"Speak, my friend, speak," the count exclaimed. "Explain yourself, caballero," the young man said imploringly. "One of two things will happen," the Canadian continued. "Either the redskins have seized Doña Emilia and her daughter in order to massacre them, or they have carried them off for the purpose of obtaining a ransom. In the first place they will not kill them for a week, because if it be a revenge, as you say, they desire to take on their enemies, they will sacrifice their victims in the presence of the whole nation assembled for a species of holiday, which will necessitate a great loss of time in convening the scattered tribes. In the second case, you have nothing to fear for the life of the ladies; and tomorrow, possibly today, they will send to the hacienda a messenger to settle the amount of ransom." "Hum! What you do us the honour of telling us is doubtless very sensible," the count remarked; "but I do not yet see the nature of the advice you wish to give us." "Patience," the Canadian continued with a shake of his head, "my advice is this. Tomorrow, at sunrise, I will start for the Hacienda del Barrio. If no Indian has appeared, after reporting the result of my embassy, and warning Don Aníbal of what has happened, I will have a talk with my friend Moonshine. He knows the Indians as well as I do, perhaps better. Well, if he shares my opinion, we will both start on the trail of the redskins, and they will be very cunning, I swear, if we do not discover them. That is my advice." "Yes," the count answered, "your reasoning is excellent, and the plan you propose is the only one feasible; but what can two men do alone against several hundreds? You will be killed without any advantage." "Well, if you can hit on a better scheme, I shall not oppose it." "I do not say that I can. I merely believe that your idea, good in principle, is bad in its mode of execution; that is to say, where two men would perish, ten or fifteen would infallibly succeed." "But where will you find that number of men to volunteer running such risks?" "I will be the first," Don Melchior said warmly. "And I the second," the count said more calmly. "You?" the Canadian remarked, with surprise. "Yes, I, my friend," he continued. "I have an old account to settle with the redskins generally, and the Red Buffaloes particularly. They are my enemies also. The marks of their claws have been for a long time imprinted on my flesh. Who knows whether I shall not avenge myself, while fancying that I am only avenging a friend?" "Hence," said Don Melchior, "we will start tomorrow at sunrise." "I alone," the Canadian answered; "your presence at the hacienda would be more injurious than useful. Allow Don Aníbal's grief time to calm before presenting yourself to him." The young man felt the force of the adventurer's reasoning, and hung his head sadly, though without offering any objection.