style="font-size:15px;"> The stranger's eye flashed forth a strange gleam. He squeezed the offered hand, and answered in a dull voice, but with an expression impossible to render:
"We shall be fifty; for I have comrades in the desert."
Valentine bent a joyous glance on his companions at this news, which announced to him a valuable support, that he was far from anticipating.
"But fifty men are not sufficient to contend against this demon, who is associated with the Pirates of the Prairies, and allied with the most dangerous Indians."
"Do not trouble yourself about that," Valentine observed. "We will also ally ourselves with Indian tribes. But I swear to you that I shall not quit the prairie till I have seen the last drop of that villain's blood run out."
"May heaven hear you!" the stranger muttered. "If my horse were not so tired, I would ask you to follow me; for we have not a moment to lose if we wish to force the wild beast. Unfortunately, we are compelled to wait some hours."
Curumilla stepped forward. "Here is a horse for my pale brother," he said, as he pointed to the animal he had lassoed a few minutes previously.
The stranger uttered a cry of joy.
"To horse!" he loudly exclaimed, "To horse!"
"Where are you taking us?" Valentine asked.
"To join my comrades in the hiding place I have selected for them. Then we will arrange the means we must employ to destroy our common enemy."
"Good," Valentine remarked, "that is excellent reasoning. Are we far from the place?"
"No, twenty to twenty-five miles at the most; we shall be there by sunset."
"We will start then," Valentine added.
The gentlemen leaped into their saddles, and started at a gallop in the direction of the mountains. A few minutes later, the spot had returned to its usual calmness and silence. Nothing was left to prove that man had passed that way, save a few mutilated corpses over which the vultures were already beginning to circle with hoarse croaking before they settled upon them.
CHAPTER IV
RED CEDAR AT BAY
The six men rode one after the other, following one of those inextricable tracks made by the wild beasts, which cross the desert in every direction. Bloodson served as guide to the little party, followed immediately by Curumilla. The Indian chief, with the genius peculiar to his race, advanced silently as usual, but casting right and left peering glances, which nothing escaped, and which render the redskins peculiar beings.
All at once Curumilla dismounted, and bent over the ground, uttering an exclamation of surprise. This was so extraordinary a fact, and so contrary to the habits of the Ulmen of the Araucanos, that Valentine hurried up to enquire what had happened.
"What's the matter with you, chief?" he asked, as soon as he came up with him.
"My brother can look," Curumilla said simply.
Valentine dismounted and stooped to the ground. The Indian showed him a half-effaced footstep, which still bore, however, the shape of a horseshoe. The hunter looked at it for some time with the utmost attention, then began walking cautiously in the direction the hoof marks seemed to go. Others soon presented themselves to him. His comrades had stopped, and silently awaited his explanation.
"Well!" Don Miguel at length said.
"There is no doubt possible," Valentine answered, as if speaking to himself, "Red Cedar has passed along here."
"What," the general observed, "do you believe it?"
"I am sure of it. The chief has just shown me the perfectly formed mark of his horse's hoof."
"Oh! Oh!" Don Miguel objected, "a horseshoe is a very slight sign; all are alike."
"Yes, as one tree resembles the other," Valentine answered quickly. "Listen: the chief has observed that the squatter, I know not by what accident, is mounted on a horse shod on all four feet, while the men composing his band have theirs only shod on the front feet; in addition, this horse in stepping throws back its feet, which causes the mark to be indistinct."
"In truth," Bloodson remarked, "the observation is correct, and only an Indian could make it; but Red Cedar is at the head of a numerous party, which cannot have passed along this way, or we should notice the trail."
"That is true," the general said; "what do you conclude from that?"
"A very simple thing; it is probable that Red Cedar has, for reasons unknown to us, left his men encamped some miles from here, and has ridden this way alone."
"I have it," Bloodson said; "not far from the spot where we now are, there is a nest of pirates, and Red Cedar has probably gone to ask their assistance in case of need."
"That's it," Valentine added; "the track is quite fresh, so our man cannot be far from us."
"We must pursue him," Don Pablo quickly said, who had, till this moment, maintained a gloomy silence.
"What do you say, gentlemen?" Valentine asked, turning to the rest.
"Pursue him," they answered unanimously.
Then, without further deliberation, they began following the trail, under the guidance of Valentine and Curumilla.
What the hunter stated had really happened. Red Cedar, when he entered the desert, after installing his band in a strong position, remounted his horse and set out, warning all his comrades that he should return within four days at the most, and leaving them temporarily under the orders of the monk.
Red Cedar did not fancy himself so closely pursued by Valentine, and hence had taken but slight precautions to conceal his track.
As he proceeded alone, in spite of the trail found by Curumilla, he would doubtless have escaped pursuit, had not a dog followed him from camp without his knowledge. The track left by that animal served as a guide to the pursuers at the moment when they had completely lost his trail. Valentine and Curumilla had dismounted, and were advancing slowly and examining the sand and soil over which they passed.
"Take care," the Trail-hunter said to his comrades, who followed him step by step; "do not come on so quickly; when picking up a trail you must mind where you put your foot down, and not look on both sides. Stay," he added, suddenly stooping and stopping Don Pablo; "here are traces you were just about to efface. Let us have a look at this: they are the marks of the horseshoe we have lost for some time. Red Cedar's horse has a peculiar way of putting down its feet, which I guarantee to recognise at the first glance. Hum, hum," he continued, "now I know where to find him."
"You are sure of it?" Don Miguel interrupted.
"It is not difficult, as you shall see."
"Forward, forward!" Don Pablo and the general shouted.
"Caballeros," the hunter observed, "be good enough to remember that on the prairies you must never raise your voice. The branches have eyes and the leaves ears here. Now, to remount and cross the river."
The six men, combined in a compact body, in order to afford a greater resistance to the current, which was very powerful at this spot, forced their horses into the Gila. The passage
