"We are here, though, eh?"
"That is not a reason; we are at home, or nearly so."
Don Zeno smiled with irony.
"That is possible; however, till we find to the contrary, let us act as if we were certain of meeting someone."
"If there were other travellers in the neighbourhood, would they not find themselves in the same situation as us, if not worse; and what you take for cries to help us may probably be, on the contrary, cries of distress."
"That is why we ought to assure ourselves of the truth."
"You are right; answer, then, if you think proper."
"Let us wait for a new cry, in order to assure ourselves as much a possible of the direction we ought to turn to in answering."
"Be it so, let us wait," answered the Pincheyra.
They stretched themselves again on the ground, their ears to the earth, listening with the greatest anxiety.