She dug her spurs into her horse's flanks, waved her hand once again, and soon disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Valentine thoughtfully rejoined his friends.
"Well?" Don Miguel said.
"Well!" he replied, "that woman is the most extraordinary creature I ever met."
On getting out of sight of the hunters, White Gazelle checked her horse, and let it assume a pace better suited for those precautions every traveller must take on the prairie. The girl was happy at this moment; she had succeeded not only in saving the man she loved from a terrible danger, but had also restored her character in Valentine's sight. Red Cedar, it was true, had escaped; but this time the lesson had been rude, and the bandit, everywhere tracked like a wild beast, must speedily fall into the hands of those who had an interest in killing him.
She rode along carelessly, admiring the calmness of the prairie and the play of the sunshine on the foliage. Never had the desert appeared to her so glorious—never had greater tranquillity reigned in her mind. The sun, now declining, exaggerated the shadow thrown by the tall trees; the birds, hidden beneath the dense verdure, were singing their evening hymn to the Almighty; when she fancied she saw a man half reclining on the slope of one of those numberless ditches dug by the heavy winter rain. This man, by whose side a horse was standing, was apparently absorbed in an occupation which the girl could not understand, but which puzzled her extremely. Although she rode up quickly, the individual did not put himself out of the way, but calmly continued his incomprehensible task.
At length she was opposite him, and could not restrain a cry of astonishment as she stopped to look at him. The man was playing alone at monte (the Mexican lansquenet) with a pack of greasy cards. This appeared to her so extraordinary that she burst into a loud laugh, and at the sound the man raised his head.
"Aha!" he said, not appearing at all surprised, "I felt certain someone would arrive; that is infallible in this blessed land."
"Nonsense," the girl said, with a laugh; "do you believe it?"
"Canarios! I am sure of it," the other answered; "and you are a proof of it, since here you are."