alight
at Yang-Yang, when all at once our carriage was surrounded with
brigands, flying from the soldiers of the line. The chief--for we
supposed him to be so at first--said to his companions, not paying the
slightest attention to us, nor even addressing us: "We must kill the
horses!" By this I saw he feared lest their enemies should make use of
our horses to pursue them. With a presence of mind which fortunately
never abandons me in difficult or perilous circumstances, I said to
him: "Do not fear; my horses shall not be used by your enemies to
pursue you: rely upon my word." The chief put his hand to his cap,
and thus addressed his comrades: "If such be the case, the Spanish
soldiers will do us no harm to-day, neither let us do any. Follow
me!" They marched off, and I instantly drove rapidly away in quite
an opposite direction from the soldiers. The bandits looked after
me; my good faith in keeping my word was successful. I not only
lived a few months in safety at Tierra-Alta, but many years after,
when, I resided in Jala-Jala, and, in my quality of commander of the
territorial horse-guards of the province of Lagune, was naturally a
declared enemy of the bandits, I received the following note:

"Sir,--Beware of Pedro Tumbaga; we are invited by him to go to
your house and to take you by surprise; we remember the morning we
spoke to you at the cascades, and the sincerity of your word. You
are an honourable man. If we find ourselves face to face with
you, and it be necessary, we will fight, but faithfully, and
never after having laid a snare. Keep, therefore, on your guard;
beware of Pedro Tumbaga; he is cowardly enough to hide himself
in order to shoot you."

Everybody must acknowledge I had to do with most polite robbers.

I answered them thus:

"You are brave fellows. I thank you for your advice, but I do
not fear Pedro Tumbaga. I cannot conceive how it is you keep
among you a man capable of hiding himself to kill his enemy;
if I had a soldier like him, I would soon let him have justice,
and without consulting the law."

A fortnight after my answer, Tumbaga was no more; a bandit's bullet
disembarrassed me of him.

I will now return to the recital I have just interrupted. When I had
left the bandits at Yang-Yang, I pulled up my horses and bethought
me of Anna. I was anxious to know what impression had been produced
on her mind from this unpleasant enco