peace. And let me tell you, my cook is excellent; the wine of
the village is famous in the province, and I have some in my cellars ten
years old."

"I cannot resist such a number of good arguments," Jack said, smiling,
"and till tomorrow morning I am at your service; but I warn you that
my appetite just at present is ravenous, and that my two dragoons
are likely to make a serious inroad upon the larders of your village,
however well supplied."

"They will be welcome," the priest said, "and I guarantee the larders
will prove sufficiently well stocked. Fortunately, although nearly every
village in the neighborhood has been raided by the French, owing to our
good fortune and the interposition of the blessed San Aldephonso our
village has escaped a visit."

The party under Father Ignacio soon turned off from the main road, and,
with the six wagons which fell to their share, journeyed along a. rough
country road until they reached the village. Father Ignacio sat on the
leading wagon, and Jack rode alongside chatting with him. The priest was
a stout built man, with a good humored countenance and merry twinkle of
the eye, and Jack wondered what could have been the special wrong that
induced him to take up a musket and lead his flock to the attack of a
French convoy.

"Katherine!" he shouted as the wagon stopped in front of his house and
a buxom serving woman appeared at the door, "dinner as quickly as
possible, for we are starving; and let it be not only quick, but
plentiful. Lay a cover for this gentleman, who will dine with me; and
prepare an ample supply of food in the kitchen for these two English
soldiers, who have come across the sea to fight for the good cause.

"And now," he said to Jack, "while dinner is preparing I must distribute
the spoil."

The wagons were unloaded and their contents divided among the men who
had take a part in the expedition, his flock insisting upon the padre
taking a bountiful share.

The mules and bullocks in the wagons were similarly divided, in this
case one being given to each family; for there were but thirty animals,
while the fighting contingent from the village had numbered nearly
eighty men. There were five or six animals over when the division had
been made, and these were given, in addition to their proper share, to
the families of three men who had been killed in the fight.

"Now, my sons," the padre said when all was done, "take your axes and
fall upon the wagons. A wagon