“Woe to him who does!” shouted the Canadian, “and you, Fabian, in heaven’s name, retire!”
“Yes, it is I, Fabian!” cried the Count, in a voice which drowned the thunder of the torrent and the cries of the hunters, “Fabian, who comes to avenge his mother’s blood upon the infamous Don Antonio de Mediana!”
Then, while his voice still sounded in the ears of Don Estevan, who for the first time in his life stood motionless with terror, the impetuous young man drew his knife and pricked his horse with it.
This time the animal gave a furious leap across the gulf and reached the opposite bank; but one of his feet slipped, and after a short struggle he fell backwards, both horse and rider disappearing in the flood. A cry of anguish burst from the Canadian and one of triumph from the opposite bank; but both were quickly drowned by the roar of the torrent as it closed over its double prey.
Chapter Thirty Five.
A Bird’s Eye View of the Desert.
About a fortnight after the events just related, other scenes were taking place in a part of the desert which extends from Tubac to the American frontier. But before referring to the actors let us describe the theatre on which they once more met.
The vast plains which separated Mexico from the United States are known only by the vague reports of hunters or gold-seekers—at least that part watered by the river Gila and its tributaries. This river, which takes its rise in the distant mountains of the Mimbres, passes under various names through an immense extent of sandy barren country, the arid monotony of which is interrupted only by the ravines hollowed by the waters, which in their erratic course, ravage without fertilising.