Antinahuel looked at her with a suspicious eye. The Linda smiled.
"Do you promise me?" he said, in a hoarse voice.
"On my soul I do," she replied.
In the meantime Doña Rosario—her arm elevated and her body bent forward—awaited the denouement of this frightful scene. With a facility which the Indians alone possess, Antinahuel composed his countenance so as entirely to change its expression.
"My sister will pardon me," he said, in a soft voice; "I was mad, reason is restored to my mind."
After again bowing to the young lady, who did not know to what to attribute this sudden change, he left the toldo.
Upon reflection, Antinahuel resolved to strike his camp and depart.
The Linda and Doña Rosario were sent in advance, under the guard of some mosotones. The young girl, weakened by the terrible emotions she had undergone, could scarcely sit her horse; a burning fever had seized her. "I am thirsty—so thirsty!" she murmured.
At a sign from the Linda one of the mosotones approached her, and unfastened a gourd.
"Let my sister drink," he said.