After a brief siesta the entire male population of the hacienda retired
to the wall of the corral to pot the bear. It was agreed that each
should fire at once, and that he who missed should have no dulces for a
week.
The bear was sitting near the middle of the corral, surly but replete,
for he had eaten of the bull. Don Jose gave the signal. Twenty-two shots
were fired. The bear gave a roar which awoke the echoes of the forest,
lunged frantically on shattered legs, then fell, an ugly heap of dusty
grey hair.
As the smoke cleared and Don Jose was announcing that only two Indian
servants had missed, Benito clutched Roldan's arm suddenly.
"Look up," he said. "Do you see anything? Are not those men; soldiers?"
Roldan looked up to a ledge of the high mountain before the house. A
bend of the trail traversed a clearing. In this open were three men on
horseback, motionless for the moment.
"Adan!" shouted Roldan. He ran down the ladder.
"I cannot be sure that those are the soldiers," he called up to Don
Jose. "But I take no risks. We must go."
The others descended hastily. "My sons will have to hide too," said Don
Jose. "There is plenty of time.
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