[CHAPTER IX]
BEFORE THE FIGHT.
As soon as they had set foot on the platform, Don Tadeo and the count sank exhausted. Curumilla left them undisturbed for a few minutes to recover their breath, then requested them to look around them. Beneath their feet was the Canyon del Rio Seco, with its imposing granite masses and its thick clumps of verdure.
"Oh!" Louis exclaimed, enthusiastically, "how splendid this is!"
Don Tadeo, accustomed from his infancy to such sublime panoramas, only cast an absent glance over the magnificent prospect. His mind was intent upon his daughter, the beloved child whom he hoped soon to deliver.
"Are we going to remain here long?" he asked.
"For a few minutes," Curumilla replied.
"What is the name of this place?" the count said.
"It is the peak which the palefaces call the Corcovado." said the Ulmen.