They dashed out of the thicket which had offered them so sure a protection, and entered the plain.
The sky became lighter every moment; and although the sun was still beneath the horizon, its influence was beginning to be felt. Nature appeared to shake off her nocturnal sleep; some birds were already awake under the soft leaves, and preluding, by soft twittering, their matin chant; the dark outlines of savage animals bounded through the tall dew-laden grass; and the birds of prey, expanding their mighty wings, rose high in æther, as if they wished to go and meet the sun, and salute its advent: in a word, it was no longer night, without being fully day.
"Ah! What I do see at the foot of that mound?" Don Sancho suddenly said.
"Where?" Birbomono asked.
"There, straight in front of us."
The Major-domo placed his hands over his eyes, and looked attentively.
"¡Viva Dios!" he exclaimed, at the end of a moment, "It is a man!"
"A man?"
"On my word, yes, Excellency; and, as far as I can distinguish at this distance, a Carib savage."
"Zounds! What is he doing on that mound?"