"Time is short," he said curtly. "We had better be moving. What plan do you suggest?"
"There is one, and one only," was the answer. "Divide the men. Send twenty along the face of the forest till opposite our party, with instructions to move the flanks forward and so enclose the robbers. I will lead the others by the path I followed, and we will seize the horses. Then we shall have them completely, for with men outside them, and our fellows in the middle of their circle, they will be unable to move. They will be between two fires. Warn the men here to be careful when they shoot, for they might hit their comrades. Will that do?"
"Take charge of this ruffian," commanded Mr. Blunt, swinging round to the men. "You all wish to come with us, I know, but this duty must be seen to. Select two of your number, and let us be going. Now, my friends, I want ten men who will follow our young manager."
Like lightning the tale which Dudley had narrated had flown round the circle of gauchos, and had been interpreted to those who could not understand English. Their grinning faces showed their pleasure, and now, at Mr. Blunt's words, they hung back sheepishly at first, fearful in the case of every man that he would be selected to guard the prisoner; while, as the call came for ten to follow Dudley, some thirty-four pair of heels drove as many spurs into the horses, causing them to bound forward in a mass.
Mr. Blunt laughed. "That is the result of popularity," he said, smiling at Dudley. "Some obtain fame in one way, some in another. It would appear that my manager has a reputation as a leader and a fighter. Come, lads? ten only are required. I did not ask for thirty-four."
He took Dudley by the sleeve, and together they rode away from the men, who quickly settled the question. Five minutes later the two parties were crossing the pampas at a gallop, while in rear of them stood three solitary horsemen, one bound to his mount, crest-fallen and desperate, while the other two, tall, well-set-up gauchos, gazed after their comrades with envious eyes, and then turned to scowl at their prisoner.
"To think," growled one of them, "that you and I are left behind because of this hound. Tales have been spreading, and, if they are true, it is this fellow who has sent the Indians to us so often, and who has had our master attacked down in the settlements. And now he keeps us here, swinging our heels, when we should have been with our comrades paying off the scores we owe to these robbers."
His comrade nodded with energy. He quite agreed that this last offence was an enormity, and scowled at Antonio in no very friendly manner.
"Pampas law for him," he said, rolling a cigarette. "There's a tree down by the corral which will bear his weight. To-morrow, perhaps, he will be dangling."
The sky was getting brighter away to the east as Dudley led his little following into the forest. They had ridden with their comrades till the dark line of the trees came into sight, and then, having halted to point out to his employer the precise position of the robbers and the gallant band they surrounded, a position which he remembered because of a patch of trees higher than the others, they had galloped on rapidly so as to reach the horses before the others were discovered. They threaded the narrow track which Dudley had followed, found the clearing into which three of these paths opened, and finally rode slowly along that which led to the clearing in which the fire burned, and where doubtless some of the robbers were even then having a meal.