"Pardon me, my lord; I have, on the contrary, followed that track for more than three hours."
"Then you have news to give me?"
"I have, my lord, but not what you expect."
"Explain yourself, my friend; my head is a little fatigued."
"Here is the fact, in a few words, my lord. After having, as I have told you, followed for three hours, without the slightest deviation, the track of Malco—a track, let it be said to his honour, thoroughly devious, and as to which everybody but myself would inevitably have been deceived, so skilfully was it made—I arrived on the borders of a forest, into which I did not hesitate to enter. Absorbed by the care I took in not losing this frightfully involved track, I did not care to look much around me, so that I suddenly found myself in an Indian encampment."
"An encampment of Indians so near us!" cried the marquis, with surprise.
"Yes, my lord, of Indian bravos, and moreover, the bravest of this country."
"H'm—already!"
"Yes, I found myself suddenly face to face with three Indians, of whom one was a Guaycurus, the other a Payagoas; as to the other, he was simply a Monduruka slave."
"Oh, oh! That is serious for us."