The zambo had a face as ferocious in its expression as that of his confrere. It differed in colour. It was a coppery black--combining the hues of both races from whom he derived his origin. He had the thick lips and retreating forehead of the negro, but the Indian showed itself in his hair, which scarcely waved, but hung in long snaky tresses about his neck and shoulders. He was altogether less distinguished-looking than his comrade the mulatto. His dress partook of the character of his tribe--wide trousers of coarse cotton stuff, with a sleeveless shirt of the same material,--a waist scarf, and coarse serape. Half the upper part of his body was nude, and his thick copper-coloured arms were quite bare. Roblado arrived just in time to witness the _finale_ of an incident that would serve to illustrate the character of the zambo. He was half sitting, half-lying in his hammock, in the enjoyment of a husk cigar, and occasionally striking at the flies with his raw-hide whip. He called out to one of the women--his wife for the time-- "Nina! I want to eat something--is the _guisado_ ready?" "Not yet," answered a voice from the hut. "Bring me a tortilla then, with chile Colorado." "_Querido_--you know there is no chile Colorado in the house," was the reply. "Nina! come here! I want you." The woman came out, and approached the hammock, but evidently with some mistrust. The zambo sat perfectly silent until she was close enough for his purpose, and then, suddenly raising the raw-hide, which he had hitherto held behind him, he laid it with all his strength over her back and shoulders. A thin chemisette was all that intervened to hinder the full severity of the blows, and these fell thick end fast, until the sufferer took courage and retreated out of reach! "Now, Nina, dear love! the next time I call for a tortilla with chile Colorado you'll have it--won't you, dear pet?" And then laying himself back in his hammock, the savage uttered a roar of laughter, in which he was joined by the mulatto, who would have done just the same by his better half for a like provocation! It was just at this crisis Roblado pulled up in front of the hovel. Both got to their feet to receive him, and both saluted him with a gesture of respect. They knew who he was. The mulatto, as the principal man, took the principal part in the conversation, while the zambo hung in the background. The dialogue was carried on in a low tone on account of the woman and the boy Esteban. It resulted, however, in the hunters being engaged, as the padre had suggested, to track and follow the cibolero Carlos to death or capture. If the former, a large sum was to be their reward--if the latter, a sum still larger--nearly double!