"Silence," Andrés Garote whispered, as he placed his hand on her mouth; "we are at the entrance of a cavern, and these subterraneous passages are excellent sound conductors; Red Cedar has a fine ear, and though he is so far from you at this moment, you must fear his overhearing you."
They gazed for a long time at this flickering light; at times a shadow passed before this star, and its brilliancy was eclipsed for some minutes. The gambusino, when he judged that their curiosity was satisfied, touched them on the arm, and led them gently away.
"Come," he said to them.
They began ascending again. At the end of about half an hour he made them stop a second time, and stretched out his arm. "Look attentively," he said to them.
"Oh," Don Pablo said, at the end of a minute, "smoke."
In fact a slight jet of white smoke seemed to issue from the ground, and rose in a thin and transparent spiral to the sky.
"There is no smoke without fire," the gambusino said, with a grin; "I showed you the fire first, now there is the smoke. Are you convinced? Have we found the tiger's lair?"
"Yes," they said together.
"That is better than sleeping, eh?" he went on, with a slightly triumphant accent.
"What are we to do now?" White Gazelle quickly interrupted him.