Great, then, was Hubert's delight, when upon looking round he saw that Mr. Hardy had raised himself with his arms.
"What has happened?" he said in a confused manner.
"Are you hurt, papa?" Hubert asked, with tears of joy running down his face; "you frightened us both so dreadfully. Please drink a little water, and I will pour a little over your face."
Mr. Hardy drank some water, and Hubert dashed some more in his face. "That will do, Hubert," he said with a smile; "you will drown me. There, I am all right now. I was stunned, I suppose. There you are," and he got up on to his feet; "you see I am not hurt. And now, where are the Indians?"
"There, papa," said the boys with pardonable triumph, as they pointed to thirteen dead Indians.
Their father could not speak. He grasped their hands warmly. He saw how great the danger must have been, and how gallantly his boys must have borne themselves.
"The Indians may be back in a few minutes, papa. Your horse is dead, but there is one of the Indians' standing by his dead master. Let us catch him and shift the saddle." The animal, when they approached it, made no move to take flight, and they saw that his master's foot, as he fell, had become entangled in the lasso, and the well-trained beast had stood without moving. In three minutes the saddles were transferred, and the party again ready for fight or flight.
"What next, papa?"
"We turned to the right, and rather toward home, when we started; so the Indian halting-place is to the southeast of us, is it not?"
"Yes, papa; as near as may be," Charley said, making out the points with some difficulty on the pocket compass, one of which they each carried, as the danger of being lost upon the pathless pampas is very great.