his utmost speed, and descended the slope on the
opposite side at a gallop. As the brave steed dashed onward, a hoarse
snorting sound was heard to issue from his nostrils, caused by the
singular operation which the _arriero_ had performed upon him.

On reaching the level of the valley in which stood the hacienda Del
Valle, the horseman drew bridle and listened, he was sufficiently near
the house to have heard any unusual commotion that might be there going
on. He fully expected to have distinguished the shouts of men engaged
in fight, or the tumultuous murmur of a siege.

No sound, however, reached his ear--not a murmur. Silence ominous and
profound reigned throughout the valley.

With clouded brow, and heart anxiously beating, the officer continued on
his course. He had unbuckled his carbine from the saddle, and carried
the piece in his hand ready for use.

The silence continued. Not a cry awoke the solitude--not the flash of a
fusil lit up the darkness of the twilight. The sleep of death seemed to
be upon everything.

As already stated, Don Rafael had not visited the hacienda of Del Valle
since he left it when only a child: he therefore knew nothing of the way
that led to it beyond the directions he had received from his late host.

He was beginning to think he had gone astray, when a long wide avenue
opened before him. This was bordered on each side by a row of tall
trees, of the species _taxodium disticha_--the cypress of America. He
had been told of this avenue, and that at its extremity stood the
hacienda he was in search of. The description was minute: he could not
be mistaken.

Heading his steed into the avenue, he spurred forward beneath the sombre
shadow of the trees. In a rapid gallop he traversed the level road, and
had arrived nearly at its further extremity, when all at once the walls
of the hacienda came in view directly in front of him--a dark mass of
building, that filled up the whole space between the two rows of trees.

The main entrance in the centre appeared to be only half closed, one
wing of the massive gate standing slightly ajar. But no one came forth
to welcome him! Not a sound issued from the building. All was silent
as the tomb!

Still pressing forward, he advanced towards the entrance--determined to
ride in through the open gateway; but, just at that moment, his steed
made a violent bound, and shied to one side.

In the obscurity of the twilight, or rather from the c