"Thank you once again. You do not, you cannot know how happy you render me at this moment, Carmela. My whole life, employed in your service, would not suffice to repay the good you do me. You are free at last! Brave Tranquil, I felt sure that he would succeed!" "Alas, my friend, this success costs him dear." "What do you mean? I trust that he is not dangerously wounded?" "I fear the contrary, my friend." "Oh! We will save him." "Come hither, Jaguar," the hunter then said in a feeble voice; "give me your hand, that I may press it in mine." The young man walked quickly up to him. "Oh, with all my heart!" he said, as he held out his hand. "The affair was a tough one, my friend," the Canadian went on; "that man is a lion." "Yes, yes, he is a rude adversary; but you got the better of him at last?" "Thanks to Heaven, yes; but I shall keep his mark all my life, if God permit me to rise again." "Canarios! I trust that will soon happen." The hunter shook his head. "No, no," he answered, "I am a connoisseur in wounds, through having inflicted a good many, and received more than my proper share: these are serious." "Have you no hopes of recovery, then?" "I do not say so, I merely repeat that many days will pass ere I can return to the desert," the hunter replied, with a stifled sigh. "Nonsense, who knows? Any wound that does not kill is soon cured, the Indians say, and they are right. And what has become of that man?" "In all probability he is dead," Tranquil said, in a hollow voice. "That is all for the best." At this moment Captain Johnson opened the door. "A boat, bearing a flag of truce, is hailing the brig; what is to be done?" he asked. "Receive it, Sangre de Dios! my dear Johnson. This boat, if I am not mistaken, is a bearer of good news." "Our friends would like you to be present to hear the proposals which will doubtless be made." "What do you say, Tranquil?" the young Chief asked, turning to the old hunter. "Go, my boy, where duty calls you," the latter answered; "I feel that I need repose. However, you will not be away long." "Certainly not, and so soon as I am at liberty again I will return to your side, but merely to have you carried ashore; your condition demands attention you cannot obtain here." "I accept, my friend, the more so as I believe the land air will do me good." "That is settled then," the Jaguar said, joyously; "I shall be back soon." "All right," Tranquil replied, and fell back in his berth. The young man, after bowing to Carmela, who returned the salute with a gentle and sad glance, left the cabin with the Captain and returned on deck. [In our next volume, "THE WHITE SCALPER," we shall again come across all the characters of this long history, for the great stake is about to be played for: liberty and tyranny are at length face to face, and the destiny of a people will probably depend on the fate of a battle.] THE END. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Freebooters, by Gustave Aimard