had by this time become practically continuous. With
the utmost resolution they seized the light structure and started to run
it forward toward the gap in the bridge; but--Jack having by this time
instilled into his dusky troops the virtue of coolness and deliberation
in fighting--the next moment they were swept back to cover by a
perfectly withering fire that placed nearly half of them _hors de
combat_.

Meanwhile sounds of hot and sustained firing had gradually breezed up in
the direction of the position which Carlos was defending, and ere long
it became evident that there also the attack was being pressed; and
although the sounds of strife thitherward were soon almost swallowed up
in the long, continuous crash and crackle of the rifle fire that was
being maintained by the entrenched troops upon Jack's party, the young
Englishman could not avoid the suspicion that his friend was being
somewhat hardly pressed; for whenever a momentary lull occurred in the
firing in front of him, Jack could not only hear that the volume of
firing in Carlos' direction was fully maintained, but it seemed to him
that it was steadily increasing! And presently a breathless messenger
arrived from Carlos, begging Jack to spare the former as many men as he
possibly could, to help in driving back a body of Spanish troops who had
actually succeeded in forcing a passage across the river! In response
to this request Jack of course instantly detached every man he could
possibly spare, retaining less than fifty to aid him in defending his
own position: but the news which he had just received made it perfectly
clear to him that the defence was practically at an end; for if Carlos
had been unable to prevent the Spaniards from forcing the passage of the
river, it was in the highest degree unlikely that he would be able to
stem the rush, much less drive it back. Jack at once began to consider
what was the best course to pursue under the new conditions; and, as he
thought, a plan began to gradually unfold itself in his mind. The
estate, he felt, was lost, for if only a sufficient number of the
Spaniards could once get across the river to hold Carlos' force at bay
for five minutes, by the end of that time a reinforcement would have
crossed strong enough to sweep the defenders out of existence: nothing,
therefore, in that case could save the estate from destruction, but it
might be possible to visit upon the destroyers a heavy retribution.

Jack's mi