"You must excuse me for having left you," he said in a voice that sounded rather sadly; "I only perceived, when it was too late, that you had been deprived of your weapons,—at least I suppose that to be the case; for you cannot have forgotten to take them when you left the teocali; and as it is more than probable you will have to defend yourselves before you leave the wilderness, I have been to find arms for you."
"Is that the reason why you left us?"
"Why I left you!" he answered quietly. "I brought you to this place because a few paces off I have one of those caches (hiding places) which we hunters fashion, here and there in the desert, to serve us in time of need. But," he added in a bitter tone, "it has been discovered and pillaged. On that account I whistled for my horse, whose help had become indispensable; for I was obliged to go to another cache at some distance. If it had not been for this mishap, I should have been back at least half an hour ago."
This explanation was given by the hunter without emphasis, and in the tone of a man conscious he was merely relating a simple fact.
He unloaded his horse, and opened the bale. It contained five American rifles, knives, straight swords called machetes, powder, balls, and hatchets.
"Arm yourselves. The rifles are good; they will not fail you when the time to use them arrives."
The Mexicans did not wait to be asked twice; they were soon armed to the teeth.
"Now, at least," said the hunter, "you can defend yourselves like men, instead of letting yourselves be butchered like deer."
"Ah," sighed Doña Hermosa, "I was convinced he would act like this."
"Thanks, señorita," was his response; "thanks for your trust in me."