Could any of them observe the mestizo at this midnight hour, skulking away from the house; could they follow and watch his further movements, they might indulge in something more than a surmise about his fidelity; indeed, be convinced he is a traitor.
After getting about half-a-mile from the mission walls, he makes stop on the edge of attract of timber lying between—its outer edge, open towards the river’s bank, and the bluffs beyond.
There, crouching down by the side of a flat stone, he pours some gunpowder upon it, from a horn taken out of his pocket.
This done, he draws forth a box of lucifer matches; scrapes one across the stone, and sets the powder ablaze.
It flashes up in bright glare, illumining the darkness around.
A second, time he repeats this manoeuvre; a third, and a fourth; and on, till, for the tenth time, powder has been burnt.
Then turning away from the spot, he makes back towards the dwelling-house, entering it by the way he went out, and stealthily as before.
No one within its walls has been witness to the pyrotechnic display.
For all, it has not been unobserved. The Indian videttes, stationed on the far-off bluff, see it. See, and furthermore, seem to accept it as a signal—a cue for action. What but this could have caused them to spring upon the backs of their horses, forsake their post of observation, and gallop off to the bivouac of their comrades; which they do, soon as noting that the tenth flash is not followed by another?
Surely must it be a signal, and preconcerted?