The captain in his turn informed his new _compagnon du voyage_, that, since the imprisonment of the Viceroy, Iturrigaray, his own father, a Spanish gentleman, had retired to his estate of Del Valle, where he was now proceeding to join him. He was not acquainted with this estate, having never been upon it since he was a mere child; but he knew that it was not far from the hacienda of Las Palmas, already mentioned. Less communicative than Don Cornelio, he did not inform the student of another motive for his journey, though there was one that interested him far more than revisiting the scenes of his childhood. As the travellers rode on, the evanescent ardour of Don Cornelio's roadster insensibly cooled down; while the student himself, fatigued by the incessant application of whip and spur, gradually allowed to languish a conversation, that had enabled them to kill a long hour of their monotonous journey. The sun was now declining towards the western horizon, and the shadows of the two horsemen were beaming elongated upon the dusty road, while from the tops of the palm-trees the red cardinals and parroquets had commenced to chaunt their evening song. Thirst--from which both the travellers suffered even more than from hunger--was still increasing upon them; and at intervals the dragoon captain cast a look of impatience toward the horse of his companion. He could not help observing that the poor brute, for the want of water, was every moment slackening his pace. On his side, Don Cornelio perceived, that, from a generous motive, his travelling companion was resisting the temptation to ride forward. By putting his fine horse into a gallop, the latter could in a short time reach the hacienda--now less than three leagues distant. Under the apprehension of losing his company, therefore, the student redoubled his efforts to keep his old circus hack abreast with the bay-brown of the dragoon. The journey thus continued for half an hour longer; when it became evident to both travellers that the _escapado_ of the bull-ring was every moment growing more unable to proceed. "Senor student," said the dragoon, after a long spell of silence, "have you ever read of those shipwrecks, where the poor devils, to avoid starvation, cast lots to see which shall be eaten by the others?" "Alas! yes, I have," answered Lantejas, with a slight trembling in his speech; "but I hope with us it will not come to that deplorable extremity." "_Carrambo_!" rejoined the dragoon with a grave air, "I feel at this moment hungry enough to eat a relative--even if he were rich and I his heir, as you of your uncle, the _haciendado_ of San Salvador!" "But we are not at sea, Senor captain, and in a boat from which there is no chance of escape?"