"Where can he be?" the Colonel remarked, suddenly turning thoughtful.
"Perhaps we shall learn only too soon," the Canadian replied with a shake of the head, foreboding misfortune.
All at once, and as if chance had wished to justify the hunter's sad forebodings, an immense noise was heard in the hacienda, amid which could be distinguished cries of distress, and a well-sustained musketry fire. Then, a sinister glare rose above the Larch-tree, which it coloured with the hues of fire.
"Forward! Forward!" the Colonel cried; "The enemy have got into the fort!"
At the first glance, the young officer understood what had taken place, and the truth at once struck his mind. All rushed toward the hacienda, inside which an obstinate contest seemed to be raging. They soon reached the gates, which, fortunately for them, still remained in the hands of their comrades, and rushed into the patio, where a horrible spectacle offered itself to their sight. This is what had happened.
At the moment when White Scalper prepared to break in the door with the lever, the clamour made by the Mexicans in firing the camp, reached the ears of the Texans assembled in the grotto.
"Rayo de Dios!" the Jaguar shouted; "What is the meaning of that?"
"Probably the Mexicans are attacking your camp," the old man quietly answered.
The young Chief gave him an ugly look.
"We are betrayed," said John Davis, as he cocked a pistol, and pointed it at the old man.