On the whole, he was glad that one of his prisoners had made a foolish dash for liberty, and rather wished the other would do the same thing.
But the other contented himself with denouncing the action of the guerilla captain in bitter terms, and promising to report it the moment they reached the Spanish lines.

At all of which the latter only smiled contemptuously.
In the mean time Ridge, lying low on his horse's neck to offer as small a target as possible to the shots fired by his pursuers whenever they sighted him, was uttering words of encouragement in Senorita's ear, and she was responding with such a burst of speed that the beef-riders were quickly left far behind.

At length nothing was to be seen or heard of them; and, believing that they had given over the chase as hopeless, the young trooper allowed the panting mare who had borne him so bravely to slacken her heading pace until it was reduced to a walk.
He was still in the broad Cauto valley, where the sabanetas, or open glades of tall grasses, were interspersed with wide tracts of impenetrable jungle and forests of palms.

By these his view was limited on every side, but he knew that the mountains among which he hoped to find the insurgent leader lay to the southward.

So he determined to leave the road by the first trail leading in that direction, and continue on it until he should meet some one willing to guide him to his destination.
Having formed this crude plan, and believing that Senorita had been allowed sufficient time to recover her breath, he began to urge her to a better speed, but, to his surprise, she failed to respond.