d
been my sister's. How it had escaped being burned or trampled on I
could not tell. Perhaps it had been dropped near one of the outside
walls, which the fire did not reach, and had been blown by the wind into
the corner of the room, where I found it. Pedro was of the same
opinion. I placed it carefully in my bosom, though how it could prove
of use I could not tell. We searched and searched in vain through every
other house in the village; but no other trace or sign which I could
recognise could we find. The whole day was thus spent, and night almost
surprised us while we were still in the ruins.

Near the village was a meadow, where Pedro had led our mules to feed;
and we had, besides, found some Indian corn, which we had given them; so
they were in good condition to proceed. But after the example of the
state of the country we had seen, it was impossible to say where we
could hope to find shelter for ourselves. I asked Pedro if he would
object to remain in the ruins all night.

"Oh, may the good saints defend us from such a thing!" he answered with
a look of dismay. "After the sights we have seen, how can you think of
doing so, Senor?"

"The dead cannot hurt us, you know; and we can easily fortify ourselves
against any attack of wild beasts," I answered. "We will shut our mules
up in a room of one of the houses where no people have been killed; and
we can sleep in a room next to them. We shall find plenty of timber to
barricade ourselves in, and they will give us good warning if any wild
beast comes near to attempt an entrance."

For a long time Pedro was not convinced of the wisdom of my proposal; or
rather, his dislike to the idea of remaining prevented him from being
so. His objections were very natural; and I own that had I not been
desirous of making a further search in the neighbourhood the following
morning, I would myself have much rather proceeded, if there had been
sufficient daylight to enable us to find another resting-place. This
was, however, now totally out of the question; so Pedro was obliged to
accede to my wishes. I fixed upon a house on the outskirts of the
village, which had, it appeared, been the residence of a person of
superior wealth and rank. Some of the rooms had been but little
injured. One of them I selected as our abode for the night, and an
adjoining one as a stable for our mules. Having collected some food for
our trusty little animals, we brought them inside the ho