"There is a small clearing here on the right," he said in a whisper. "If you leave your horses free they will follow mine." And so it proved; the intelligent beasts knew his voice, and went after him with a sagacity that astonished and delighted me. "You will be safe here, I think, senor; and, with your permission, I will go back and find out the soldiers' movements. There is no risk for me. But please do not touch the horses; they will not be got to move without trouble until I return, and will stand like statues until I tell them; and, remember, voices travel far in such a still air—even whispers."
I told him to go, and then we three stood together and waited.
"What are we to do if they find us, senor?" asked Cabrera.
"Fight," I said, praying fervently there would be no need.
"Good. Knives, Garcia," he returned.
"And till then, silence," I ordered: and not another word was spoken.
The stillness was absolute, and, in the circumstances, awe-inspiring, and there was not a breath of air to stir even a leaf. It was some minutes before our eyes grew sufficiently accustomed to the darkness to discern the moonlight beyond the wood, which gleamed dimly, much like a phosphorescent light, through the thickly-planted trees. Suddenly the stillness was broken by a man's voice laughing and oathing, as he called to a comrade. We all three started and drew together at the sudden sound, so keen was the nerve tension.
"Had enough of this tomfoolery yet, Juan? Seen anything—where there's nothing to see?"
"By the corpse of St. Peter, this is a madman's freak, looking for nothing. I go no further, José," was the reply. "Have you been in the wood?"
"Yes; all the wood I'm going into. We're looking for houses, not men; and shan't find 'em there. Wait while I roll a cigarette, and, when I've smoked it, we'll go back and report," and we heard him strike a match and light it.