"As this is the case," he said, "I will not let you go alone, for these mountains are infested by bandits of every description, whom you may not escape, but with my protection you can pass anywhere."
"I heartily accept the offer; but why do you not come with us to Mexico?"
"That is impossible for the present," the hunter answered pensively; "but be at your ease. I shall not fail to demand the fulfilment of your promise."
"You will be welcome, friend, for we have been acquainted for a long time, and we know that you have ever honourably represented France in America."
Two hours later the Fort of the Chichimèques had returned to its usual solitude; white men and Indians had abandoned it for ever.
[CHAPTER IX.]
MEXICO.
We will now leap over about two months and, leaving the Rocky Mountains, invite the reader to accompany us to the heart of Mexico.
The Spanish Conquistadors selected with admirable tact the sites on which they founded the cities destined to insure their power, and become at a later date the centres of their immense trade, and the entrepôts of their incalculable wealth.