"Here he is!" the bombero exclaimed; "His skull is fearfully fractured; his hand grasps a pistol; but his face still retains an expression of haughty defiance."
A silent tear rolled down Major Bloomfield's bronzed face.
"Why was my old friend fated thus to die in an ambuscade when his fortress is besieged?" the Englishman murmured.
"God is the Master," Pedrito remarked, philosophically.
"He has performed his duty, so let us perform ours."
They raised the body of Don Antonio Valverde, and then the whole squadron returned to Carmen.
Nocobotha, however, we must remark, had only wished to make the colonel prisoner in order to treat with the colonists, and shed as little blood as possible, and he bitterly regretted the governor's death. While the gauchos were rejoicing at the success of the trap, Nocobotha, gloomy and dissatisfied, returned to his camp.
Mercedes and Doña Concha, on seeing the toldo of the great chief unoccupied, could not repress a sigh of satisfaction. They had the time to recover from their emotion in his absence, and prepare for the interview which Concha desired to have with him. They had removed their Indian garb in all haste, and resumed their Spanish attire. By an accident that favoured the plans of Don Sylvio's betrothed wife, she was lovelier and more seductive than usual; her pallor had a touching and irresistible grace about it, and her eyes flashed eager flames of love or hatred.
When Nocobotha arrived in front of the toldo, the matchi walked up to him.
"What do you want?" the chief asked.