CHAPTER XVI.
ON THE WAY.
It was not without a certain apprehension--nothing seemed to justify it, however--that Dick Sand, three hundred steps from the steep bank of the river, penetrated into the thick forest, the difficult paths of which he and his companions were going to follow for ten days.

On the contrary, Mrs.Weldon herself, a woman and a mother, whom the perils would make doubly anxious, had every confidence.

Two very serious motives had contributed to reassure her; first, because this region of the pampas was neither very formidable on account of the natives, nor on account of the animals which were found there; next, because, under the direction of Harris, of a guide so sure of himself as the American appeared to be, they could not be afraid of going astray.
Here is the order of proceeding, which, as far as possible, would be observed during the journey: Dick Sand and Harris, both armed, one with his long gun, the other with a Remington, kept at the head of the little troop.
Then came Bat and Austin, also armed, each with a gun and a cutlass.
Behind them followed Mrs.Weldon and little Jack, on horseback; then Nan and Tom.
In the rear, Acteon, armed with the fourth Remington, and Hercules, with a hatchet in his belt, closed the march.
Dingo went backwards and forwards, and, as Dick Sand remarked, always like an uneasy dog seeking a scent.

The dog's ways had visibly changed since the "Pilgrim's" shipwreck had cast it on this sea-coast.

It seemed agitated, and almost incessantly it kept up a dull grumbling, rather lamentable than furious.