But all remained quiet about them; no change was perceptible in the landscape, which looked as lonely as ever.
Nevertheless, in a few minutes, more whistling, similar to the first they had heard, was audible in different directions at the same lime, answering evidently to a signal which had been made.
At that moment the unknown reappeared; his face pale, his gestures constrained, and a prey to the most vivid emotion.
"It is you who have willed this," said he; "I wash my hands of what may happen."
"Tell us, at all events, what peril threatens us," replied Don Pedro, in agitation.
"Ah!" said the other, in a voice of subdued passion,
"Do I know it myself? And what would it aid you to know? Would you be the less lost for that? You refused to believe me. Now, pray to God to help you; for never danger threatened you more terrible than that which hangs over your head!"
"But why these perpetual reservations? Be frank; we are men, vive Dios, and, great as the peril may be, we shall know how to meet it bravely."
"You are mad! Can one man oppose a hundred? You will fall, I tell you; but it is to yourself alone you must address your reproaches; it is yourself who have persisted in braving the Tigercat in his lair."
"Alas," cried the hacendero in accents of horror, "what name is that you have uttered?"