Mr. Hardy then went on, addressing himself to the others: "Of course this fire was lit with the especial intent of throwing us off the scent. Have you any idea how far it is likely to have come?" he asked the Gauchos. "That is, are you aware of the existence of any wide stream or damp ground which would have checked it, and which must therefore be the furthest boundary of the fire?" The Gauchos were silent a minute; then Perez said, "The next stream is fifteen miles further; but it is small, and would not stop the fire going with the wind. Beyond that there is no certain stream, as far as I know of." "The ground rises, and the grass gets thinner and poorer thirty miles or so on. I should say that they would light it this side of that," Martinez said. The other Gauchos nodded assent. "We took the bearings of the track by our compass," Farquhar said. "Could we not follow it on by compass across the burned ground, and hit it upon the other side?" Mr. Percy and Mr. Hardy both shook their heads. "I do not pretend to say where the trail is gone," the former said, "but the one place where I am quite sure it is not, is on the continuation of the present line." "No," Mr. Hardy continued. "As you say, Percy, there it certainly is not. The Indians, when they got to some place which is probably about half across the burned ground, turned either to the right or left, and traveled steadily in that direction, sending one or two of their number in the old direction to light the grass, so as to sweep away all trace of the trail. They may have gone to the right or to the left, or may even have doubled back and passed us again at only a few miles' distance. We have no clew whatever to guide us at present, except the certainty that sooner or later the Indians will make for their own camping-ground. That is the exact state of the affair." And Mr. Hardy repeated what he had just said in Spanish to the Gauchos, who nodded assent. "And in which direction do the Gauchos believe that their camping-ground lies?" Mr. Jamieson asked after a pause; "because it appears to me that it is a waste of time to look for the trail, and that our only plan is to push straight on to their villages, which we may reach before they get there. And in that case, if we found them unguarded, we might seize all their women, and hold them as hostages until they return. Then we could exchange them for Ethel; and when we had once got her, we could fight our way back." "Capital, capital!" the other English man exclaimed. "Don't you think so, papa?" Hubert added, seeing that Mr. Hardy did not join in the general approval.