Then began the two men a contest of skill and strength. Perhaps it would have ended to the advantage of the white man, who had a considerable start, had not several warriors, witnesses of what had occurred, swum off too, and cut off the fugitive's retreat. Cucharés saw that flight was impossible; hence, not attempting to continue a hopeless struggle, he proceeded towards a tree, to which he clung, and awaited with magnificent coolness whatever might happen.
The Black Bear soon came up with him. The chief displayed no ill temper at the trick the lepero had played him.
"Wah!" he merely said, "my brother is a warrior: he has the craft of the opossum."
"Of what use is it to me," Cucharés answered carelessly, "if I cannot succeed in saving my scalp?"
"Perhaps," the Indian said. "Let my brother tell me where the Great Buffalo is."
"Yes, my brother told me that his friend was in the great lodge of the palefaces, but he did not say at what place."
"Hum! And if I tell you shall I be free?"
"Yes, if my brother has not a forked tongue: if he speaks the truth, so soon as we land on the bank, he will be free to go where he pleases."
"A poor favour!" the lepero muttered, shaking his head.
"Well," the chief continued, "what will my brother do?"
"My faith!" Cucharés said, suddenly making up his mind, "I have done for Don Martial all it was humanly possible to do. Now that he is warned, each for himself. I must save my skin. Stay, chief; follow the direction of my finger. You see those mangroves on the projecting point?"
"Well, behind those mangroves you will find the man you call the Great Buffalo."
"Good! The Black Bear is a chief; he has only one word; the paleface shall be free."
The conversation was hurriedly broken off, more especially as the Apaches were rapidly approaching the banks. They had let go of the most of the trees to which they had hitherto been clinging, and were collected in small groups of ten or twelve on the larger trees.
The hacienda was silent; not a light burned there; all was calm; it looked like a deserted habitation. This profound tranquility excited the suspicions of the Black Bear; it seemed to forebode an impending storm. Before risking a landing he wished to assure himself positively of what he had to expect. He uttered the cry of the iguana, and swam towards the bank. The Apaches comprehended their chiefs intention, and stopped. At the end of a few moments they saw him crawling along the sand. The Black Bear walked a few paces along; he saw nothing, heard nothing; then, completely reassured, he returned to the water's edge, and gave the signal for landing.