And now the ranchero—for such he seemed to be—was within forty yards of Pierre, when he saw the horse, the man, the levelled rifle—when he recognized the being he most feared on earth—the far-famed Partisan. Wheeling his horse in an instant, by dint of his cruel massive bit, which threw him on his haunches, as if by magic, the terrified wretch turned to fly in the direction of the troopers, who had gone down to the southward, and were not probably even now more than a mile distant.
Satisfied by the man's flight that he was unsupported, Pierre rapidly uncocked his rifle, and threw it to the ground, turning as he did so to forbid Gordon—who had unslung his carbine, and now half suspecting treachery in his guide, was raising it to his eye—from firing.
"Not for your life!" he cried—"not for your life! Cross the river, and ride westward. I will deal with this dog."
And, with the word, gathering up the reins in his left hand, he gave Emperor the spur so suddenly that he bounded six feet into the air, with all his feet together, and dashed at once into his tearing gallop.
Meanwhile the rider had uncoiled the lasso, which hung from the pummel of his saddle, and whirling it around his head in the true Spanish fashion, thundered along in pursuit of the fugitive at a tremendous pace.
The Mexican had, it is true, some fifty yards the start of his pursuer, and knowing that he was riding for his life, or at least for his liberty, plied his long-roweled spurs with desperate energy.
On drove the Emperor, covering sixteen feet at every stroke, and gaining every second upon the trembling fugitive. Now he was within twenty yards distance, when the ranchero, turning in his saddle, deliberately levelled his escopeta at the Partisan.
In another moment his carbine would have been discharged, and the alarm communicated to the other troopers; but ere he could pull the trigger, the Partisan wheeled Emperor by a quick movement of his hand and thigh, and hurled the tremendous missile as sure and almost as swift as his own unerring bullet.
Aimed by an eagle eye, and launched by a master hand, the terrible noose of the lasso encircled both the forelegs of the Mexican horse as he sprang forward, was drawn taut on the instant by the very speed of the trammelled captive, and hurled horse and rider headlong to the earth, with a violence which left both for an instant senseless.
The next moment Pierre leaped from his saddle and sprang upon his captive.