le Fabian--oh!"

"Pepe has told me all," said Fabian. "Among these men is the murderer
of my mother."

"Yes," exclaimed Pepe; "and by the Virgin of Atocha let us not delay
here. There is no time for sentiment--the villain must not escape us.
Justice, so long evaded, must now have its due."

"As God wills!" rejoined Fabian.

The three friends now held a rapid council as to what course was best to
be taken. It was concluded by their resolving to follow the horsemen as
rapidly as possible along the road which these had taken--the road to
Tubac.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

THE BLOOD OF THE MEDIANAS.

After having uselessly discharged their carbines several times, from too
great a distance for the balls to be dangerous, Oroche and Baraja had
rejoined Cuchillo.

The outlaw was as pale as death; the ball fired at him by the Canadian
had creased his head, and it was this had caused him to fall from his
horse. Doubtless Bois-Rose would then have crushed him, like a venomous
reptile, but for the horse. The noble animal, seeing that his master
could not raise himself unaided, bent down that he might seize his mane,
and so reach the saddle, and when he felt his master once more firmly
seated on his back, he had set off at full gallop, and carried him away
beyond the reach of Bois-Rose.

This was not the only danger run by the outlaw. When his accomplices
had rejoined him and all three had come up with Don Estevan and Diaz,
another danger was in store for him. The Spaniard had no need to
interrogate Cuchillo in order to learn that Fabian had once more
escaped. From the disappointed air of the two followers, and the
paleness of the outlaw, who was still tottering in his saddle, Don
Estevan guessed all.

Deceived in his expectation, the rage of the Spaniard burst out. He
rode up to Cuchillo, crying, in a voice of thunder, "Cowardly and clumsy
knave!" and in his blind fury, without reflecting that Cuchillo alone
knew the secret of the Golden Valley, he drew his pistol. Luckily for
the outlaw, Pedro Diaz threw himself quickly between him and Don
Estevan, whose fury gradually subsided.

"And those men who are with him--who are they?" cried he.

"The two tiger-killers," replied Baraja.

A short deliberation took place in a low voice between Don Estevan and
Pedro Diaz, which ended by these words, pronounced aloud:

"We must destroy the bridge of the Salto de Agua, and the devil is in it
if they overtake us befor