"Viva Dios!" the Jaguar exclaimed, turning livid with passion; "Can it possibly be so?" "I am the proof of it, I fancy," the old man answered simply. The young Chief seized his pistols, and made a hurried movement to rush out, but the stranger restrained him. "What good will it do," he said, "to pick a quarrel with your allies? It is an accomplished fact, so it is better to undergo the consequences. Still, let it serve you as a lesson to take better precautions another time." "But these men who crossed the camp?" the Jaguar said sharply. "You have nothing to fear from them; they are poor devils of hunters, who were probably seeking a refuge for the two women they brought with them." "Two women?" "Yes, a white and an Indian; although they were dressed in male attire, I recognized them the more easily, because I have been watching them for a long time." "Ah," said the Jaguar thoughtfully, "do you know any of these hunters?" "Only one, who is, I believe, tigrero to the hacienda." "Tranquil!" the Jaguar exclaimed with aft expression impossible to render. "Yes." "In that case, one of the females is his daughter Carmela'" "Probably." "She is now, then, at the Larch-tree?" "Yes." "Oh," he burst out, "I must at all hazards carry that accursed hacienda." "That is exactly what I came to propose to you," the Scalper said quietly. The young man advanced a step. "What do you say?" he asked. "I say," the old man replied in the same tone, "that I have come to propose to you the capture of the hacienda." "You! It is impossible." "Why so?" "Because," the Jaguar went on with agitation, "the hacienda is well fortified: it is defended by a numerous and brave garrison, commanded by one of the best officers of the Mexican army, and for the seventeen days I have been investing these accursed walls, I have been unable, despite all my efforts, to take one forward step." "All that is correct." "Well?" "I repeat my proposition." "But how will you effect it?" "That is my business." "That is not an answer." "I can give you no other." "Still?" "When force does not avail, stratagem must be employed; is not that your opinion?" "Yes; but one must have the necessary means in his hands." "Well, I have them." "To seize the hacienda?" "I will introduce you into the interior--the rest is your affair." "Oh, once inside, I will not leave it again." "Then, you accept?" "One moment." "Do you hesitate?" "I do." "When I offer you an unexpected success?" "For that very reason." "I do not understand you." "I will explain myself." "Do so." "It is not admissible that you have come to make such a proposal for my sake, or that of the cause I serve." "Perhaps not." "Let us deal frankly. Whatever your character may be, you have a manner of looking at things which renders you perfectly indifferent to the chances, good or bad, of the struggle going on at this moment in this unhappy country." "You are quite correct."