They galloped after the fleeing Indians, and very soon were within three hundred yards of the unfortunate wretches. There they pulled rein and watched as the disconsolate warriors made off. Some were on foot, and limped along at the tails of the horses, while numbers sat huddled on the beasts which they had managed to capture during the conflict. Some of the horses staggered under the weight of three men, while there was not one that did not carry at least two.
"They would surrender to a man if we were to follow," said Dudley, noticing the frantic efforts made by the Indians to increase their distance, and their appearance of fatigue. "Give them a shout, lads. Now," he went on, when the gauchos had sent the enemy on their way with a shout of defiance, "we will see to the cattle, and then report to Mr. Blunt. He went down to the port the day before yesterday, promising to be back this evening."
When Dudley reached the house at dusk he found his employer waiting for him, and he promptly made him acquainted with the events of the past few hours.
"It is a fine tale, and makes my blood warm towards these gallant gauchos," said Mr. Blunt when he had finished. "They have done magnificently, and you too, Dudley. Yes, I have no doubt who led them. Answer me. Was the plan not yours?"
Dudley admitted the fact with heightened color.
"I said as much. Then my neighbors and I have to thank you for a very fine victory, which will bring peace and security perhaps for many a long day. But we must not be over sanguine. The man who believes that he has shaken the courage of a treacherous foe such as these Indians, and does not count on their spirit of revenge, lays himself open to an unexpected attack and to annihilation. We must not forget that we are a buffer rancho as it were. That we lie between the Indians and our fellow ranchers, and that we must nearly always bear the brunt of the attack."
"Then why not organize, sir?" demanded Dudley. "As far as I can gather, each grazier out on the pampas looks to himself for protection. Too often they are content to lose beasts, taking such losses as a matter of course. Now if you and the others were to organize. If you had some signal which would draw the attention of all, some system of messengers, then you would be able to laugh at the Indians. Why not also build forts close to each corral?"
Mr. Blunt looked up sharply. He was a man not altogether lacking in original ideas, but was often content to take things as he found them. He had put up with Indian raids in the past as a matter of course, as an evil to which all ranchers were liable. He was always ready to go to the help of others, and, indeed, would not have hesitated to call in the succor of his friends. But then he owned an outlying estancia, peculiarly open to attack, and there had never been time to call in help. Dudley's late effort was the most brilliant performance of which he had heard. And now the lad proposed an alliance with others, and the building of forts.
"What else?" demanded Mr. Blunt.
"I should arrange to muster two or three hundred men at the first sign of an Indian invasion, and then I should not be content to beat them off; I should follow them into their own country."