His two companions took part in his glee.
From want of aliment, the fire was extinguished as rapidly as it had been lighted, and the adventurers turned their eyes towards the plain. They uttered a simultaneous cry of surprise and alarm. By the first rays of the rising sun, and the dying flames of the conflagration, they perceived an Indian camp surrounded by a wide ditch.
"Hum!" said the count, "I do not see how we shall extricate ourselves."
"Look there!" Don Tadeo exclaimed, "it seems as if they wanted to demand a parley. Let us hear what they have to say."
Several men had left the camp, and these men were unarmed. One of them, with his right hand, waved over his head one of those starred flags which serve the Araucanos as standards.
"Let one of you come down," a voice shouted, which Don Tadeo recognised as that of General Bustamente, "in order that we may lay before you our conditions."
"If one of us descends," said the count, "will he be at liberty to rejoin his companions if your proposals are not accepted?"
"Yes," the general replied, "on the honour of a soldier."
"I will come," the young man cried.
He then laid down his arms, and with the activity of a chamois, leaped from rock to rock and at the end of five minutes found himself face to face with the leaders of the enemy. They were four: Antinahuel, Black Stag, Bustamente and another. The general and Antinahuel had wounds in the head and the breast, while Black Stag wore his arm in a sling.