"Dismount," he said; Curumilla setting the example, which his companions followed.
"Let us unsaddle our horses," the chief continued. "We shall not want the poor beasts for some time. I know a place, not far off, where they will be comfortably sheltered, and where we can find them when we come back—if we do come back," he added.
"Holloa, chief!" Louis exclaimed, "Are you beginning to be apprehensive?"
"Och!" the Ulmen replied, "my brother is young, his blood is very warm; Curumilla is older, he is wise."
"Thanks," the young man said, "it is impossible to tell a friend that he is a fool more politely."
The three men continued to ascend, dragging their horses after them by their bridles, which was no easy matter in a narrow path where the animals stumbled at every step. At length, however, they gained the entrance of a natural grotto, into which they coaxed the noble creatures. They supplied them with food, and then closed up the entrance of the grotto with large stones, leaving only a narrow passage of air.
"Now let us begone," said Curumilla.
They threw their guns upon their shoulders, and set forward with a resolute step. After three quarters of an hour of this painful ascent the Ulmen stopped.
"This is the place," he said.
The three men had attained the summit of an elevated peak, from the top of which an immense and splendid panorama lay unrolled before their eyes.