“It was a rich man then—some powerful person—whom you denounced?”
“Yes; a grand señor. It was the old story of the pot of clay broken against the pot of iron. But the desert here has no distinctions; and, by the Virgin of Atocha! I shall prove that before many suns have gone over my head. Ah! if I only had here a certain alcalde of the name of Don Ramon Cohecho, and his damned friend, one Señor Cagatinta, I fancy I should make them pass an uncomfortable quarter of an hour.”
“Very well, then,” said Bois-Rose, seeing the other had finished his narrative; “very well. I quite approve of your intentions—let the journey to Arispe stand over.”
“It is an old story,” said Pepé, in conclusion; “and if for ten years you have been teaching me to handle a rifle, after many more spent in the usage of a carbine in the service of her Catholic majesty, surely I should be able to manage it now. I think I would scarcely miss an object as large as him whom you have seen at the head of those horsemen journeying towards the hacienda.”
“Yes—yes,” replied the Canadian, with a laugh; “but I remember the time, Pepé, when you missed many a buffalo twice as big as he. Nevertheless, I fancy I have made a passable shot of you at last, although you still persist in mistaking the ear of an otter for his eye, which always depreciates the value of the skin. Well, you know that I myself was not brought up on the prairies. I was a sailor for many long years; and perhaps I should have continued one but for—a sad event—a melancholy affair—but what good is there in speaking of that which is no more. Let the past be past! I find the life of the desert something like that on the ocean—once a man has got used to it he cannot easily quit it.”
“Yes,” rejoined Pepé; “the life of the forest and prairie has its charms, and for my part—”
“Hush!” whispered the Canadian, interrupting the speech of his comrade and placing himself in an attitude to listen. “I heard a rustle among the branches. Other ears than mine may be listening to you.”
Pepé cast a glance in the direction whence the sounds had been heard. The dark form of a man was perceived among the trees coming from the direction of the hacienda.
It was evident that the man was not trying to approach by stealth, for his form was erect and he made no attempt to conceal himself behind the branches.
This would have freed the mind of Pepé from all suspicion, but for the circumstance that the stranger appeared to be coming direct from the hacienda.