Don Pablo looked at him a moment with admiration.
"Come," said he, "you have acted your parts well; you are well matched; do not let us say any more about it; it is quite agreed that you are model brothers."
At this moment Mataseis returned; he had made a poultice of coca leaves, and had placed it on his face, tying it on with a strip tom from a blanket; so that he had an extraordinarily original appearance.
"Let us talk then," said Don Pablo, seating himself on the grass, and making a sign to the gauchos to take their seats near him.
"Let us talk," replied the latter.
[CHAPTER XVI.]
A CONSPIRACY.
The sun, which had been nearly on the level of the horizon, soon disappeared; his disc was no longer visible through the branches; the evening breeze in fitful gusts agitated the foliage, and the birds rapidly regained their roost for the night. The atmosphere was sensibly refreshed, and though light remained on the plain, the thickets and shrubbery were already shadowed by twilight. The mosquitoes buzzed by myriads over the ponds and lakes, the greenish and stagnant water of which was agitated by the movements of the reptiles. Already some dull growls had troubled the silence of the desert, announcing the awakening of the animals, saluting, on emerging from their secret lairs, the setting of the sun.