"I assure you, general—" the other began.
"Silence, you miserable spy!" the general replied; "You wished to sell me to my enemies, but God has not permitted the execution of so black a project."
The senator was annihilated.
"Take away this man," said Antinahuel.
The poor wretch struggled in vain in the hands of the Indian warriors, who seized him roughly, and dragged him out of the toldo, in spite of his cries and tears. Black Stag led them to the foot of an enormous espino, whose thick branches formed a wide shadow on the hill. When they arrived there, Don Ramón made a last and powerful effort, escaped from the hands of his surprised guards, and darted away like a madman up the steep acclivity of the mountain.
But this wild race lasted only a few minutes, and quite exhausted his strength. When the Indian warriors overtook him, which they easily did, terror had already nearly killed him. The warriors placed the noose of a lasso round his neck, and then threw it up over the principal branch of the espino. But he was dead when they hanged him—fright had killed him. It was written that poor Don Ramón Sandias, the victim of a foolish ambition, should never see Casa Azul again.
[CHAPTER XXVII.]
THE AUCA-COYOG.
The tragical death of the senator was only the consequence of his well-known pusillanimity. If the general had believed it possible to place any reliance upon his word, he would have released him immediately.