reserve for a different destiny. Ah! _cavallero_! a destiny worse than
death! Not one of them escaped. The poor _ninas_ were all made
captives; and each, borne off in the arms of a swarthy savage, was
mounted upon his horse. Gabriella, the queen of all,--because by far
the most beautiful--was chosen by the chief. I saw her struggling in
his grasp, I saw him dragging her over the ground, and raising her to
the withers of his steed. I saw him leap up behind her, and prepare to
ride off--Gabriella, my beloved--my bride!"

Here the speaker paused--as if overcome by the very remembrance of the
incidents he was relating; and it was some time before he became
sufficiently composed to resume his narrative.

CHAPTER NINETY FOUR.

A ROUGH DRAG.

Recovering himself, at length, the narrator proceeded:--

"You may ask, _senor_, how I came to be witness of all these outrages.
Was I not speared like my companions? Was I not, like them, killed upon
the spot! I answer, no. I was still alive; and I might almost say
uninjured. True I had been beaten and bruised in the struggle--for I
had made an impotent effort at defending myself--but they had not killed
me. I was for a time stunned, and senseless; but my senses returned
before the fray was over; and I was a witness to the closing scene. It
was then I saw the young girls in the act of being hurried off by their
captors. It was then my heart was wrung, by the spectacle of Gabriella
struggling in the arms of the chief. I was helpless to interfere. I
was prostrate upon the earth, and held fast in the gripe of two brawny
savages--one kneeling on each side of me. I expected them at every
instant to put an end to my life. I awaited the final blow--either the
stroke of a tomahawk or the thrust of a spear. I only wondered they
were delaying my death. My wonders ceased, when I at length got my eyes
on the face of the Apache chief--which up to that moment I had not seen.
Then I recognised an old enemy, whom I had encountered on the plains;
and I saw that the recognition was mutual. This explained why they had
not finished me on the spot. I was spared only to suffer some more
horrible mode of death.

"It was not long till I was made acquainted with their intention. I saw
the chief telegraph some order to the Indians who guarded me; which one
of the latter hastened to execute. A lazo was looped around my ankle,
and carried out. The other end of it was made fast to