mation, though I pictured to myself
the jovial padre wandering about the wilds without food or shelter.

The next day, by starting at dawn, we reached home at an early hour.
The doctor's first inquiry was for his patient; when, to our
astonishment, we heard that he had rapidly gained strength, and on the
previous night had made his escape. In consequence of his evident
weakness, he had been left unguarded, and no one supposed that he had
even any wish to quit the house where he had been so kindly treated.
Only the day before, he had, with evident sincerity, expressed his
gratitude to Norah, and taking her hand had pressed it to his lips,
vowing that he would be ready to die to do her any service.

"And so I am sure he would," exclaimed Norah, when our father told us
this. "Could he write, he would have left a message explaining why he
has left us; and we shall hear some day that he had good reason for
doing so. Still, I was as much surprised as any one else when I found
this morning that he had actually fled. Probably he was afraid that he
might be stopped should he express his wish to go, and therefore thought
it wiser to steal off secretly. We shall hear from him before long,
depend on it. I cannot believe that he is ungrateful, or had any bad
motive for running away."

I fully agreed with Norah. Still, the act was so like the ordinary
conduct of Indians, that it was not surprising the rest of the party
should believe him to be ungrateful.

"We must wait patiently, at all events, till the mystery is elucidated,"
observed my father; "and now, as you hunters are hungry, we will go to
dinner."

We had just finished our meal when Tim hurried in with the announcement
that a number of our black labourers were collecting outside in a state
of great commotion, three or four of them having brought in the doctor's
servant, Gab, as a prisoner. Tim informed us that, having suspicions as
to his conduct, they had followed him for several miles into the
mountains, when they found that he had gone to meet some Spaniards.

On hearing this the doctor seized a thick stick, and was on the point of
rushing out, to break it, as he said, on Gab's head,--or rather on his
shins, for his head was not likely to be much the worse for it.

"Sit down, my good friend," said my father. "I don't manage my blacks
in that way. Let me go and speak to him, and I may perchance elicit the
truth. If he has been holding any traitorous commu