roke, all hands were
called up, and we breakfasted on the remains of the wild ducks and
opossum. As soon as breakfast was over the fires were extinguished, and
the embers scattered, so that no one coming that way might ascertain how
lately we had left the spot. My mother and sister having mounted their
horses, and the nurses and children being placed on their mules, we
moved forward, looking out as we went along for the padre and his
servant. We had not gone far when a voice hailed us from behind some
thick shrubs; and presently our friend appeared--so completely
disguised, that had I not examined his features I should not have
recognised him. His hat was stuck jauntily on one side, sufficiently
low down to conceal his shorn crown; and a gaily-coloured handkerchief,
which a West Indian negro would have envied, was tied in a bow round his
throat. His coat was braided and slashed; his breeches were ornamented
with tags and laces, and open at the knees, showing his stout calves
encased in leathern leggings; while in a sash round his waist was stuck
a long dagger and a brace of pistols. Candela followed, carrying a
biggish bundle hung to the end of a pole (which he balanced on his
shoulder), with a long stick in his hand, and a machete secured in his
waist-belt.

After greeting us, the padre whispered to me,--"I am not so warlike as I
look, for my pistols are unloaded,--since I have neither powder nor
shot,--and one of them is destitute of a lock. My dagger, however, is
sharp; and I can use my stick to some purpose."

I told him that we could supply him with a rifle, and spare him some
ammunition for his serviceable pistol, should there be any probability
of our being compelled to fight.

"Depend on me; I will not hang back if we have to defend ourselves," he
answered. "I have no love for lighting; but in this case it is lawful
and right--of that I am assured."

The padre walked along far more actively than I had expected; and we
were glad to have our party strengthened by such sturdy allies as he and
his man Candela.

The forest through which we were proceeding extended some way up the
side of the mountains, with only two or three paths running across it at
right angles to our course. As these were in some sense highways, and
people might be traversing them--perhaps enemies--we passed by them as
rapidly as possible, so that we might avoid the risk of encountering any
one. As Kanimapo knew when we were appro