"You lie, villain!" the Captain answered. And raising with both hands the terrible bar of iron, he cleft the skull of the soldier, who fell like a stunned ox, not uttering a cry, or giving vent to a sigh. "Whose turn is it next?" the Captain said as he raised the crowbar. A yell of horror burst from the crowd, which hesitated for a moment. The Captain quickly lowered his crowbar, and the chest hung over the brink of the abyss. This movement restored the borderers all their rage and fury. "Down with him, down with him!" they shouted, as they rushed on the officer. "Halt!" the Jaguar said as he bounded forward, and overthrew all in his way; "Not one of you must stir; this man belongs to me." On hearing this well-known voice, all the men stopped. The Captain threw away his crowbar, for the last chest had fallen in its turn over the precipice. "Surrender, Captain Melendez," the Jaguar said, as he advanced toward the officer. The latter had taken up his sabre again. "It is not worth while now," he replied, "I prefer to die." "Defend yourself then." The two men crossed swords, and for some minutes a furious clashing of steel could be heard. All at once, the Captain, by a sharp movement, made his adversary's weapon fly ten paces off, and ere the latter recovered from his surprise, the officer rushed on him and writhed round him like a serpent. The two men rolled on the ground. Two yards behind them was the precipice. All the Captain's efforts were intended to drag the Jaguar to the verge of the abyss; the latter, on the contrary, strove to free himself from his opponent's terrible grasp, for he had doubtless guessed his desperate resolve. At last, after a struggle of some minutes, the arms that held the Jaguar round the body gradually loosed their hold, the officer's clenched hands opened, and the young man, by the outlay of his whole strength, succeeded in throwing off his enemy and rising. But he was hardly on his feet, ere the Captain, who appeared exhausted and almost fainting, bounded like a tiger, seized his adversary round the body, and gave him a fearful shock. The Jaguar, still confused by the struggle he had gone through, and not suspecting this sudden attack, tottered, and lost his balance with a loud cry. "At length!" the Captain shouted with ferocious joy. The borderers uttered an exclamation of horror and despair. The two enemies had disappeared in the abyss. [What became of them will be found fully recorded in the next volume of this series, called "THE FREE-BOOTERS."]