The headquarters were first prepared, that is to say, the tent was raised, and the horses hobbled near pickets driven into the ground.
At the moment when the leader proceeded with several peons armed with picks and spades toward the entrance, with the probable intention of marking the exact spot where the trench was to be dug, the capataz approached him obsequiously, and said with a respectful bow--
"Mi amo, I have an important communication to make to you."
His master turned and looked at him with ill-concealed distrust.
"An important communication to make to me?" he repeated.
"Yes, mi amo," the capataz replied with a bow.
"What is it? Speak, but be brief, Carnero, for, as you see, I have no time to lose."
"I hope to gain you time, excellency," the capataz said with a silent smile.
"If you will allow me to say two words aside, excellency, you will know at once."
"Mi amo, it is my duty to inform no one but your excellency of my discovery."
"Hum! then you have discovered something?"
The other bowed, but made no further answer.
"Very well then," his master continued, "come this way: go on, muchachos," he added, addressing the peons, "I will rejoin you in a moment."
The latter went on, while the leader retired for a few paces, followed by the capataz. When he considered that he had placed a sufficient distance between himself and the ears of his people, he addressed the half-breed again--
"Now, I suppose, Master Carnero," he said, "you will see no inconvenience in explaining yourself?"
"Speak then, in the fiend's name, and keep me no longer in suspense."
"This is the affair, excellency: I have discovered a grotto."
"What?" his master exclaimed, in surprise, "you have discovered a grotto?"
"There," he said, stretching out his arm, "behind that mass of rocks."
A suspicious look flashed from beneath his master's eyelashes.
"Ah!" he muttered, "that is very singular, Master Carnero; may I ask in what manner you discovered this grotto, and what motive was so imperious as to take you among those rocks, when you were aware how indispensable your presence was elsewhere?"
The capataz was not affected by the tone in which these words were uttered; he answered calmly, as if he did not perceive the menace they contained--
