rcia looked contemptible.

As a last resource it seemed to strike him that he would once more have
the bird-chamber searched, and, appealing to the Indians, they
unwillingly climbed up to the ledge for the second time, and disappeared
through the rift, leaving Garcia, torch in one hand and pistol in the
other, guarding the passage where we crouched; now walking to and fro,
now coming close up to enter a few yards, holding his light above his
head; but darkness and silence were all that greeted him. I trembled,
though, lest he should hear the whinnying of the mules, which, though
distant, might have reached to where he stood. At last, to our great
relief, he stepped back into the vault, and began to pace to and fro.

For full two hours Garcia walked impatiently up and down there by the
torch he had stuck in the sand at the mouth of the passage, and then
came the murmurs of the returning voices of the savages, accompanied by
shriek after shriek of the frightened birds, scared by the lights which
were intruding upon their domain.

As the searching party descended, Garcia hurried towards them, seeing
evidently at a glance that they had no tidings, but now using every art
he could command to persuade the chief to follow him. He pointed and
gesticulated, asserting apparently that he felt a certainty of our being
in the farther portion of the passage where his torch was stuck. But
always there was the same grave courtesy, mingled with a solemnity of
demeanour on the chief's part, as if the subject of the inner cavern was
not to be approached without awe.

"We are safe, Harry," my uncle breathed in my ear at last.

For it was plain that, satisfied that their work was done, the Indians
were about to depart, when, apparently half mad with rage and
disappointment, Garcia cocked the pistols he had in his belt, replaced
them, and then, gun in one hand and torch in the other, he strode
towards the passage, evidently with the intention of exploring it alone.

The next moment a wild and mournful cry arose from the savage party,
while their chief seemed staggered at Garcia's boldness, but recovering
himself, he dashed forward, caught the half-breed by the arm, and strove
to drag him back.

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.

TAKING A PRISONER.

A fierce struggle ensued, during which, for a few moments, the Indian
proved the stronger. Garcia's torch was extinguished, and the savage
held him by clasping his arms tightly round his wais