Immediately afterwards
three men rode past me, but did not see me, for I was crouching down
behind some scrubby bushes. When the horsemen approached the house the
dogs rushed forth to assail them, and their loud, fierce barking, and the
wild shouts of some person from the house calling them off, were enough
to make a dismounted man nervous. However, now was my only chance, and,
starting up, I hurried on towards the noise. As I passed the corral the
brutes became aware of my approach, and instantly turned their attention
on me. I wildly shouted. _"Ave Maria,"_ then, revolver in hand, stood
awaiting the onset; but when they were near enough for me to see that
the pack was composed of eight or ten huge yellow mastiff-like brutes,
my courage failed, and I fled to the corral, where, with an agility
surpassing that of a wild cat, so great was my terror, I climbed up
a post and placed myself beyond their reach. With the dogs furiously
barking under me, I renewed my shouts of _"Ave Maria"_--the proper
thing to do when you approach a strange house in these pious latitudes.
After some time the men approached--four of them--and asked me who
I was and what I did there. I gave an account of myself, then asked
whether it would be safe for me to descend. The master of the house
took the hint, and drove his faithful protectors off, after which I
came down from my uncomfortable perch.
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