themselves had failed to
finish. At length, after a long and anxious consultation, it was agreed
that the only possible course was to pen the Spaniards inside the
defile, keeping them there by the wholesome dread inspired by the
presence of the two Maxims and a strong band of armed men holding the
portal, under Carlos' command; that Jack, with a picked body of fifty
armed negroes, should escort Don Hermoso and the Senora back to the
house, in the hope that, somewhere among the ruins, at least a partial
shelter might be found for the unhappy lady, who, drenched to the skin,
was now threatened with a serious attack of fever; and that, after a
shelter had been found for her, Jack and his men should reconnoitre the
camp of the enemy and endeavour to learn something of their immediate
intentions.

This having been arranged, the prisoners were given to understand that
they must make themselves as comfortable as they could where they were,
for the present, and that any attempt on their part to break out would
be visited with immediate and rigorous punishment: after which Jack and
his party, accompanied by Don Hermoso and his wife, briskly stepped out
on their way down the valley, along the road by which they had so
recently come, emerging, about an hour later, into the open space that
had been occupied by the warehouses. Some of these, as well as the
whole of the negro huts, were found to be nothing but a heap of black
and smouldering ruins; while others had been set on fire, but the flames
had obviously been extinguished by the pelting rain that had fallen
during the latter part of the recent thunderstorm. Those buildings
which had happened to contain large quantities of combustible goods had
naturally suffered most severely, and were now merely a collection of
roofless, smoke-blackened walls; while those which had been empty had
suffered comparatively little damage--indeed, in one or two cases,
practically none at all, except that the doors had been broken open and
partly wrenched off their hinges. One of these was at once utilised as
a shelter for Don Hermoso's wife; and, while the negroes mounted guard
round the building, the Don and Jack hurried away toward the house, to
ascertain its condition, and, so far as the former was concerned, to
endeavour to find a change of clothing for the Senora.

At the first glimpse, the house, when they reached it, appeared to have
suffered very severely, for many of the windows were