"Who found us, Pietro. But what shall we do now? These cattle have upset my arrangements."
"They have changed a great defeat into a huge disaster, señor," answered the gaucho seriously. "I told you that there were four hundred of the Indians, and they knew that there were not more than fifty of us, and also that we could not fetch reinforcements before to-morrow. You took them utterly by surprise, and no doubt cut them up badly when you galloped through; but they would have rallied. They were forced to do so, for their horses had stampeded as these cattle are doing. I say that they would have recovered from the fright, and then our work would have been before us. But now——"
"The cattle have removed that danger."
"The herd has stamped the Indian camp out of existence. Many men are being killed as we talk. It is a disaster for them; for us it is a magnificent victory the news of which will spread three hundred and more miles on all sides, and will fill the settlers with delight and courage. The Indians will be long before they recover their courage. I know that I am speaking the truth, my master. The morning will show you that these men are gone. Some will be mounted, and every horse will carry two, or even three; but the camp will tell its tale. The señor has but to listen to the shouting."
Above the bellows of the stampeding oxen came the shrieks of men in distress, while in all directions the Indians could be heard calling to one another.
"We could read them an even more severe lesson," said Dudley. "If, as you say, they have lost many of their horses, we could catch them up with ease and harry every foot of their retirement. Indeed I think it would be as well to follow and let them see how completely we command the situation. Perhaps it would do good in the future if we captured some, and explained that such an attempt again would meet with even worse punishment."
"I advise that we rest satisfied," was Pietro's answer, after some moments' consideration. "It is true that we might easily cut them up again; but then they might be able to offer some resistance and kill some of our number. Better let them see us drawn up together and watching their flight than interfere further. Besides, we have the cattle to think about. They must be collected. You may depend upon it that not one of the Indians here to-day will wish to pay us another visit unless helped by large numbers of comrades. They may raid other ranchos when they have got over their fright, but they will hardly come back here, señor, unless they are helped as I have said, and are burning for revenge."
Dudley and his men slipped from their horses when there was no longer any fear of the cattle turning their way, and they squatted on the pampas, and discussed the recent engagement. The gauchos were filled to the brim with excitement and pride. They had never been in such a fight before, and the memory of their charge made their pulses stir still, and brought a flush to their dusky cheeks. Then they reflected that this Indian defeat would be the talk of the province, and their conduct would be praised by one and all. It was worth the risk they had run, and if their young leader had asked them to try again, they would have fallen in with his request willingly.
When day dawned, and the rolling pampas was disclosed to view, the sweeping nature of the defeat from which the enemy had suffered became more apparent. Fortune had backed up the dash of the gauchos, and the stampeding cattle had completed the work commenced by Dudley and his men. The camp, with its numerous fires, was trodden and stamped out of existence. There was a dull trail of bruised and crushed grass running right over it and overlapping it far on either side, a trail which went on into the distance, where the scattered herd could now be seen, grazing peacefully. And along the length of that dark line were numbers of huddled figures, the Indians who had fallen, some to the bullets of the gauchos, some ridden down by their horses, but the greater number overwhelmed by the mad rush of the herd. Five miles away a sad gang of fugitives were riding fast from the rancho, and as Pietro had said, the Indians had but few horses amongst them.
"Mount!" shouted Dudley. "Now we will follow those fellows, and just let them see that we are still fresh and ready. But we will not touch them unless they attempt to retaliate. I want them to see us and learn the numbers of those who attacked them."