ttle gold figures, in his
pocket, and then left the cave with his bottle of _aguardiente_, which
he meant to present to Carbajal.

The fellow was already very nearly asleep, as it happened, and he was,
moreover, very thirsty, consequently Jim's offer was accepted with
almost indecent haste; as a matter of fact, Carbajal put the bottle to
his lips the moment that Jim held it out to him, and he only removed it
when it was nearly all gone.

"Ah! _senor_," sighed the soldier, as he wiped his lips, "that stuff was
good--it always is good when one is thirsty, but--but what a curious
flavour it has with it. Not that it is a disagreeable taste, mind you;
indeed, I rather like it, but it is somewhat different from the stuff
one usually gets here."

"Ah," replied Douglas, "I can see that you are unused to the taste of
_aguardiente_. It is perhaps a long time since you tasted any?
However, there is plenty more where that came from, so don't be chary of
using it; besides, I can see that you are thirsty."

After having offered Jim a taste of the spirit, which he declined, much
to Carbajal's satisfaction, that worthy again raised the bottle to his
lips and finished the contents, flinging the empty bottle away as soon
as he had done so. He then composed himself as comfortably as he could
against the rock, tilted his cap over his eyes again, and, after a
preliminary grunt or two, announced that he felt tired and wished to be
left alone. Jim was not slow in taking the hint, but instead of
returning to the tunnel, he took up a position from which he could watch
his fatigued warder. He kept his eyes fixed on the fellow, and very
soon had the satisfaction of seeing Carbajal fall over on his side,
completely overcome by the potency of the drug with which the spirit had
been doctored.

Jim at once left his hiding-place and crept cautiously forward,
presently reaching Carbajal's side. Then he proceeded to shake him,
lightly at first, and afterwards more vigorously, until he saw that
nothing would wake him for at least a dozen hours. The next thing was
to carry the man into the tunnel, and, once there, Douglas lost no time
in stripping off the fellow's uniform and clothing himself therein. He
then fastened on the leather belt, with its cartridge-pouch attached,
and possessed himself of Carbajal's carbine.

This completed Jim's transformation; and he flattered himself that he
could now be very easily mistaken for a Peruvian soldi