diers, had left the fort on an expedition to collect provisions,
of which a supply was needed.

Here was the opportunity which the treacherous chief awaited. It not only
removed the husband, but weakened the garrison, the protectors of the wife
in his absence. Late one day the chief placed four thousand armed men in
ambush in a marsh near the fort, and then set out for it with thirty
others, laden with provisions. Reaching the gates, he sent word to Lara
that he had heard of his want of food, and had brought enough to serve him
until the return of Hurtado and his men. This show of friendship greatly
pleased Lara. He met the chief with warm demonstrations of gratitude, and
insisted on entertaining him and his followers.

So far the scheme of the treacherous Indian had been successful. The men
in the marsh had their instructions and patiently awaited the fixed
signals, while the feast in the fort went on till the night was well
advanced. When it broke up the Spaniards were given time to retire; then
the food-bearing Indians set fire to the magazines, and the ambushed
savages, responding to the signal, broke into the fort and ruthlessly cut
down all the Spaniards they met. Those who had gone to bed were killed in
their sleep or slain as they sprang up in alarm. The governor was severely
wounded, but had strength enough to revenge himself on the faithless
Mangora, whom he rushed upon and ran through the body with his sword. In a
moment more he was himself slain.

At the close of the attack, of all the Spaniards in the fort only the
women and children remained alive--spared, no doubt, by order of the chief.
These consisted of the hapless Miranda, the innocent cause of this bloody
catastrophe, four other women, and as many children. The weeping captives
were bound and brought before Siripa, the brother of Mangora, and his
successor as cacique of the tribe.

No sooner had the new chief gazed on the woman whom his brother had loved,
her beauty heightened in his eyes by her grief and woe, than a like
passion was born in his savage soul, and he at once ordered his men to
remove her bonds. He then told her that she must not consider herself a
captive, and solicited her favor with the gentleness and address that love
can implant in the breast of the savage as well as of the son of
civilization. Her husband, he told her, was a forlorn fugitive in the
forests of a hostile country; he was the chief of a powerful nation and
could su