At the end of a few instants, he raised his head.
"Well, perhaps," he murmured, "it would be better so;" and fixing a piercing look upon his niece, he said, "it would give you pleasure, then, to accompany me?"
"Yes, uncle, yes!" she replied.
"Well, then, get ready, my dear child; henceforth you shall accompany me in my excursions."
She arose from her seat with a bound, kissed her uncle warmly, and gave orders for her horse to be saddled.
A quarter of an hour later, Doña Luz and her uncle, preceded by the Babbler, and followed by two lanceros, quitted the camp, and plunged into the forest.
"Which way would you wish to direct your course, today, general?" the guide asked.
"Conduct me to the huts of those trappers you spoke of yesterday."
The guide bowed in sign of obedience. The little party advanced slowly and with some difficulty along a scarcely traced path, where, at every step, the horses became entangled in the creeping plants, or stumbled over the roots of trees above the level of the ground.
Doña Luz was gay and happy. Perhaps in these excursions she might meet with Loyal Heart.