PREPARATIONS FOR A RESCUE.
We will now leave the Comanche camp for a season, and return to the Hacienda del Río, belonging to Count de Melgosa, whither we have before taken the reader, and to which the count ordered the wounded man to be conveyed. When they approached the hacienda, the Canadian remarked to the count that perhaps Don Melchior, owing to his weakness, could not be able to stand crossing the stream, and the ascent of the hill, which was rendered more fatiguing by the steepness of the path that led to the front gate. The count began laughing.
"What is it that amuses your Excellency?" the Canadian asked.
"Well," the count answered, "I am laughing at your simplicity, my friend."
"My simplicity!"
"Yes; I fancied you better acquainted with strategics."
"What do you mean?"
"Hang it all! You ought to know that a good general never lets himself be besieged without having the means to break the blockade when he thinks proper."
"Ah, ah!" the hunter said with a smile, "I suspected it; but no matter. Go on, Excellency."