"We had fun, señor," said Pietro, as he wiped the perspiration from his face with his horny fingers and lifted his hat to cool his head. "They came towards us in one big mass, with a few scouts out on their flanks. There were between three and four hundred, perhaps, and by the manner in which they rode it was clear that they imagined that there was nothing to fear. They sent a hundred towards us, and long before these men were in range they began to fire their weapons. We waited till the bullets dropped pretty close, and then we bolted as if we were scared for our lives. Is that as the señor wished?"
"You have done splendidly, Pietro, and must have increased their assurance. They will perhaps be less careful to-night."
"They will set a good watch on the cattle, of that the señor may be sure," was Pietro's answer; "but the main body will camp, and do as I said before. Meat is not too plentiful with these savages, and when they are encamped so close to a herd which belongs to someone else, and when a dozen more or less of the beasts make no difference, they will slaughter enough to satisfy the hunger of a thousand men and will gorge themselves. They do not fear attack. Why should they, when there are such numbers of them?"
"That is just the little point which is going to help us, Pietro," smiled Dudley. "It is the general who despises his adversaries and who fails to set a careful watch who is caught napping on occasion. It happens that a spiritless enemy take a sudden and unaccountable change. Something gives them pluck, though that is never wanting with the gauchos, or someone suggests another course of action which seems worth trying; then your careless and cocksure general has a fall—he and his men get a hiding."
Pietro laughed heartily, and a number of the men near at hand joined in. For all could understand English, and speak a little, while Pietro, Pepito, and a few others could converse fluently. They gathered the meaning of their young leader instantly, and liked the plain way in which he put this last matter.
"The señor is right, as he has been before," laughed Pietro. "If he had not been here we should have had no warning, some of our number would have been killed, and then we should have galloped for the house, leaving the cattle to themselves. Now we see that there is another course. The señor can rely on us, for we would do much to break up these enemies, and check them thoroughly. Does the señor know what happens should a gaucho be captured?"
"Something unpleasant, I imagine," smiled Dudley.
"I will not say. But it is bad. They are brutes, and treat prisoners with frightful cruelty. But we are four miles from the herd. What shall we do next?"
"Eat and smoke, if you can get into some little hollow," was the prompt answer. "When are these fellows asleep?"
"By midnight they will be gorged and drowsy. By two in the morning they will be almost helpless. Their sense of hearing will be dulled, and for the most part they will be fast asleep."