"Pray go on, señor."
"You are still far from Puebla, where you will not arrive for two hours: be on your guard, and carefully watch the country around you."
"What do you mean, señor?"
"It is impossible to know what may happen: I repeat to you, watch."
"Farewell, señor," the young man replied mechanically as he returned his salute.
After thus courteously taking leave of the party, the guerillero placed himself at the head of his men and galloped off, though not without once more recommending the young man to be prudent by a significant gesture. The count watched him depart with a pensive air.
"What is the matter, friend?" Dominique asked him.
Ludovic told him what Cuéllar had said to him on taking leave.
The vaquero frowned. "There is something in the background," he said; "in any case the advice is good and we should do wrong to neglect it."