ssed on our return, by a different and somewhat more
easy route. Though the sides of the mountains were steep and rugged,
the valleys were fertile, with streams meandering through them, and in
many places we saw herds of deer, among which were two or three
beautiful milk-white animals; but having exhausted nearly all our
powder, we were unable to shoot them, even had we wished to do so. We
saw also a number of wild turkeys: and in the woods we heard micos--a
small species of monkey--whistling to each other; but the moment the
rogues caught sight of us, they disappeared among the branches. The
roughness of the paths we followed prevented the horses from going
beyond a slow walk; and even Norah, though a good horsewoman, was glad
to have me at the head of her steed. I told her how much I wished to
join General Bermudez.

"I shall be sorry to lose you, Barry," she rejoined; "still, I believe
that it is your duty to go. I only wish that I could serve my country
as you have the power of doing. Still more do I wish that the hateful
Spaniards were driven from our shores, and the blessings of peace
restored."

I then told her--for I had never before done so--how much I admired Don
Fernando's young ward, Isabella Monterola. "Perhaps, if I return from
the wars crowned with laurels, she'll have me," I said, laughing.

She sighed, and the colour, I observed, mounted to her brow.

"Don Carlos Serrano has other sons besides the one I met under the name
of Colonel Acosta," I remarked.

"Yes," she answered; "his second son, Carlos, is as brave and devoted as
his brother. Should you meet, Barry, make yourself known to him, and I
am sure that he will be glad to give you his friendship. In appearance
he is very like his elder brother, though perhaps handsomer, and you
cannot fail to recognise him."

I began to suspect, from the way in which Norah spoke of the young Don
Carlos, that she was deeply interested in him; and soon afterwards I had
reason to know that I was not mistaken.

We stopped to rest and take our noonday meal near a small clump of trees
on the borders of a wide stream, which we were afterwards to pass.
Across it was thrown a curious bamboo-bridge, the lower portion of which
rested on the calm water beneath it. The bamboos of which it was
composed were securely lashed together by sepos, making it very elastic.
The sides were so steep as to form rather a sharp angle with each
other; while so great was the a