"The mystery with which the man surrounds himself. The White Scalper, you must not forget, is a man for whom the nomadic life of the desert possesses too great charms for him to be willing to shut himself up. And then, what would be his reason for doing so? To keep a young girl prisoner? But Doña Carmela is no frail and timid woman, weakened by the mephitic air of cities, without will or strength. She is a brave and courageous maiden, with a resolute heart and strong arm, who would never have consented thus to bow her head beneath the yoke. A man, however strong he may be, is very weak, believe me, when he finds himself in presence of a woman, who says to him boldly--No! Woman, through the mere fact that she has generally only one thought at a time, is greatly superior to us, and nearly always attains the object she desires. And then again, for what reason can the White Scalper, who had in his hands a thousand unknown desert hiding places to conceal his captive from sight, have retired without any plausible motive to the vicinity of a town, in a populous country, where he must expect to attract suspicion and arouse attention? No, it is evident to me that you are mistaken." "Perhaps you are right; still, it is my duty to clear up the affair, and I will do so." "Certainly, you will act prudently by doing so. I confess that, were it possible, I should be happy to accompany you on your expedition. For even supposing, as I believe, that this man is not the White Scalper, it is probable that the mystery with which he surrounds himself conceals a crime, and that if your expedition does not meet with the result you suppose, it will have, at any rate, served to liberate a maiden who is the victim of odious tyranny." "Who knows?" "Only one man, in my opinion, could put you on the trail of her we have so unfortunately lost, through the numerous relations he maintains with the Indians." "Whom do you mean?" "Loyal Heart--" "That is true. He was brought up by the Indians, and one of their tribes has adopted him. He would be better able than anybody to supply us with information." "Why have you not applied to him, then?" "For the very simple reason that, on the day after the capture of the Larch-tree hacienda, Loyal Heart left us to return to his tribe, whither serious matters recalled him." "That is annoying," the Colonel said thoughtfully. "I know not why, but I feel convinced that this hunter, with whom I am but very slightly acquainted, as I only conversed with him once, and that but for ten minutes--I am convinced, I say, that this hunter may prove extremely useful to us in our search for the unfortunate Carmela." "Perhaps you are right, Colonel. This night, as I told you, I am to see Tranquil, and shall have a serious explanation with him. He is as interested as we are, perhaps more so, in the success of our researches. He is a man of extreme prudence, and thoroughly conversant with the desert; I shall see what he says to me."