"I will accompany your friend myself," the chief said, "as far as the entrenchments of Carmen."
"I thank you, Don Torribio."
The two maidens tenderly embraced.
"In an hour," Doña Concha murmured.
"Good," Mercedes answered.
"You are at home here, madam," Nocobotha said to Doña Concha, who accompanied him to the entrance of the toldo.
Mercedes and the chief mounted their horses: the young Spanish girl followed them with eye and ear, and then re-entered the toldo.
"The game has begun, and he must reveal his plans to me."
In a quarter of an hour Mercedes and her guide came within fifty yards of Carmen, without having exchanged a word.
"Here," said Nocobotha, "you no longer require my services."