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"My first sight of you brought doubts, Senor Savage," said Cere.
Doc hastily headed her off.
"On the train, some one tried to choke you to death with a leather strap," he said. "Naturally, you thought that
was my work."
"Si, Si," said Cere. "That is, father and El Rabanos did." She paused expectantly, as if inviting Doc to ask
what her own opinion had been. Doc passed up the opportunity.
"It looked suspicious when you fled the train," he reminded.
"Father and El Rabanos were in terror of you," said the girl. "When the train stopped we decided to flee."
"That brings us down to the present moment, I believe," Doc told her. "Now, what is the purpose of this
conversation?"
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Cere's entrancing dark eyes dropped.
"Father and El Rabanos are still a little doubtful of you, I regret to say. But they have agreed to talk with you.
I wish you would do that."
"You came to persuade me to meet them?"
Senorita Oveja nodded. "Si! Si! Please do."
"I shall be delighted to accommodate you."
"Buenos, senor!" Cere exclaimed. "You make me so happy!"
Doc looked like a fellow who had taken a big swallow of too-hot coffee. He asked: "Shall I go with you now
and meet them?"
"Oh, no!" the young woman said hastily. "We are away from our camp now, searching the coast for the
buried galleon. You must meet them to-night. Let us say - shortly after sundown. Come alone."
"Alone?" Doc asked sharply.
"Please! If you bring your men, father and El Rabanos will be suspicious of you."
Lifting on tiptoe, Cere pointed through the trees. There was a line of cliffs perhaps a quarter of a mile distant.
She seemed to be indicating a gap in these. The opening was like a knife slash.
"Our camp is just beyond that," she smiled. "You can come there?"
"Just through the gap in those cliffs," Doc said. "I'll come - and alone, too."
Usually Doc was an extraordinarily quick mover. There were men who claimed the bronze giant could dodge
a bullet This was a rank exaggeration, of course, but it gave an idea of the speed with which Doc could
maneuver himself.
Nevertheless, he now got kissed full on the lips - before he could avoid it. The kiss was clinging, and quite
ardent. The Senorita Oveja's lips were entirely delicious, Doc decided.
As if appalled by her act, pretty Cere turned and fled. However, she paused before she was out of sight, and
looked back.
Doc Savage had vanished.
Cere turned hastily and went on. She did not head for the gap in the cliff beyond which, according to what
she had told Doc, her camp lay. Instead, she angled off to the right.
Unexpectedly, her father and El Rabanos appeared before her.
"We were watching, hila mio!" Senor Oveja chuckled. "It was excellently done!"
"As the Americans would say," Cere smiled proudly, "he fell for it - hook, line, and sinker."
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"THAT bronze caballero is no fool," El Rabanos reminded seriously. "Are you sure that he did not suspect he
was being tricked?"
"He was like a lamb in my hands," Cere said loftily. El Rabanos shrugged. "He will be a lion on our hands, if
he suspects, senorita."
"What did you tell him?" Senor Oveja demanded.
"As you say, he is clever," the pretty Castilian girl replied. "I did not trust myself to lie to him, so I told the
truth. I told him all about our ancestor, and the galleon of treasure from Panama. He claimed to know none of
the story."
"He has a tongue tied in the middle - loose at both ends to tell lies!" Senor Oveja snarled. "It was he who
made the attempt on the train to kill us."
Cere looked doubtful. "I am not so sure about that, padre."
The father eyed his daughter severely. He made a tongueclicking sound of disapproval.
"This bronze caballero is very handsome," he said. "A young woman's opinion of such a man is not to be
trusted." Senorita Oveja stamped her foot. "I knew you would say that! But Senor Savage is not to be
harmed!"
"Of course he will not be harmed," El Rabanos put in sharply. "We will merely seize him and hold him as a
hostage to insure our securing the ivory cube. We will trade the bronze man for the cube."
"I could slit the big hombre's throat!" Senor Oveja growled.
"There must be no violence!" El Rabanos rapped. "I insist on that."
"Si, si!" the older man mumbled. "As you wish."
They walked off in the direction of their camp.
The camp was nowhere near the cliff, but nearly a mile to the northward. It nestled in a forest of large
boulders near a rather rocky stretch of level ground.
At one end of the comparatively level field stood a plane. It was canted over on one wing. A landing wheel
was smashed, and the rocks had damaged the wing tip.
El Rabanos stared at the plane and growled in Spanish:
"It is unfortunate that the ship had to hit a rock while I was landing it. We are virtually marooned here in this
wilderness."
For shelter, the party had tents. These were small, and of a leaf-green in color.
Cere entered a tent and busied herself improving her appearance. The woods country, she had discovered,
was hard on complexions. Moreover, it was difficult for a young woman to be captivating in hobnailed boots,
corduroy trousers, and a flannel shirt. This was the garb Cere was wearing, because it was the only raiment
which would withstand the rigors of her surroundings.
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Senor Oveja and El Rabanos retired to their tents. They were city men, not used to hardship, and each period
of exertion called for a corresponding rest.
The woods were quiet. The fog rolled like smoke. It was an altogether dreary day. Faintly, from the distance,
came the mushy noise of the waves on the rocky shore line.
POSSIBLY an hour later, in a gloomy stretch of timber something over a mile from the Oveja's camp, a
sinister meeting occurred. It was a convention of evil conducted with a furtive caution. It began with the
appearance of eleven men. They were swarthy fellows, and they skulked along as if afraid of being seen.
Their visages were anything but pleasant to look on.
These were the men who had kidnaped pretty Patricia Savage.
The ominous little caravan of men progressed to a spot where the timber was particularly dense. They
clustered together and waited, making no disturbing sound.
"Cere led Doc Savage into the trap for us," a hollow voice said suddenly.
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