John remembered that he, too, was clad lightly, and hastily put on his upper garments, while his friend did likewise. He now heard the steps, also, and they were rapidly coming nearer. "Shouldn’t we move?" he whispered. "Those must be Mexicans." "No, we shouldn’t move, because those are not the footsteps of Mexicans. Those sounds are made by the hardy feet of just two persons. One of them is a large brave German man, whose tread I would know a mile away, and the other, the lighter tread of whom is drowned in the volume of sound made by his comrade, is a boy, a strong, healthy boy who comes from a little town in Kentucky, which has the same name as a big town in France." John began to tremble all over. He knew what these words meant. His friend uttered a low whistle, and quickly a low whistle in reply came from a point not twenty feet away. There was a moment of silence, then the approaching footsteps were resumed, the bushes were parted, and, as the lightning flared once more across the sky, John Bedford and Philip Bedford looked into the faces of each other. They wrung hands in the darkness that followed the lightning flash, and, after the Anglo-Saxon fashion, said brief, inconsequential words. Yet the hearts of the two were full, and both Bill Breakstone, who had done the last miracle, and Hans Arenberg were moved deeply. "Your letter came, John," said Phil simply, "and we are here. These are the best friends I ever had or that anybody ever could have. The man who brought you out of the castle was Bill Breakstone, and the one with me is Hans Arenberg. Without them I never could have reached you in the castle." "You talk too much, young sir," said Bill Breakstone. Then John suddenly remembered. "Mr. Breakstone is wounded," he exclaimed. "We took off most of our clothes to swim the moat and I remember seeing a red spot on his side." "Like your brother, you talk too much," said Bill Breakstone. "It seems to be a family failing with the Bedfords. It’s a mere scratch." "No harm iss done where none iss meant," said Arenberg sententiously. "It iss also well for us soon to be away from where we now are." "That is true," said Breakstone. "The Mexicans undoubtedly will make some sort of a search and pursuit, though I don’t think they’ll carry it far on such a night. Come on boys, I’ll lead, and the reunited family will bring up the rear. But no talking is best. You can’t tell what we might stir up."