me to time volleys were fired into the darkness; and once or
twice a loud cry told that some, at least, of the balls had taken
effect; but the opponents, sheltered each behind the trunk of a
tree, suffered comparatively slightly, while many of the Spaniards
were struck by their missiles.

Morning dawned upon a worn-out and dispirited band, but with
daylight their hopes revived. Vigorous sorties were made into the
wood; and though these discovered, in a few places, marks of blood
where some of their enemies had fallen, and signs of a party being
carried away, the woods were now as deserted as they had appeared
to be on the previous evening, when they first halted.

There was a consultation among the leaders, and it was determined
to abandon the pursuit of these invisible foes, as it was agreed
that nothing, short of a great effort by the whole available force
of the island, would be sufficient to cope with a foe whose tactics
were so bewildering and formidable.

Upon their march out from the wood, the troop was pursued with the
same persistence with which it had been dogged on the preceding
day; and when at length it emerged, and the captain counted the
numbers of his men, it was found that there were no less than
thirty wounded, and that twenty had been left behind, dead.

The dwellers of the wood were overjoyed with their success, and
felt that a new existence had opened before them. Hitherto they had
been fugitives only, and no thought of resistance to the Spaniards
had ever entered their minds. They felt now that, so long as they
remained in the woods, and maintained their drill and discipline,
and persisted in the tactics which they had adopted, they could
defy the Spaniards; unless, indeed, the latter came in overwhelming
strength.

Some time elapsed before any fresh effort was made by the
Spaniards. The affair caused intense excitement in the city, and it
is difficult to say whether alarm, or rage, most predominated. It
was felt that a great effort must be made, to crush the men of the
forest; for unless this were done, a vast number of the negro
slaves would escape and join them, and the movement would become
more formidable, every day.

Upon the part of those in the forest, great consultations took
place. Some of the negroes were for sending messages to the slaves
to rise and join them, but Ned and Gerald strongly opposed this
course. There were, as they pointed out, no means whatever in the
forest for