"Thank you, uncle," the young girl remarked joyfully, as she leaped from her horse.
"I will be answerable for her," the trapper said frankly; "fear nothing."
"I fear nothing when trusting her to your care, my friend," the general replied.
"Thanks!" And making a sign to Doña Luz, Black Elk disappeared with her among the bushes and trees.
When they had gone some distance, the trapper stopped. After listening and looking around him on all sides, he stooped towards the young girl, and laying his hand lightly on her right arm, said,—
"Listen!"
Doña Luz stood still, uneasy and trembling.
The trapper perceived her agitation.
"Be not afraid," he rejoined; "I am an honest man; you are in as much safety here alone with me in this desert as if you were in the Cathedral of Mexico, at the foot of the high altar."
The young girl cast a furtive glance at the trapper. In spite of his singular costume, his face wore such an expression of frankness, his eye was so soft and limpid, when fixed upon her, that she felt completely reassured.