"You shall have them in a moment."

"Of what do they consist?"

"In quipus, and especially in letters. You know how to read, do you not?"

"Enough to decipher these papers."

"Then all is right; here is the affair," added he, drawing a rather voluminous packet from his alforjas, and handing it to the Indian.

"Thank you," answered the latter; "thank you, and shall soon see you again, eh?"

"Most probably we shall see one another again, even today."

"So much the better; I should be delighted if it were all over."

"And I also."

The two men once more shook hands. The gaucho remounted his horse, and set off; he soon disappeared in the darkness.