“Take them away, then; are they tied?”

“Only two.”

“Break the halters then, and start them full speed, as if they were frightened; it will not awaken their suspicion.”

“Why not settle the matter with them all at once? we would get their saddles.”

“Fool! suppose they are a vanguard of General Rusk’s army, and one of them should escape?  No; to-morrow at sunrise they will run upon the tracks of their horses, and leave their saddles and saddle-bags behind; three men shall remain here, to secure the plunder, and when the ducks (travellers) are fairly entangled in the forest, being on foot, we can do what we please.”

Others then joined the conversation, and Gabriel and I returned to our friends as silently as we left them.  Half an hour afterwards we heard the galloping of our horses, in a southerly direction, and Gabriel going once more to reconnoitre, perceived the band taking another course, towards the east, leaving, as they had proposed, three of their men behind them.  For a few minutes he heard these men canvassing as to the best means of carrying the saddles, and having drank pretty freely from a large stone jug, they wrapped themselves in their blankets, and crawled into a sort of a burrow, which had probably been dug out by the brigands as a cachette for their provisions and the booty which they could not conveniently carry.

By the conversation of the three fellows, Gabriel conjectured that the band had gone to a place of rendezvous, on the bank of some river, and that the party who had carried away our horses was to proceed only six miles south, to a stream where the track of the horses would be effaced and lost in case of our pursuit.  As soon as they considered that we were far enough from our encampment, they were to return by another road, and rejoin the three men left behind.  Gabriel conjectured that only four men had gone away with the horses.  After a little consultation, we awoke our comrades, and explaining to them how matters stood, we determined upon a counterplot.

It was at first proposed to shoot the three scoundrels left for our saddle-bags, but reflecting that they were better acquainted than we were with the locality, and that the report of one of their fire-arms would excite the suspicion of those who had charge of our horses; we determined upon another line of conduct.  Before daylight, I took my bow and arrows and succeeded in reaching a secure position, a few yards from the burrow where the thieves were concealed.  Gabriel did the same, in a bush halfway between the burrow and our encampment.  In the meantime, Roche, with the five Americans played their part admirably—­walking near to the burrow swearing that our horses had been frightened by some varmin and escaped, and started upon the tracks, with as much noise as they could make; to deceive the robbers the more, they left their rifles behind.