"The Paso de Palo Muerto; I know it."
"Good. You will hide yourself there, on the right and left, in the bushes; and when the conducta passes, you will attack it on all sides at once; it is impossible for it to escape you, if, as I suppose, your arrangements are properly made."
"Yes, the spot is most favourable for an attack. But who guarantees that the conducta will pass through this gorge?"
"I do."
"What do you mean?"
"Certainly, as I shall act as guide."
"Hum! We no longer understand one another."
"Excuse me, we do, perfectly. I will leave you, and go to the Captain, to whom I will deliver the General's dispatch; he will be compelled to take me for his guide, whether we like it or not; and I will lead him into your hands as surely as a novillo taken to the shambles."
The Jaguar gave the soldier a glance which seemed trying to read the bottom of his heart.
"You are a daring fellow," he said to him, "but I fancy you settle events a little too much as you would like them. I do not know you; I see you to-day for the first time, and, excuse my frankness, it is to arrange an act of treachery. Who answers for your good faith? If I am foolish enough to let you go quietly, what assures me that you will not turn against me?"