“‘There may be trouble in the first fifty yards of open ground, and every man must make straight to the thicket. Move rapidly. If Tigre fires, riddle the spot from which the shot comes, and run in upon him. Shoot him down; he will not surrender.’ “Our rush followed, and was met by the crack of a Winchester. Ramon Aguates, a young _ranchero_, threw up his hands, spun around upon his toes and fell stone-dead. He had hardly touched the ground when another man, close by my side, sank slowly to his knees, gave a little sigh, and crumpled up into a shapeless heap. Tigre’s second shot was not heard, as our volley came at the same instant. Our second volley cut a wide swath in the foliage at the point where the smoke from the desperado’s rifle hung, and was instantly followed by a woman’s scream. “‘Hold, men!’ cried Pico, ‘We are killing my child!’ “Cady sprang into the open and, raising his right hand, cried: “‘Tigre, give us the lady uninjured and I swear that you shall go and not be followed!’ “No answer came, and it may be that the river’s voice drowned the call. Neither did any shot follow. Not knowing what to expect, we crept forward, taking the protection of every shrub and stone, until we reached and entered the thicket. “Here we recognized our disadvantage in that we dared not fire upon any moving thing until we first ascertained whether it be friend or foe. But Tigre would know that every sound or motion marked an enemy. Yet, to our amazement, no rifle cracked, and neither sight nor sound indicated the presence of our desperate quarry. “At last we came upon the body of the horse. The splendid animal had been struck by a number of our bullets and, to put it out of its misery, its throat had been cut. How cool the fellow must have been to conceive and execute the deed of mercy in a moment of such mortal peril! Near the body, beside an ugly pool of blood, we found one of the Lady Isola’s slippers and a few scattered beads from a turquoise necklace. The thoroughly ransacked thicket yielded nothing more. As we stood upon the rock rim, looking down into the boiling water, Pico cried: “‘He has killed her, thrown her body into the river, and then drowned himself!’ “I felt this to be true and was about to say so, when Cady, who had been standing apparently lost in thought, called to me in sharp tones, indicative of great excitement: “‘Major, give me your glass, quick!’ “I handed to him the large field-glass I carried. Looking through it at the farther shore for a moment, he turned to me and cried: “‘As God lives, the madman has crossed that water-hell!’ “‘Impossible!’ I cried. ‘A man would be dashed to pieces in five seconds!’ “‘Nevertheless it is true,’ he said. ‘Look for yourself!’