rs," continued Pepe Lobos,
"that's all very well. But I say vengeance before everything; and we
will do better to kill this fierce devil at once. A fig for the bounty,
say I!"

"Perhaps the Captain will pay one half, if we bring him in dead?"
suggested one of the insurgents.

"When we have ascertained exactly where he is hid," continued Pepe,
without heeding the suggestion, "we can then separate into two parties
of four each. One can approach from one side, and the other party in
the opposite direction. We shall thus have him between us; and let
whoever sets eye on him fire at him as at a mad dog. That is the only
way to make sure; besides, if he should be only wounded and we can carry
him to camp with a little life in him, we shall still be entitled to the
reward."

The counsel of Pepe Lobos met with a universal approbation; and it was
finally resolved that as soon as day had fairly broken, they should all
return to the main road and recommence the search.

Just as the sun commenced gilding the lofty summits of the palm-trees,
the eight guerilleros scattered themselves along the road to examine the
hoof tracks, and if possible discover the point at which Don Rafael had
turned off into the woods. This was by no means so easily accomplished:
for the ground was now trodden by their own horses in such a fashion
that it seemed impossible to distinguish which of the trails was that of
the Royalist dragoon. A native of Europe would have examined them in
vain; but to a vaquero of Mexico, a gaucho of Chili, or in fact a native
peasant of any part of Spanish-America, it was simply a work of time and
patience. In fact, scarce ten minutes had passed, before Pepe Lobos
called to his comrades to announce that he had discovered the track they
were in search of.

Besides the hoof-prints of a horse, a twig broken from the branch of a
tree, and some fresh leaves of sassafras laurel lying upon the ground,
showed clearly the place where Don Rafael had passed through the
underwood.

After following his trail for some paces, all believed that the fugitive
could not be far distant from the spot. The two parties were then
formed: one to advance directly on the trail, the other to make a
circuit and enter the thicket from the opposite direction.

While the latter was executing the movement agreed upon, the four men
who composed it came suddenly upon the horsemen whom Arroyo had sent in
pursuit of Juan de Zapote and the fugiti