Gallito, Bob Flick, Pearl and Hugh, Mrs. Nitschkan and Mrs. Thomas had all been taken to the village hotel and were there under guard, while Seagreave, also under guard, was permitted to remain temporarily, at least, in his cabin.

The reason for this was that the sheriff was beginning to turn over certain rather vexing questions in his mind.  Suppose, for instance, Jose should really have made his escape, impossible as that feat appeared, what definite, tangible proof had he that the crop-eared bandit had really been harbored by Gallito?  Only some vague statements made by a woman to Hanson, a woman who thought that she had overheard a conversation or several conversations between Gallito and Bob Flick.  There had undoubtedly been some one, some one whose interest it was not to be caught, as the events of the previous night showed, but the explanation they had all given, Flick, Gallito, Hugh, Seagreave and the women, had struck the sheriff as extremely plausible, far more plausible, in fact, than Hanson’s story that Crop-eared Jose had been secreted for months at a time in Gallito’s cabin.

The explanation which Gallito and all of his group had given was this.  A younger brother of Gallito, Pedro by name, had been visiting him for some time.  This youth had led a somewhat irregular life both in Spain and in this country, and had become involved in several more or less serious affairs; more, so Gallito averred, from a certain wildness and recklessness of nature than from any criminal instincts.  Several of his companions had been arrested and, fearing that he would be also, he had fled to Colina and begged Gallito to shelter him until it was safe for him to go to work in one of the mines.

The night before he had been very anxious to see Pearl dance in public, and, not daring to sit in the audience for fear of being recognized by some chance wayfarer, he had gained Pearl’s consent to watch the entertainment from the safe seclusion of her dressing room.

Both Flick and Seagreave, who were in Gallito’s confidence, believed that the boy’s fears were greatly exaggerated, but when they saw the sheriff and all of his deputies in the hall their curiosity was aroused.  Flick had then gone over to speak to Hanson and Hanson’s conversation had convinced him that Pedro was really in danger and would be arrested before the evening was over.  They then devised the plan of having him escape in Pearl’s dancing dress and long cloak, meaning to drive him up the hill and let him take his chances of eluding his would-be captors in the forest surrounding Gallito’s cabin.  But he had slipped out of the cart a short distance up the hill.  Seagreave believed that there were a pair of snow-shoes in the bottom of the cart, which had disappeared.  That was all any of them could say.