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Show '( 42 ) ·cpor1« of 1wo shots, and, soon afLer, tw~ others, quickly succeeding 'Thflt's Yon l~n," cried Hector, "she, and nobody else, can r~load a tlo ublc-barr lieu gun in such a short time.''. After a .few min:Jtes, Yonka came trotting on her pony into our midst, greeting us WJ_th a iivc ly exclamation "Dear brothers !"-whereupon we conlial!y bade her welcome, 1 ::ts our "Dear sistP.r !" She im mediately spoke:, with some excitement, to Waanataa, who interpreted her report a .~ fo llows: "When I lost sight and could hear no more of our p~r!y, my at- . tention was enga~ed by some traces of footsteps .on the .g' ound, but I could not recognise them, and rode on, follo\.ving the1r track f(lr some hours, intending to return, and. sure ~o find my way bacl~. At Ja::-t, I came to a Jodge, quite otherwise butlt than ours; 10 a d1stance from here of about one d:w's walk. '\iVhen I approached, a smal1 <.log issued from the lodge, barking and jumping to and fro, w.hen a woman appeared, with a boy, at the door, and called the clog 1n .. [ :Hopped, and cried several tim es, Dear sister! I love you! but. sl:e d1d not understand me, and shook her head in answer, then~ pointing nt · me, she nodded, and cried '.Amiga! Ami~a !"' Here Waanataa and Yonka were simultaneously interrupted by l\1Jrtinez ami Sylvio, who observed that "Amiga is a Spanish word, meaning a (female) friend," in consequence of which they supposed that woman to be either - Spani~h or Mexican, but probably the la tter. Yonka and Waanataa continued : "As it appeared to me that she was frightened, and in order to convince her of my peaceable disposition, I raised, with one hand, my rifle, and with the other, my pistol, and fired, successively; their four shots into the air; and, without knowing what the word meant, I norlded, smiling, and repeated 'Amiga !~ whereupon she winked, and bade me enter, which I did, unhe~itatingly. Tlrere was, by the side of the entrance, a stone basin, with a little water and a small brush in it, which she took up, and after sprinkling a few drops upon me, she moved het· right fore-finger thus + before me and herself." "That was' Agua bend ita,' or holy wat.er !" interrupteu Martinez, anu Sylvio added, "and the 'Benedicion,' or benediction!" Accordingly, they declared that woman to be a Catholic. Yonka anJ W aanataa resumed: "She repeated several times, 'Teresa!' pointing at herself, :.HHl 'Alejo!' pointincr at her little boy, five years old, which she ~xpressed to me by showing one of her hands with stretched fingers. l-Ien ee I inferred that Teresa and Alejo were their names, and ~elling her, re peat.eclly, my own, while 1 pointed at myself, I succeeded in bri nl!:ing; her to unrler~tand it, when she said, 'Yot1ka! bien-venida !' ta king :ind shakinp; .my hand.'' "That means Welcome," observed Adam, who could not help shov,ring his acquaintnnce with the Spanish language, and interrupt· ing \Vaanatna's translation, which continued : , "I kissed little Alejo, whose mother gave me .to eat and to drink whatever her kind hospitality .se emed able to bestow on m-e-Indiaft ( 43 'I cakes and milk of mountain sheep. I ate and drank with pleasure, while she conversed with me by signs and gestures, \'\'hich gave me the idea that she had a husband, absent, on a journey in the south· \Yest, whither she pointed, saying, 'Pueblo!' and repeating several t imes, 'Don Valerio Mendoza!'" " Nombre de Dios !" (Name of God!) cried Sylvio, in delight ' Valerio is a very good friend of mine, with whom l lived at Pueblo six years ago, when he married his 'cara' (dear) Teresa. I was at their wedding, and we danced the Fandango in best s.tyle. The town of Pueblo is situated on this side of yonder mountams, west of ]~ent's Fort and north of Santa Fe, forming with these two places an almost e~uiangular triangle, Santa Fe being equally distant frof!l either but accessible from Pueblo via Bent's Fort only, and not d!rectl/ on account of the interJacent mountains. Valerio has probably 'become a free trapper. I always thought and foretold him so, for I knew his trapping disposition. as he is a first ra~c hunter. If we could en(J'age him to assist me as a guide, 1 thwk we would safely rear.h Pueblo, and thence pro~eed to Bent's Fort, .without meetinu· with the Gros-Ventre:-5, who should thus be kept Ignorant of our ~aT'ch through these region s, if we can h~ lp it, as long as we nre still on this side of Bent's Fort, beyond wh1ch we shall be out of their re::ICh. Martinez! will you accompany me on ~visit to l\IendozJ's habitation to-morrow?" "Con llluchissimo gu:jto!" (with very much pleasure!) answered 1\lbrtinez, and Carrel ou8erved: "According to Yonka's report, it's not more than a few _h?urs' r·de thither, and we all may as well as yo~ two only, pay a. VISit_tomonow to Dona Teresa ~nd Senorico AleJO, ( Mnster Alexis,) WithO ~lt any inconvenience, or intruding upon her hospitality, as we_ have a sufficient quantity of provi.sions for us a?d feed for our an1rnals. \Vho will volunteer to ride In the mean time, back to the Fort, to bring some intelligence thitl~er and thence back to us, along the ricks, where we may meet aga.i n.? " . . Bolzano and Tivocati declared themselves wdlm~ to perform that service1 So they both started, with their four ~Hli~Cs and one of the doers early the next morning for the east, while the other twenty me 0 n 'anu Yonka, with the two other dogs, rode through the forest towards Mendoza's habitation, which they reached at noon. In order not to frighten the "Senora'· and her "~ijico," (littl ~ son,) by our ~reat number appearing all at once, we (_IIs~ounted. anc camped at about one mile's di~tance. fron~ the ~abitatiOn, ~' htth eJ Yonka walked with Sylvio and l\1artinez, mtend111g to surpnse he1 r!'wre agreeably by coming on foot. . . . Teresa wept for joy at seeing agam her husband's friend Sylv10 .3fter so many ye<lrs. She called him "Ca.ro H~~man~,'' JD e~ J Brother,) and kissed Yonka, as her "Cara He1 mana, ( De.lr S1ste,I ,) fo r having brought him t.hither,.whe~eup?n sh.e also welco~ed M;trt. i nez, and was delighted m hearmg h1m II ~~WI5e talk ,Spa? Ish. She v:ould prepare something to refresh her VISiter~, but Sylvw thankeJ h ... r once for all, stating, in a few words our Circumstances, and. m- |