"Hum! Do you think it will carry on that game much longer?"
"No, because it must be beginning to grow thirsty; three feelings are struggling in it at this moment—hunger, thirst, and fear; fear will prove the weakest, you may be assured; and it is only a question of time."
"I can see it; for nearly four hours we have been on the watch."
"Patience; the worst is over, and we shall soon have some news, I feel assured."
"May Heaven hear you, for I am dying of cold; is it a large animal?"
"Yes, its prints are wide, but, if I am not greatly mistaken, it has paired."
"Do you think so?"
"I could almost bet it, it is impossible for a single jaguar to do so much mischief in less than a week; from what Don Hilario told me, it seems that ten head of the Ganada have disappeared."
"In that case," Quoniam said, rubbing his hands gleefully, "we shall have a fine hunt."
"That is what I suppose; and it must have whelps to come so near the hacienda."