not fired in vain! They bent down, and turned over the body to examine
it. The savage was in full war-costume--that is, naked to the waist,
and painted over the breast and face so as to render him as frightful as
possible: but what struck the ciboleros as most significant was the
_costume of his head_! This was close shaven over the temples and
behind the ears. A patch upon the top was clipped short, but in the
centre of the crown one long lock of hair remained uncut, and this lock
was intermingled with plumes, and plaited so as to hang, queue-like,
down the back. The naked temples were stained with vermilion, and the
cheeks and bosom daubed in a similar manner. These brilliant spots
contrasted with the colourless and deathly hue of the skin, and, with
the blanched lips and glazed eyeballs, gave to the corpse a hideous
appearance.

Carlos, after gazing upon it for some moments, turned to his companion
with a look of intelligence; and, pointing to the shaved head, and then
to the moccasins upon the Indian's feet, in a tone that expressed the
satisfaction he felt at the discovery, pronounced the word,--"Pane!"

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

The dead Indian was a Pane beyond doubt. The tonsure of his hair, the
cut of his moccasins, his war-paint, enabled Carlos to tell this.

The cibolero was glad that he was a Pane. He had several reasons for
being so. First, it gratified him to know that his Waco friends were
still true; secondly, that he had punished one of the robbers; and,
lastly, the knowledge that they were Panes gave him some hope that he
might yet recover, _by the help of the Wacoes_, some of the stolen
mules.

This was not improbable. As already stated, the Wacoes and Panes were
sworn foes; and as soon as the former should hear that the latter were
in the neighbourhood, Carlos felt sure they would go in pursuit of them.
He would share in this pursuit with his little band, and, in the event
of the Panes being defeated, might get back his _mulada_.

His first impulse, therefore, was, to gallop to the Waco camp--apprise
them of the fact that the Pane was on the war-trail, and then join them
in search of the latter.

Just then both he and Antonio remembered that the Panes had themselves
gone in the direction of the Waco camp! It was not two miles distant--
they could hardly fail to find it, even in the night. What if they had
taken the Wacoes by surprise, and had already made their attack!

It was quite