Part 41 (2/2)

Dalston lay for weeks between life and death Then he came round almost at once, and soon started away on his journey The waiter--good-natured fellow--had lent him money to carry him to Mendoza

But Dalston's adventures were not over yet

He arrived at Villa Mercedes well and hopeful, and was lucky enough to secure a passage in the diligence about to start underride of days, the like of which he had never been used to in the old country, the ancient-looking coach had completed three-quarters of the journey, and the rest of the road being considered safe the escort was allowed to go on its way to the frontier

They had not departed two hours, however, before the travellers were attacked, the driver speared, and the horses captured The only passenger who htest resistance was Dalston He was speedily overpowered, and would have been killed on the spot had not the _cacique_ of the party whom Dalston had wounded interfered and spared his life

Spared his life! But for what? He did not know Soo free, the rest were killed He alone was s and his horse led by an Indian

All that night and all next day his captors journeyed on, taking, as far as Dalston could judge, a south-west course His sufferings were extre; his naked shoulders--for they had stripped hih his tongue was parched and his head drooping wearily on his breast, no one offered hied them to kill him Perhaps the _cacique_, as alrinned in derision and pointed to his own bullet-wounded ars possible compared to which death itself would be as pleasure

When the Indians at last went into cauarded; a hunk of raw guanaco meat was thrown to him, which he tried to suck for the juices it contained

Next day they went on and on again, over a wild parass or thistles, and here and there a giant ombu-tree His ankles were more painful than ever, his shoulders were raw, the horse he rode was often prodded with a spear, and he too ounded at the same time Once or twice the _cacique_, maddened by the pain of his wound, rushed at Dalston with uplifted knife, and the wretched prisoner begged that the blowthey reached a kind of hill and forest land, where the flowering cacti rose high above the tallest spear Then they came to a ruin Indians here were in full force, horses dashed to and fro, and it was evident from the bustle and stir that they were on the war-path, and soon either to attack or be attacked

The prisoner was now roughly unhorsed and cruelly lashed to a tree, and left unheeded by all For a rateful for the shade, but his position after a tiht-fall all the Indians left, and soon after the sufferings of the poor wretch grewslowly eaten alive by myriads of insects that crept and crawled or flew; horrid spiders with hairy legs and of enormous size ran over his neck and naked chest, loathsoled over his shoulders and face and bit him, and ants covered hiuar went prowling past, looked at hireen fierce eyes, snarled low, and went on Vultures alighted near him, but they too passed by; they could wait

Then it was night, and rew luminous They flitted and danced before his eyes till tortured nature could bear no s for a tih their attack on our _estancia_ had failed, ere too weak or too frightened to pursue theh he was, he had issued forth from behind the ramparts with thirty well-armed and splendidly- hours, and succeeded in teaching them such a lesson that they have never been seen in that district since

Towards noon ere riding hoested our visiting the old Jesuit ruin, and so we turned our horses' heads in that direction

Donald had ridden on before, and as I drew near I heard him cry, 'Oh, Moncrieff, come quickly! Here is some poor fellow lashed to the ombu-tree!'

CHAPTER XXV

FAREWELL TO THE SILVER WEST

We cut the rass and laid hiently down, then bathed his poor body ine, and poured a little down his throat

In about half an hour the wretched being we had thought dead slowly raised hiazed at _me_ as well as his swollen eyes would perible sound escaped them The recollection dawned on my mind all at once, and in that sadly-distorted face I discovered traces of the ht us so much sorrow and evil

I took his hand in ht?' I said 'Are you Duncan M'Rae?'

He nodded drowsily, closed his eyes again, and lay back

We cut branches fros that had bound the victis and laid the man; and between two mules he was borne by the Gauchos slowly homewards to the _estancias_ Poor wretch! he had expected to come here all but a conqueror, and in a position to dictate his own ter man