Out upon the prairie the horses are still awake and busy. We can hear them stamping their hoofs and cropping the rich pasture. Erect forms are seen standing at intervals along the line. These are the guards of the caballada.
Chapter Twenty Six.
Three Days in the Trap.
Our attention was now turned to our own situation. Dangers and difficulties suddenly presented themselves to our minds.
“What if they should stay here to hunt?”
The thought seemed to occur to all of us at the same instant, and we faced each other with looks of apprehension and dismay.
“It is not improbable,” said Seguin, in a low and emphatic voice. “It is plain they have no supply of meat, and how are they to pass to the south without it? They must hunt here or elsewhere. Why not here?”
“If so, we’re in a nice trap!” interrupted a hunter, pointing first to the embouchure of the defile and then to the mountain. “How are we to get out? I’d like to know that.”