102 Idle Days in Patagonia. 
yards from the river, but miles away from any 
habitation. They drove their animals into the 
corral, and, after unsaddling and turning loose the 
beasts they had ridden, were about to catch fresh 
horses, when a troop of Indians was spied charging 
down upon them. ‘Follow me, boys!” shouted 
Marcos, for there was no time to lose, and away 
they rushed to the river, throwing off their clothes 
as they ran. In afew moments they were in the 
water swimming for life, the shouts of the savages 
ringing in their ears. The river at this point was 
about eight hundred feet broad, with a strong current, 
and two of the lads dared not venture across, but 
escaped, diving and swimming along under the 
shadow of the bank like a couple of water-rats or 
wounded ducks, and finally concealed themselves 
in a reed bed at some distance. The others, led 
by Marcos, being good swimmers like most of the 
Patagonians, struck boldly out for the opposite 
shore. But when they approached it and were 
beginning to congratulate themselves on their 
escape, they were suddenly confronted with another 
party of mounted Indians, standing a few yards 
back from the margin and quietly waiting their 
arrival. They turned and swam away to the middle 
of the stream once more: here one of them, a youth 
named Damian, began to exclaim that he was 
getting tired, and would sink unless Marcos would 
save him. Marcos told him to save himself if he 
could ; then Damian, bitterly reproaching him for 
his selfishness, declared that he would swim back to 
