The temperature was sultry, the sky blue, not a breath of wind was stirring: on the sand might still be seen the deep footsteps of the count's free company.
"We are on the right road," the hacendero said; "their trail is visible."
"Yes," the Tigrero muttered, "and it will remain so till the temporal is unchained."
"Then," Doña Anita remarked, "may Heaven come to our aid!"
"Amen!" all the travellers exclaimed, crossing themselves, instinctively responding to the secret voice which each of us has in the depths of our heart, and which foreboded to their misfortune.
Several hours passed away: the weather remained fine. At times the travellers saw, at a great distance above their heads, innumerable swarms of birds proceeding toward the hot regions, or las tierras calientes, as they are called in that country, and hastening to cross the desert. But everywhere nothing was visible save a grey and melancholy sand, or gloomy rocks wildly piled on each other like the ruins of an unknown and antediluvian world, found at times in remote solitudes.
The caravan, when night set in, camped under the shelter of a block of granite, lighting a poor fire, hardly sufficient to protect them from the icy cold which, in these regions, weighs upon nature at night. Don Martial rode incessantly on the sides of the small band, watching over their safety with filial solicitude, never remaining a moment at rest, in spite of the urging of Don Sylva and the entreaties of the maiden.
"No!" he constantly answered; "On my vigilance your safety depends. Let me act as I think proper. I should never pardon myself if I allowed you to be surprised."
Gradually the traces left by the troops became less visible, and at length disappeared entirely. One evening, at the moment the travellers were forming their camp at the foot of an immense rock, which formed a species of roof over their heads, the hacendero pointed out to Don Martial a thin white vapour, which stood out prominently against the blue sky.
"The sky is losing its brightness," he said; "we shall probably soon have a change of weather. God grant that a hurricane does not menace us!"