As they rose higher, they grew fainter; until the only sounds distinguishable were the moanings of the Mexican owl, the hissing of the cascade below, and the sighing of the mountain breeze among the tops of the tall pine-trees. CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. PADRE CORNAGA. Astonishment still held me speechless, as it did my companion-- motionless, too, as the maguey leaves, radiating around us. Had I known the real signification of what had just transpired, I might have acted with more promptitude, and ten times the energy. As it was, I felt like one slowly recovering from a state of torpidity-- from an ill-digested dream! "What does it all mean?" I inquired of the stage-driver, without stirring from my place. "Darn'd if I know, cap'n; 'cept it air one band o' robbers that's attackted the t'other, and stripped 'em of their spoils. The conq'rors 'pear to be clean gone away, an' hev took the weemen too! They've sloped off on t'other side o' the shanty. I kin hear 'em yet, making their way up the mountain! Thar's a path there; tho' it ain't so easy to climb. I reck'n they've gone up it, toatin up the gurls along wi' 'em. The reezun _they_ ain't still screechin' is, they've got 'em eyther gagged, or _tapado_." "_Tapado_?" "Yes; muffled up--thar faces covered wi' something--to hinder them from seeing their way, or singin' out. They only do it, when the weemen show refactory." What mattered it to me? What mattered, whether Dolores Villa-Senor was the wife of one robber, or the mistress of another? Why should I care now? She could never be mine! I stepped out from among the leaves--leisurely, as one who has no motive for making haste. There was a cold pain at my heart; a callous indifference to the fate of her who had caused it. She was welcome to go higher--to the summit of the mountain she had selected as the scene of her nuptials. It was Ixticihuatl on whose slope we stood. The "White Sister" could be seen through the clear starlight above, reposing in spotless vestments. How different from the robe of Dolores! "Let her go!" was my unchivalric reflection. "She has made her own bed: let her lie upon it!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was not for the purpose of pursuing--at all events not with any thought of rescuing her--that I placed the call to my lips, and sounded the signal for my men. In less than five minutes the "Rifles" were around me--their green jackets distinguishable under the brilliant beams of the moon--that on the instant sailed suddenly into sight. On hearing the shots, and other sounds of strife, they had commenced moving up the mountain-path. Hence the promptness of their appearance. Selecting half a dozen of them, I stepped straight into the doorway of the house. We entered without opposition--groping our way through the saguan.