"Hum! If the chief says so, it must be true; he is too experienced a warrior to be deceived. What is to be done?"
"We have nothing to fear from fire here," the capataz observed.
"We have not," Don Louis quickly exclaimed; "but the inhabitants of the hacienda?"
"Not more than we," Belhumeur replied. "See all the trees have been cut down, and rooted up to too great a distance from the colony for the fire to reach it; it is only a stratagem employed by the Indians to arrive without being counted."
"Still I am of this caballero's opinion," the capataz said; "we should do well to warn the hacienda."
"There is something even more urgent to do," Don Louis said, "and that is to send off a clever scout to learn positively with whom we have to deal, who our enemies are, if they are numerous."
"One does not prevent the other," Belhumeur remarked. "In a case like the present, two precautions are worth more than one. This is my advice. Eagle-head will reconnoitre the foe, while we proceed to the hacienda."
"All of us?" the capataz observed.
"No; your position here is secure, and you will be able, in the event of an attack, to render important service. Don Louis and I will proceed alone to the colony. Remember that you must not show yourselves under any pretext. Whatever may happen, await the order for acting. Is that agreed to?"
"Go, caballeros; I will not betray your confidence."