"Stop, stop, do not fire! In Heaven's name do not fire!" the Canadian shouted, who was spurring his horse and coming up at full speed, followed by Loyal Heart and the main body. But, before the hunter could reach the Jaguar, the latter, who had not heard, or, probably, had not understood him, pulled the trigger. White Scalper, struck in the middle of the chest, rolled in the sand, dragging Carmela down with him in his fall. "Ah!" Tranquil said, in despair, addressing Loyal Heart, "The unhappy man has killed his father!" "Silence!" the latter exclaimed, placing his hand on his mouth; "Silence, in Heaven's name!" The Scalper was not dead, however; the Jaguar approached him, probably to finish him, but Carmela, who was inspecting his wound, drew herself up like a lioness and repulsed him with horror. "Back, assassin!" she shrieked. In spite of himself the young man recoiled, astonished and confounded. Tranquil rushed toward the wounded man, while Loyal Heart took hold of the Jaguar, and speaking gently to him, led him from the spot where White Scalper was writhing in agony. The old man held the maiden's hands in his own, which were already bathed in a death sweat. "Carmela, poor Carmela!" he said to her, in a broken voice; "Oh, Heaven, what will become of you now that I am dying." "No, no, it is not possible, you will not die," the girl exclaimed, stifling her sobs. The old man smiled sadly. "Alas, poor child!" he had said, "I have but a few moments to live; who will protect you when I am gone?" "I!" said the hunter, who had come up. "You!" the wounded man replied; "you, her father?" "No, her friend," the hunter remarked, with a melancholy accent, and drawing from his bosom the necklace Quoniam had torn from the Scalper during the fight in Galveston Bay, he said with supreme majesty, "James Watt,[2] embrace your daughter; Carmela, embrace your father." "Oh!" the wounded man exclaimed, "My heart did not deceive me, then?" "My father, my father, bless me!" the maiden murmured, falling on her knees. White Scalper, or Major Watt, drew himself up as if he had received an electric shock, and laid his hands on the head of the kneeling girl. "Bless you, my child!" he said; then after a moment of silence, he muttered in an almost indistinct voice, "I had a son too." "He is dead," the hunter answered, as he looked sorrowfully at the Jaguar. "May Heaven pardon him!" the old man muttered. And falling back, he breathed his last sigh. "My friend," Carmela said to the hunter, "you, whom I no longer dare to call my father, what do you order me to do in the presence of this corpse?" "Live!" the Canadian answered hoarsely, as he pointed to a horseman who was coming up at full speed, "for you love and are beloved; life is scarce beginning for you, and you may still be happy." The rider was Colonel Melendez. Carmela let her head fall in her hands, and burst into tears. * * * * *