"Yes, I was ignorant of it," cried the Pincheyra. "Do you swear it?"
"Pardieu! I have known him so long that I cannot be deceived."
The partisan darted a fierce look at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but changing his mind, he turned suddenly, and proceeded hastily towards his men, encamped around the tambo.
"To horse! To horse!" cried he to them.
"I believe," murmured the Frenchman, following him with a searching glance, "that the first one will free me from this one, unless it should be that this man should deliver me from the first."
[CHAPTER V.]
FREE—PERHAPS.
After his Machiavellian soliloquy, the Frenchman, rubbing his hands, advanced cautiously towards the tambo, following with a gloomy countenance the preparations for departure being made by the Pincheyras.