"There are men there, señor," he said in low and warning tones. "I heard them as they moved. This owner whom we have come to watch is there with his following, and we are in danger of attack. There! That was a horseman. I heard the hoofs of the beast moving over the fallen leaves."
"And here is Pepito," said Dudley suddenly, catching sight of a band of horsemen riding towards him across the pampas. "You say you heard men moving. Perhaps Pepito has heard the same, and in that case there will be nothing left for us but to retreat as fast as possible. Give a whistle, my man."
An answering signal was sent, and very soon, spurring hard and galloping as fast as possible, Pepito and his men arrived on the scene.
"Your pardon, señor," he said, as he pulled his panting horse in within a foot of Dudley. "We were about to enter the forest through a gap, when sounds came to our ears. It may have been the wind, though I think myself that it was caused by horsemen. After that I did not venture to enter, but signalled so that you would be warned."
"We have found the same here. One of the gauchos declares that he heard horsemen moving over the fallen leaves, Pepito. If that is the case these men are watching us, and are prepared to attack us. I think we had better ride away on to the pampas, and make direct for the estancia."
"The señor is right," came the prompt answer. "It would be madness to enter now. Better collect in a ring and gallop away at our fastest pace. If men are there they will surely fire at us the instant we move away, and if we went slowly we should be killed."
"While if we ride in a bunch we shall as certainly make an excellent mark for their bullets," exclaimed Dudley, at a loss how to act, for he had never anticipated such evil fortune as to be discovered in the very first stage of his enterprise. Even now he could hardly believe that the actions of his little band had been watched, and that men were within the forest, ready to pounce upon his following when they entered. Nor did he even dream that Antonio Sarvisti, the evil-faced owner of the neighboring estancia, had already laid his plans to capture the whole party, and afterwards to fall upon Mr. Blunt and the remaining gauchos, and do his best to kill the former and wreck his estancia.
"We will gallop away now," Dudley said, after a moment's thought, "and as we ride we will separate. Pass those orders. Are all ready?"
He waited for a few seconds, so as to make sure that all understood, and was on the point of giving the signal for the retirement of the whole party, when suddenly a voice was heard from the forest, a voice the tones of which he and Harold instantly recognized.
"Ride if you will, señor, and be shot down by my men. But if you will take your orders from me you will at once throw down your arms and dismount, for I have sixty men here, and each one has a rifle trained on you. Dismount, señor, instantly!"