Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/33

Rh were léperos, whom he remembered to have seen in the city of Chihuahua—and they must have patiently tracked his footsteps at a distance during his day's journey.

The arriero was well armed it is true; but resistance against such fearful odds was perfectly out of the question. The only door of his sleeping place led to the scene of consultation, and it had been secured on the other side window there was none, and the least noise might be fatal to him: there appeared no means of escape; and time pressed—for it was not likely that the attack of his enemies would be much longer delayed. With the energy of coming despair, he cast his eyes round the room, and to his great joy perceived a slight opening in the thatch that composed the roof. Repressing an exclamation that sprang to his lips, he mounted the slight pile of skins that had composed his pillow, and nervously thrust his hand into the cavity; the thatch yielded to his touch, for it was a mere mixture of reeds and rushes. He breathed more freely, for his escape no longer seemed impossible: but then there were his mule and his treasure. Well!—first securing his own safety, he would put a plan in execution, which hastily