The warriors marched in silence; they looked in the darkness like a crowd of phantoms escaped from a sepulchre, hastening to accomplish a work without a name, accursed of God, which night alone could veil with its shadow.
At midnight the word "halt" was pronounced in a low voice.
They encamped to await news of the scouts.
That is to say, everyone, whether well or ill placed, laid himself down exactly where he happened to be, in order to be ready at the first signal.
No fire was lighted.
The Indians, who depend upon their scouts, never post sentinels when they are upon the warpath.
Two hours passed away.
The camp of the Mexicans was not more than three miles distant at most; but, before venturing nearer, the chief wished to ascertain whether the route were free or not; in case it should not be so, what were the numbers of the enemy who barred the passage, and what plan of attack they had adopted.
At the moment when Loyal Heart, a prey to impatience, was preparing to go himself to ascertain what was going on, a rustling, almost imperceptible at first, but which by degrees increased in enormous proportions, was heard in the bushes, and two men appeared.
The first was one of the Comanche scouts, the other was the doctor.