"I shall be in the advance guard, my friend, in order to reconnoitre the country we must pass through."
"You are mad, my good Tyro; you know very well, and you have frequently told me so, that we have now nothing to fear. We are far from the Valle del Tambo, and the haunts of the Pincheyras. What is the use, then, of this superfluity of precaution?"
"My friend, although I, like yourself," coldly answered the Guarani, "am convinced that we are not threatened with any of the catastrophes which so long have been suspended over us, nevertheless, it would be terrible for us to fail at the very moment when we think we are safe; and as, in this matter, it is my honour which is at stake, let me, I beg, act in my own way."
"Be it so," said the young man; "do as you like, run, look, watch; I give you full liberty of action. We have with us two ladies whom I have sworn to save, and I have no right to be imprudent. Go, but do not be too long."
"As short a time as possible," answered he, bowing.
And putting his horse into a gallop, he darted forward, leaving the travellers to continue their journey.
"What has Tyro been doing to you, and why does he leave us thus?" asked the marchioness.
"He has been telling me, Madame," he answered, bowing to her, "the route we ought to take, and he has set off in advance as our trusty pioneer."
"Always devoted," replied the marchioness, smiling, "always faithful."
"Like his master," added, in a low voice, Doña Eva.