An hour's cautious work brought him to the far side of the wood. As well
as he could judge, nearly all the Mexican troopers were asleep around
two fires, but they had posted sentinels who walked back and forth,
calling at intervals "Sentinela alerte" to one another. Obviously there
had been no increase in their force. They were sufficient to maintain a
blockade of the church, but too few to surround it completely.
He went two or three miles to the west and, seeing no evidence that the
main force was approaching, he decided to return to the church. His
original curve had taken him by the south side of the wood, and he would
return by the north side in order that his examination might be
complete.
He walked rapidly, as the night was far advanced, and the sky was very
clear, with bright stars twinkling in myriads. He did not wish day to
catch him outside the mission. It was a prairie country, with patches of
forest here and there, and as he crossed from one wood to another he was
wholly without cover.
He was within a mile of the mission when he heard the faint tread of
horses' hoofs, and he concluded that Old Jack, contrary to orders, was
coming forward to meet him again.
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