"_Seguramente, amigo_!" replied the Mexican, with an ingenuousness calculated to allay my unpleasant fancies, "the Utah chief is a noble fellow--_un hombre de bien_--besides, he would have done anything for his old friend--whose death greatly grieved him. That is just why you see him here in such haste. It was not to avenge your wrongs that they danced their war-measure--but the death of Don Jose. All the same to you, however: since your _companeros_ are likely to have the advantage of it. As for the Americana," continued he, before I had time to make rejoinder, "_Virgen santissima_! such a maiden was never seen in these parts. Such a shot! Not a marksman in the mountains could match with her, except Don Jose himself, who taught her; and as for hunting--_la linda cazadora_! she can steal upon the game like a couguar. Ah! she can protect herself. She _has_ done so. But for her spirit and rifle, the Red-Hand would have ruined her." "But how? you have not told me--" "True, _cavallero_! I have yet to answer number three. _Bueno_! As I said, it was near the Big Timbers, where she got into the hands of the Arapahoes. There was only a small band of the robbers, with Red-Hand at their head. He wanted to play the brute with her. She kept him off with her rifle, and a big dog you have seen. Red-Hand became angry, and had her strapped to a tree--where the monsters threatened to shoot their arrows into her body. Whether they intended to kill her, or only to terrify the poor girl, is not known; but if the former was their design, they were hindered from putting it into execution. Just at that moment, Don Jose came upon the ground with a party of trappers from the rendezvous on Cuerno Verde. They were strong enough to beat off the red-skinned ravishers and save the Americana. That is how she was taken from the Rapahoes." "A brave deed! But how did she chance to be there? Since Bent's Port was abandoned, there is no white settlement near the Big Timbers." "Ah! _senor_! that is the strangest part of the whole story. It was told me by Don Jose himself, while we were _companeros_ on a trapping expedition--just after he had saved the girl. _Carrambo_!--a strange tale!" "Have you any objection to tell it to me? I feel a singular interest in this young girl." "_Sin duda_! Of many a mountain-man, the same might be said; and many an Indian too. Hum! _cavallero_! you would not be flesh and blood, if you didn't." "Not _that_, I assure you. My interest in her springs from a different source. I have other reasons for inquiring into her history." "You shall have it, then, _cavallero_--at least so much as I know of it myself: for it is reasonable to suppose that Don Jose did not tell me all he knew. This much: the _nina_ was with a caravan that had come from one of your western states. It was a caravan of Mormons. You have heard of the Mormons, I suppose--those _hereticos_ who have made settlements here beyond?" "I have."