The girl bounded on to the bag and seized it.
"Now, good-bye," the Pirate said; "my work is accomplished on this earth."
And seizing the pistol Red Cedar had left him, he blew out his brains, fixing on the girl a glance of strange meaning. But she did not seem to notice this tragical end, for she was tearing the bag with her teeth. When she succeeded in opening it, she unfolded the papers it contained, and hurriedly perused them. Suddenly she uttered a shriek of despair, and fell back, clutching the letters in her hand.
The Indians and pirates ran up to help her, but, quicker than lightning, a horseman darted from the chaparral, reaching the girl without checking the speed of his horse; he bent down, raised her up in his powerful arms, threw her across his saddle-bow, and passed like a tornado through the astounded spectators.
"We shall meet again soon, Red Cedar," he said in a loud voice, as he passed the squatter.
Before the latter and his comrades could recover from their surprise, the horseman had disappeared in the distance in a cloud of dust.
The horseman was Bloodson!
Red Cedar shook his head sadly.
"Can what the priests say be true?" he muttered; "Is there really a Providence?"