by a noble looking steed, black as midnight. ‘You shall have a good run now, my handsome Cid,’ said the old Californian, as he patted the mane upon the forehead of the noble animal, as gently as a father would the curls that clustered on the brow of a favorite daughter. Without touching foot to stirrups, he vaulted lightly into the saddle, shook the reins, and the next instant Cid was bearing his rider through the hollows and over the hills that lay between them and the Mission, near which was the rancho inhabited by the father of Donna Inez. Sanchez, for such was the name of the horseman, never drew rein until he stopped abruptly at the gate of his mistress’ domicile. Here he alighted, entered the house, and sought an interview with the beautiful daughter of Signor Castro. -------------- CHAPTER XVIII The Lone Hut—The Torture! Return we now to Monteagle. The ruthless gang of fellows who had made him prisoner rode on in almost total silence over the vast treeless, shrubless, sand bank which lies between the bluff headlands and the little laguna, where the pig-eyed votaries of Confucius perform the scrubbing, dipping and pounding of linen, dignified with the misnomer of _washing_. As if anything immersed in that chocolate-hued fluid could emerge purer than it entered. Skirting the shore of the laguna, the party soon reached a tolerably good road. This they followed for about half a mile. One of the party riding some distance in advance in order to give notice of the approach of any unwelcome intruder. No person appeared, however, to interfere with their plans and they soon struck off into the sand hills, where their persons were hidden from view by the scrub oaks and wild lilac bushes that covered these lonely spots, since dotted with neat little cottages and smiling gardens. Heaven grant that they may ever be the abode of prosperity and happiness, as they have always been of open-hearted hospitality.