Henry merely pressed his shoulder again to indicate that they were ready to deal with it, if man could.
The three watchers remained there more than an hour, and Alvarez, Wyatt, and the chiefs still discussed the maps with every appearance of agreement, bending their heads over them, and now and then disclosing eager faces, as they lifted them in the firelight.
"Alvarez wants to help them," whispered Paul.

"He hates us, and, if he can, he will commit the Governor of Louisiana to the Indian alliance." "Beyond a doubt," replied Henry, "and so it's not worth while for us to wait here any longer." They slid away in the dark and returned to their own camp.

There Long Jim and Tom Ross were placidly awaiting them, and they were not at all surprised at the news.

Then the five held another of their conferences.
"I think it likely," said Paul, "that Alvarez will go back at once to New Orleans.

He will tell the Governor there that armed bands of Americans are trespassing upon Spanish territory and that they must be driven off.