"Certainly."
"Very well. We shall be killed, I am certain, but the victory will cost our enemies dearly."
Without losing a moment, the captain made his arrangements for the combat.
The Brazilians jumped to the ground, cut the throats of their horses, and with the bodies of the unhappy animals they formed a circle.
The marquis, occupied at this time in speaking with animation to doña Laura, did not perceive this butchery, till it was too late to oppose it.
"What are you doing?" cried he.
"Entrenchments," impassively answered Diogo. "Behind these bodies we shall shelter ourselves."
"But how, then, shall we fly after the combat?"
The Indian burst into a nervous and discordant laugh.
"We shall not fly, inasmuch as we shall be dead."