ated in the rocky
tongue over the great gulf, while my uncle and I, trembling for those we
loved, continued our search by the side of the little stream till we
were where the passage widened into the vault where the mules were
concealed, when I stopped short, my uncle going forward to search the
vault, while I stayed to cut off the enemy's retreat, or to spring up
the ledge to the help of Tom.

I heard my uncle's whisper, and one or two timid replies, and then came
an interval of anxious silence before my uncle crept back to me.

"I have been all over the place, as near as I can tell, Harry," he
whispered. "Can he have passed us?"

"Impossible!" I said. "Uncle, we must have a light."

Without a word my uncle glided away; then I heard a rustle as of paper;
there was the faint glow of a match dipped in a phosphorus bottle, the
illumination of a large loose piece of paper, and then a torch was lit,
showing us Garcia standing upon the extreme verge of the rocky point
over the gulf; and at the same moment he drew the trigger of a pistol,
to produce only a flash of the pan, which revealed to him his perilous
position.

"Senor Garcia!" I cried loudly, as I climbed up to join Tom on the
ledge which he must pass, "you are standing with a great gulf behind and
on either side. A step is certain death. You are our prisoner!"

With a howl like that of a wild beast he raised his other pistol and
fired--the report echoing fearfully from the great abyss. Then, darting
forward, he leaped upon Tom, overturned him, and the next moment he was
upon me, and we were in a deadly embrace, rolling down the side of the
ledge, over and over in our fierce struggle, till we reached the little
stream, whose waters were soon foaming around us.

Garcia was active as one of the jaguars of the forest hard by; but I was
young, and my muscles were pretty tough. And, besides, a faint shriek
that I had heard as he dashed at me had given me nerve for the struggle.

It is hard to say, though, who would have gained the upper hand, for my
principal efforts were directed at preventing him from drawing his
knife, whilst I had his arms fast to his side, he all the while striving
to free himself.

I began to be hopeful, though, at last, when, by a feint, he got me
beneath him, and the next moment he had forced my head beneath the icy
waters of the little stream. Very few minutes would have sufficed, for
I could feel myself growing weaker; but ther