"Arequipa. But I don't think he can reach it. The Indians bar the direct route, and his only way out, as far as I can see, is by taking to the mountains at Copari."
"My horse won't face a hill just now."
Castro smiled, saying, "The pass near Copari is too rugged for horses at any time; the climbing must all be done on foot," and he smiled again at my gesture of despair.
At ten o'clock Plaza was compelled to halt, three-fourths of the men being tired as dogs, while several horses had foundered on the road. He was very excited, having heard from the last Spaniard picked up that Santalla, thoroughly worn out, was barely two hours' march in front.
He glanced wrathfully at his tired troopers. There they lay, five minutes after the order to halt, sleeping like dead men, and for the time being certainly of no greater use.
"Caramba!" cried he, "it makes me wild! Two hours, Crawford! Do you hear? And look at them! The prize will slip through our fingers after all!"
"Hardly that, captain," I murmured sleepily, "as it has never been in our hands."
"Santalla will have to rest as well," remarked the guide, "so the scales will balance."
"But I don't want them to balance!" cried Plaza testily.
To give the captain his due, he was greatly in earnest, and willing to do himself all that he required of his men. He showed this plainly two hours after we had resumed the pursuit, when his horse suddenly dropped from exhaustion. A dozen troopers at once made as if to dismount, but he ordered them to keep their seats.