one by since we left our bivouac by the mountain-tarn: three
we have wandered in the woods under the guidance of Gahra, three sought
Mejia and his guerillas, who, being always on the move, are hard to find.
Last night we reached the range of hills which form, as it were, the
northern coast-line of the vast series of savannas which stretch from the
tropics to the Straits of Magellan; and it is now a question whether we
shall descend to the llanos or continue our search in the sierra.

"It was there I left him," said Carmen, pointing to a _quebrada_ some ten
miles away.

"Where we were yesterday?"

"Yes; and he said he would be either there or hereabout when I returned,
and I am quite up to time. But Mejia takes sudden resolves sometimes. He
may have gone to beat up Griselli's quarters at San Felipe, or be making a
dash across the llanos in the hope of surprising the fortified post of
Tres Cruces."

"What shall we do then; wait here until he comes back?"

"Or ride out on the llanos in the direction of Tres Cruces. If we don't
meet Mejia and his people we may hear something of them."

"I am for the llanos."

"Very well. We will go thither. But we shall have to be very circumspect.
There are loyalist as well as patriot guerillas roaming about. They say
that Morales has collected a force of three or four thousand, mostly
Indios, and they are all so much alike that unless you get pretty close it
is impossible to distinguish patriots from loyalists."

"Well, there is room to run if we cannot fight."

"Oh, plenty of room," laughed Carmen. "But as for fighting--loyalist
guerillas are not quite the bravest of the brave, yet I don't think we
three are quite a match for fifty of them, and we are not likely to meet
fewer, if we meet any. But let us adventure by all means. Our horses are
fresh, and we can either return to the sierra or spend the night on the
llanos, as may be most expedient."

Ten minutes later we were mounted, and an hour's easy riding brought us to
the plain. It was as pathless as the ocean, yet Carmen, guided by the sun,
went on as confidently as if he had been following a beaten track. The
grass was brown and the soil yellow; particles of yellow dust floated in
the air; the few trees we passed were covered with it, and we and our
horses were soon in a like condition. Nothing altered as we advanced; sky
and earth were ever the same; the only thing that moved was a cloud,
sailing slowly between us and th