ttom of the cliff directly under us; but
there were two, and neither was the voice of the trapper. It is easy to
distinguish the full intonation of the Saxon from the shrill treble of
the sons of Anahuac. The voices were those of our foes.

Presently the light discovered them to us. Two there were. They were
on horseback, moving on the plain below, and close into the cliff. We
saw them distinctly, but we saw not what we had expected--the mangled
body of our comrade! The gleam, long continued, had given us full time
to scrutinise the ground. We could have distinguished upon it any
object as large as a cat. Rube, living or dead, was certainly not
there!

Had he fallen into the hands of the guerrilla? The two we saw carried
lances, but no prisoner. It was not likely they had captured him:
besides, we knew that Rube, unless badly crippled, would never have
surrendered without a struggle; and neither shot not shout had been
heard.

We were soon relieved from all uneasiness on this score. The brigands
continued their conversation, and the light breeze wafted their voices
upwards, so that we could distinguish part of what was said.

"Carrambo!" exclaimed one impatiently; "you must have been mistaken? It
was the coyote you heard."

"Capitan! I am confident it was a man's voice."

"Then it must have proceeded from one of the _picaros_ behind the rock.
There is no one out here? But come! let us return by the other side of
the mesa--_vamos_!"

The hoof-strokes admonished us that they were passing onward to carry
out the design of the last speaker--who was no other than Ijurra
himself.

It was a relief to know that our comrade had not yet fallen into their
clutches. How far he was injured, we could not have an idea. The rope
had given way close to the top, and Rube had carried most of it down
with him. In the confusion, we had not noticed how much remained,
_behind_ our hands, when he fell; and now we could only guess.

Seeing that he had disappeared from the spot, we were in high hope that
he had sustained no serious injury.

But whither had he gone? Had he but _crawled_ away, and was yet in the
neighbourhood of the mesa? If so, they might still light upon him.
Hiding-place there was none, either by the base of the cliff or on the
surrounding plain.

Garey and I were anxious about the result--the more so, that the
guerrilleros had heard his cry, and were in search of him. He might
easily be found