“Why are you looking backward?”
“To see whether we are followed. We lost much time in the quebrado, and we have lost more since. Have you good eyes, Gahara? Born Africans generally have.”
“Yes, sir. My name, Gahra Dahra, signifies Dahra, the keen sighted!”
“I am glad to hear it. Be good enough to look round occasionally, and if you see anything let us know.”
We had nearly reached the summit of the rise when the negro uttered an exclamation and turned his horse completely round.
“What is it?” asked Carmen and myself, following his example.
“I see figures on the brow of yonder hill.”
“You see more than I can, and I have not bad eyes,” said Carmen, looking intently. “What are they like, those figures?”
“That I cannot make out yet. They are many; they move; and every minute they grow bigger! That is all I can tell.”
“It is quite enough. The bodies of the two troopers have been found, the alarm has been given, and we are pursued. But they won’t overtake us. They have that hill to descend, this to mount; and our horses are better than theirs.”