He shook hands warmly, bowed with his hat to his breast, and with a polite _a reveder_, the Spanish equivalent of _au revoir_, he ended Tim's captivity.
Tim's adventure caused Mr. O'Hagan to change his mind about dismissing Romaña. To do so might be a new cause of offence to the sensitive patriots.
"You have already proved a very dear son," he said, with a humorous twinkle that disguised his real feeling.
"Durand says that his pater gives old Mollendo a regular subscription to keep him quiet," said Tim.
"Blackmail! He will soon get tired of that."
"I don't suppose what he has paid comes to £250."
"Ah! but he hasn't given his boy a motor-cycle! Young Durand came over to-day to play cricket, and seemed vastly tickled when I told him where you were."
"I could have boxed his ears," said Mrs. O'Hagan indignantly. "It was no laughing matter to me."
"Will I challenge him, Mother?" said Tim quizzingly. "I am going to ride over to-morrow to tell him all about it, and if you like----"
"Don't tease your mother," Mr. O'Hagan interposed. "She insisted on my sending the money at once, or I declare I would have been inclined to let you have a week of it."
The kidnapping of the young Inglés created much indignation and resentment among the people of San Rosario. The majority of them, having little to lose, were staunch supporters of the Prefect, and when next day they saw a dozen gendarmes ride into the town, they supposed them to be only the advanced guard of a force sent from the capital to begin the long-expected operations against the brigands. Some, however, viewed the soldiers with alarm. To the substantial citizens, a visit of the Prefect's gendarmes usually spelt trouble. Every man whose secret sympathies were with the Mollendists trembled in his shoes; even those who were conscious of innocence shivered if their worldly substance was large enough to be worth the attention of the Prefect and his harpies. Many, among them the gobernador, were greatly relieved when the gendarmes, instead of dismounting, halted only to refresh themselves in the saddle at one of the albergos, then rode through the town and along the track leading to Mr. O'Hagan's house.
Arriving there, the leader sprang from his horse, and strode with clanking spurs to the door, which stood open. The others formed up in line along the front of the house. To the servant who came in answer to the officer's summons, he explained that he wished to see the señor haciendado. Mr. O'Hagan left the office, where he had been alone, and invited his visitor into the patio.