ly have talked it, I
would have put the question on the spot. I did try to get a `yes' or a
`no' out of her; but she either couldn't or wouldn't understand me. It
was all bad luck."

"Could you not make her understand you? Surely she knows English enough
for that?"

"I thought so too; but when I spoke about love she only laughed and
slapped me on the face with her fan. Oh, no; the thing must be done in
Spanish, that's plain; and you see I am going to set about it in
earnest. She loaned me these."

Saying this, he pulled out of the crown of his foraging-cap a couple of
small volumes, which I recognised as a Spanish grammar and dictionary.
I could not resist laughing aloud.

"Comrade, you will find the best dictionary to be the lady herself."

"That's true; but how the deuce are we to get back again? A mule-hunt
don't happen every day."

"I fancy there will be some difficulty in it."

I had already thought of this. It was no easy matter to steal away from
camp--one's brother-officers are so solicitous about your appearance at
drills and parades. Don Cosme's rancho was at least ten miles from the
lines, and the road would not be the safest for the solitary lover. The
prospect of frequent returns was not at all flattering.

"Can't we steal out at night?" suggested Clayley. "I think we might
mount half a dozen of our fellows, and do it snugly. What do you say,
Captain?"

"Clayley, I cannot return without this brother. I have almost given my
word to that effect."

"You have? That is bad! I fear there is no prospect of getting him out
as you propose."

My companion's prophetic foreboding proved but too correct,
for on nearing the camp we were met by an aide-de-camp of the
commander-in-chief, who informed me that, on that very morning, all
communication between the foreign ships of war and the besieged city had
been prohibited.

Don Cosme's journey, then, would be in vain. I explained this, advising
him to return to his family.

"Do not make it known--say that some time is required, and you have left
the matter in my hands. Be assured I shall be among the first to enter
the city, and I shall find the boy, and bring him to his mother in
safety."

This was the only consolation I could offer.

"You are kind, Capitan--very kind; but I know that nothing can now be
done. We can only hope and pray."

The old man had dropped into a bent attitude, his countenance marked by
the deepest melancholy.