"What if they have reached the ravine in my absence? Let me see. Yes,
they've had time enough to get round; that is, if they started soon
after Roblado's interview. The boy thinks they did. By Heaven! it's
not too soon for me to be on the alert."
As this thought passed through the cibolero's mind, he reined up his
horse; and, lowering his head, glanced along the neck of the animal into
the darkness before him. He had now arrived at the mouth of the canon,
and nearly on the same track by which he had ridden out of it; but the
moon was under thick clouds, and the gloom of the ravine was no longer
relieved by her light.
"It would be their trick," reflected he, "to get inside the canon, at
its narrow part, and wait for me to come out of the cave. They would
waylay me pretty handy there. Now suppose they _are_ up the canon at
this moment!"
For a moment he paused and dwelt upon this hypothesis. He proceeded
again.
"Well, let them; I'll ride on. Cibolo can beat the rocks a shot's range
ahead of me. If they're ambushed there without him finding them,
they'll be sharper fellows than I take them to be; and I don't consider
them flats, either, the scoundrels! If he start them, I can soon gallop
back out of their reach. Here! Cibolo!"
The dog, that had stopped a few paces in front, now came running back,
and looked up in his master's face. The latter gave him a sign,
uttering the simple word "Anda!"
At the word the animal sprang off, and commenced quartering the ground
for a couple of hundred yards in advance.
Following him, the horseman moved forward.
In this way he approached the point where the two walls converging
narrowed the canon to a space of little more than a hundred yards.
Along the bases of the cliffs, on both sides, lay large loose rocks,
that would have given cover to men in ambush, and even horses might have
been concealed behind them.
"This," thought Carlos, "would be the place chosen for their cowardly
attack. They might hit me from either side with half an aim. But
Cibolo makes no sign.--Ha!"
The last exclamation was uttered in a short sharp tone. It had been
called forth by a low yelp from the dog. The animal had struck the
trail where the yellow hunter and his companion had crossed to the
middle of the ravine. The moon had again emerged from the clouds, and
Carlos could see the dog dashing swiftly along the pebbles and up the
ravine towards the mouth of the cavern!
His master would have called him back, for he was leaving the loose
rocks unsearched, and, without that being done, Carlos felt that it
would be perilous to proceed farther; but the swiftness with which the
dog had gone forward showed that he was on a fresh trail; and it now
occurred to the cibolero that his enemies might be within the cave
itself!
The thought had hardly crossed his mind when the dog uttered several
successive yelps! Although he had got out of sight, his master knew
that he was at that moment approaching the mouth of the cave, and
running upon a fresh scent.
Carlos drew up his horse and listened. He dare proceed no farther. He
dared not recall the dog. His voice would have been heard if any one
were near. He reflected that he could do no better than wait till the
dog should return, or by his attack give some sign of what he was after.
It might, after all, be the grizzly bear, or some other animal, he was
pursuing.
The cibolero sat upon his horse in perfect silence--not unprepared
though for any sudden attack. His true rifle lay across his thighs, and
he had already looked to its flint and priming. He listened to every
sound, while his eyes pierced the dark recesses of the ravine before and
around him.
For only a few moments this uncertainty lasted, and then back down the
chasm came a noise that caused the listener to start in his saddle. It
resembled the worrying of dogs, and for a moment Carlos fancied that
Cibolo had made his attack upon a bear! Only a moment did this illusion
last, for his quick ear soon detected the voices of more dogs than one;
and in the fierce confusion he distinguished the deep-toned bark of a
_bloodhound_!
The whole situation became clear to him at once. His enemies had been
awaiting him in the cave--for from it he was certain that the sounds
proceeded.
His first instinct was to wheel his horse and gallop out of the canon.
He waited a moment, however, and listened.
The worrying noise continued, but, amid the roar find barking of the
dogs, Carlos could distinguish the voices of men, uttered in low hurried
tones, as if addressing the dogs and also one another.
All at once the conflict appeared to cease, for the animals became
silent, except the hound, who at intervals gave out his deep loud bray.
In a moment more he, too, was silent.
Carlos knew by this silence that Cibolo had either been killed upon the
spot, or, having been attacked by men, had sheered off. In either case
it would be of no use waiting his return. If alive, he knew that the
dog would follow and overtake him. Without further delay, therefore, he
turned his horse's head, and galloped back down the ravine.