So saying, he dismounts, as do the others; and leaving their horses to stand at rest, all three commence examination of the tract which shows stirred and trampled.
They see hoof-marks of horses—scores of them—all over the ground for the space of several perches, and pointed in every direction; among them also the foot-prints of men, with here and there smooth spots as if where human bodies had reclined. That both men and horses had been there is evident, and that they had gone off by the trace running westward, equally so. But how they came thither is a question not so easily answered; since the same halting-place shows no track of either horse or man leading towards it!
Odd all this might appear, indeed inexplicable, to one unacquainted with the nature of a dust-storm, or unaware of the incidents which have preceded. But to Gaspar, the gaucho, everything is as clear as daylight; and, after a short inspection of the “sign,” he thus truthfully interprets it:—
“The redskins had just got thus far, when the tormenta came on. It caught them here, and that’s why we see these smooth patches; they lay down to let it blow by. Well; there’s one good turn it’s done us: we now know the exact time they passed this spot; or, at all events, when they were on it. That must have been just after we entered the cave, and were engaged with the tigre—I mean it Number 1. No doubt by the time we tackled the old Tom, they were off again. As, you see, muchachos, some little rain has sprinkled that trail since they passed over it, which shows they went away in the tail of that terrific shower. So,” he adds, turning round, and stepping back towards his horse, “there’s nothing more to be done but ride off after them; which we may now do as rapidly as our animals can carry us.”
At this they all remount, and setting their horses’ heads to the Indian trail, proceed upon it at a brisk pace; no longer travelling tandem, but broadly abreast.
Chapter Forty Two.
Picking up Pearls.
From their new point of departure, the trackers have no difficulty about the direction; this traced out for them, as plain as if a row of finger-posts, twenty yards apart, were set across the salitral. For at least a league ahead they can distinguish the white list, where the saline efflorescence has been turned up, and scattered about by the hoofs of the Indian horses.